Unit 3

Safety at the Fire Emergency & Safety at the Medical or Rescue

Emergency

Chapter 5 and 6

Learning Objectives

• List the three incident priorities.• Explain the relationship between the three incident

priorities and the relationship to health and safety.• Discuss in general terms the hazards faced by

responders to fire incidents.• List the components of a personal protective

equipment used for fire incidents.

Learning Objectives (cont’d.)

• Discuss the need for and the components of an effective accountability system.

• Discuss the types of and the relationship between incident management systems and health and safety of the responder.

• Define the need for and uses of a rapid intervention team.

• Discuss the components of incident rehabilitation.

Learning Objectives

• Discuss the hazards faced by responders at emergency medical or rescue incidents.

• Explain the methods of minimizing and preventing injuries associated with hazards found at emergency medical incidents.

• List various requirements and uses of commonly used personal protective equipment.

Learning Objectives (cont’d.)

• Explain the requirements for infection control.• Discuss procedures that can be used to meet the

requirements of infection control.• Discuss the systems used for scene accountability and

incident management.

Incident Priorities and Safety

• Life safety– Life safety is the group of activities that ensures that the

threat of injury or death to civilians and emergency personnel is reduced to the absolute minimum

• Incident stabilization– Incident stabilization is the group of activities required to

stop additional damage or danger

• Property conservation– This group of activities is commonly called salvage or

stopping the loss

Incident Priorities and Safety (cont’d.)

• The relationship between incident priorities and safety– we will risk a lot to save a lot– we will risk little to save a little– we will risk nothing to save nothing

Hazards Faced by Responders

• Structure fires– Construction– Fire behavior

• Transportation fires• Outside structure fires• Wildfires

• These are just fires, what about all the other hazards?

Personal Protective Equipment

• Design and purchase• Use• Care and maintenance

• NFPA 1851 Summary-Standard on Selection, Care, and Maintenance of Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting

• NFPA 1977: Standard on Protective Clothing and Equipment for Wildland Fire Fighting

Incident Management Systems• Characteristics • Command staff

– Information– Safety– Liaison

• General staff– Operations– Finance– Logistics– Planning

IMS Command and General Staff

Example Expanded EMS IMS

Accountability

• Various systems• System objectives Status board

Rapid Intervention Companies

• Reasons for having• Options for assignments• Objectives• Equipment – should be pre-determined,

policy/guideline and trained on. (See doc sharing)

• Train on calling the mayday and responding to it. Often a delay in calling.

Rapid Intervention Companies

• Can be viewed as boring assignment as typically they are not needed and in a ready state.

• Need to gather equipment, do site survey, establish secondary egress.

Rehabilitation

• Wind chill and heat indexes • Objectives• Medical record-keeping• See doc sharing for examples

Hazards Faced by Responders

• General hazards for all EMS incidents– Four phases

• gaining access• approach and first contact with the patient• providing care• packaging and placement in the transport unit

Hazards Faced by Responders

• Hazards associated with vehicle accidents and incidents on roadways

• Wearing reflective equipment• Blocking scene.• Moving off roadway when appropriate. • Situational awareness.

Infection Control

• Must understand– Dose– Virulence– Host resistance– Route of exposure (eyes account for 50% - wear glasses?)– Means of transmission

Personal Protective Equipment

• EMS PPE vs Firefighting PPE• Body substance isolation• The right PPE for the task• Universal precautions

Summary

• Operational priorities are life safety, incident stabilization, and property conservation

• Must have a safety program to decrease exposure to hazards

• Must have a safety officer who is accountable for and responsible for incident scene safety

• Should have a practical system that accounts for personnel and equipment

Summary

• Hazards are increased by uncertainties and need to interact closely with patients

• Anticipate hazards of vehicle incidents with training• Utilize law enforcement• Infection control is important