The SCBA Problem
There is a myriad of information available on self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). In most cases, this information is ignored. A look at national fire service publications, television news, or even some of the newest fire training films, slides, and videotapes proves it! National fire service death and injury statistics show that 11% of all fire service deaths and 26% of all fire service injuries are due to the failure to use or the improper use of SCBA.
How do we deal with this problem? We require our firefighters to don their SCBA in less than 60 seconds and then send them out to fight fire! Our chiefs, satisfied the members can don the units, sit back at the fires and allow their members not to use them.
We need to hold someone accountable. When Firefighter Jones dies, we can be sure that Mrs. Jones’ lawyer will hold someone accountable. We must establish written policies, training programs, levels of physical fitness, and maintenance procedures, and then document that each firefighter is fulfilling these standards. Our inaction can be used against us.
Why not set standards and hold the individual firefighter accountable? How? Institute insurance policies that refuse to pay for injuries sustained from failure to use or misuse of protective life-support equipment. (The policy should always cover injuries due to accidents.) A program of this type will work well in both paid and volunteer departments.
Inbred fire service traditions must be changed! Why have only four air packs if you have 20 firefighters on the roster? After all, you can’t effectively save lives, fight fire, or reduce property damage outside the structure!
Why continue to buy 35-pound air packs? Lighter, 23-pound packs have been available for 10 years! The lightweight SCBAs are simpler to use and, in many cases, they offer better protection!
Take a look at your existing equipment. Do all SCBAs have low-pressure alarms? Are they positive pressure? Are the hydrostatic testing records up-to-date? Thirty-minute minimum rated duration? Do they have nose cups?
Nose cups?
Nose cups, in conjunction with antifog preparation, reduce mask fogging. Nose cups are required to meet the standards set by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) for use below 32° F.
Another good reason for using the nose cup is to reduce the dead air space in the facepiece (see “Medical Effects of Wearing SCBA,” FIRE ENGINEERING, October 1985). Dead air space is the air volume between the facepiece and the firefighter’s face. Dead air space in many SCBAs is approximately 48.81 cubic inches.
To satisfy a carbon dioxide level of .04% or less to meet Grade D air requirements, the dead air space would have to be less than 24.4 cubic inches. (Carbon dioxide levels above .04% cause breathing problems, headaches, and reduce the firefighter’s effectiveness on the job.) Air purification adds carbon dioxide, so any space larger than 18.3 cubic inches in the facepiece would exceed .04%. With a nose cup, the dead air space is less than 16.47 cubic inches at all times.
Tests indicate that there is a correlation between carbon dioxide and the occurrence of respiratory acidosis.
This, along with the metabolic acidosis that also occurs due to high carbon monoxide levels, yields grossly abnormal blood pH values. A nose cup in place usually results in fairly normal respiratory alkalosis.
Some firefighting breathing apparatus may cause physiologic dysfunction, especially during stress. Maximal emotional and physical stress, combined with the increased ventilatory effort, and profound acidemia that results from using SCBA without a nose cup, could indeed be linked to the high incidence of cardiac dysfunction associated with firefighting.
Do you have your air analyzed at least twice a year? Do the members of your department know emergency breathing procedures in case of a broken facepiece, low-pressure or highpressure hose failure, exhalation valve failure, or a no-air situation? Do they know that the toxic gases they work in enter the body three ways?
Do they know the four hazardous respiratory environments? Can they identify them before they become a statistic? Do you still fight wildland fires without SCBA? Do the members of your department treat their SCBA like a life-support device, or is it just another tool? Do the members of your department truly understand the SCBA? It takes more than one smoke diver’s course!
The International Fire Service Training Association (IFSTA) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) have good SCBA publications that can assist your department training program. One state produced, and is currently updating, a 90-page document, in a summarized form, of all available published information on SCBA. This helps to fill the void between the books and real life.
When an air pack is checked, what is checked? Is it left to the operator, or is there a standard procedure? A 17-step checklist, such as the one on page 12, is the essential minimum to make sure your life-support equipment is truly ready for use in accordance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 1910.134. The checklist/permanent log is intended to be used by both paid and volunteer firefighters. A checklist should be stored with each SCBA.
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An SCBA should be assigned to a pair of firefighters. A buddy check is a more dependable check. The entire check-out process takes five minutes.
After four years of use, there has been an overwhelming acceptance of and positive response to the checklist. In one department, the reply to Step 9 indicated that half of the department’s air packs were unsafe to use. The units had to be repaired.
How much time do you devote to your SCBA? We’ve found that if a volunteer department spent the first 10 to 15 minutes of each training session discussing the equipment, that SCBA problems vanished. Each member should don, breathe, and then run the unit through the checklist.
Without realistic written policies to which all firefighters are held accountable, SCBA will continue to be a fire service problem. Make use of today’s technology. Provide your firefighters with the necessary resources so they can be true breathing apparatus professionals. Have you overlooked the SCBA problem?
