More historical tidbits
I read Battalion Chief Rick Fritz’s “TV Shows as Historical Record” in Letters to the Editor in the March 2013 issue. Looking back at TV’s Emergency, I’d like to add to the dialogue.
The show was in black and white and goes back to 1958-1959. Skip and Wes are responding to save the day. Actors Jim Davis and Lange Jeffries raced across the screen in a red panel truck from Los Angeles County (CA) Fire Department, known as Rescue 8. Cameron and Johnson were the 1950s Johnny and Roy before EMTs and paramedics.
Telephones were rotary dialed; phonograph records were 45 and 78 revolutions per minute. America’s favorite cars were the T-Bird and the ’57 Chevy. Fire alarm boxes dotted the street corners. Nobody called 911. Tapper bells and gongs were on fire station walls. A brass slide pole got you to the apparatus floor. A “joker” or ticker-tape machine and reel punched out alarm codes. You stepped into rubber boots and pulled them up to mid-thigh. Fire coats were canvas duck or rubber. We wore Cairns “Senator” aluminum fire helmets. We boarded the rear step and hung onto the rail as the truck pulled into the street. The Federal Q siren accompanied by the officer’s clanging the big fender-mounted bell broke the silence.
Adrenalin rushed as you smelled “wood smoke.” A working fire. Smoke showing. You’d pull a booster line off the squad and attack the fire with 800 pounds per square inch fog using the “Bean Gun” nozzle while the engine company laid line and caught a plug (hydrant). Truckies threw up wooden extension ladders. On occasion, it was a 50-foot Bangor with tormentor poles (one heavy ladder).
You’d enter under the smoke line sucking on a “gagger” mouthpiece attached to a filter can in a canvas bag. Firefighters who were lucky had full face pieces attached. Some used a Chemox® mask. Your eyes stung and watered. Your nose ran. You coughed and choked. Finally, you’d bail out into fresh air. Dropping to your knees, you’d upchuck your lunch on the sidewalk. You’d take a “hit” of oxygen. Then you’d ask for a cigarette. Your face was smudged and blackened with soot. SCBA were just letters in the alphabet.
Some call them “good ole days.” Well, those of us still left are lucky. I don’t miss the beating the fire gave us then. I do miss the outdoor drive-in theaters, the 10-cent fountain Cokes, and filling up the gas tank with $3. I’m in my 49th year of eating smoke and am still living the dream. Keep the history alive.
Michael R. Hargreaves Sr.
Firefighter/EMT
Union-Lakeville Fire Territory
Mishawaka, Indiana
Times have changed but not our language
I was having a conversation with a chief from the Fire Department of New York while at the Fire Department Instructors Conference. We were discussing a rapid intervention team scenario where a firefighter fell through the floor about four feet into the front foyer of a house. The firefighter ended up in the basement. The question was, what would be a solution for rescuing this firefighter? I thought a ground ladder into the hole to access the basement and the trapped member. But, this is not the reason I wrote this letter.
I proceeded to tell the chief why I thought this can happen. We use the statement: “If you can’t see your feet, you had better get off them.” Does this sound familiar? Well, the firefighter above probably followed the rules and most likely could see his feet as he first entered the foyer. I have forced doors; the smoke rises out of the top, and fresh air rushes in from the bottom. This action creates a wedge effect that allows us to crouch and duck walk until encountering smoke several feet in. The trap has been set. The lightweight construction is burned away or at least weakened, but the tile foyer gives the impression it is a solid floor.
There is another old saying that is more appropriate for today’s construction: “You have to crawl before you can walk.” When you do get to your feet, maintain three points of contact. This is done by keeping a tool out in front of you. I saw a blind man navigating down the street very well that way.
Another situation in which the feet advice would be inappropriate is at below-grade incidents. I’m not talking only fires now. Imagine an old commercial building with a sprinkler break. You are sent to the basement to shut off the water. There is an inch or so of water, and you are sloshing around looking for the valve. Suddenly, you are swimming for your life because you stepped into an old boiler pit left open after the boiler was removed. But you could see your feet! You may be alone-after all, there is no fire, and it is only a water leak. The radio is soaked and probably doesn’t work now, and the PASS alarm will not help because it is underwater or still in the rig attached to the self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).
In the previous scenario with a smoke condition, the thermal imaging camera (TIC) would not have helped either. The TIC can’t distinguish between an inch of water and 10 feet of water. Again, three points of contact would have saved the firefighter. The tool was probably in his hands anyway. The TIC allowed the firefighter to see, and it’s a concrete floor, which felt solid.
Here is another statement: “You must wear your SCBA in immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH) atmospheres.” But, how do you know? Do you bring a meter on every call? Maybe we should. I recently saw a carbon monoxide (CO) meter on a medical bag. Genius! I have been on multiple calls where I developed flu-like symptoms and a headache that easily could have been CO poisoning. We all know that people should have working CO detectors; however, many do not. CO, as you know, is smoke you can see through. I feel the meter should also have an oxygen (O2) sensor. Recently, there have been incidents involving cryogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) leaks in restaurant basements that resulted in injury to firefighters and civilians. These containers are used for carbonate soda and last longer than standard gas cylinders. This is another clear-looking environment with simple asphyxiants. You may be thinking, Does this guy want us to wear an SCBA on every call? No. But, I do think we can be more cautious and that maybe IDLH should stand for “it doesn’t look healthy.” A closed-up environment with several sick people is not healthy.
We should be more careful in what we say vs. what we mean. Remember, those rookies, probies, johnnies, boots, candidates, and green shields are listening.
Paul R. LaRochelle
Lieutenant
Worcester (MA) Fire Department
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