Enhancing our Life Line
BY RICK LASKY
The hoseline often is referred to as our “life line” when it comes to getting in and out of structures while fighting fires. And over the years there has been a variety of different ideas and methods for training firefighters to accomplish this when the need arises. The method most often taught is using the couplings on hose to help determine the way out of the fire structure.
Usually accompanying this method is the never-ending discussion of which coupling should be followed to exit a building by following a hoseline. For years, most of us have been taught to follow the female coupling with the directions that “the female coupling points to the outside” and by following it you will find your way out of the building. This is just one approach to using this method being taught in the fire service today.
Most often when a member or team needs to exit a building using a coupling to identify a direction of travel, several difficulties present themselves. First of all, the firefighters are usually in trouble. They may be running out of air, overheated, suffering from heat stress, or lost in the building.
First, determine which coupling is which. Yes, the male coupling most often has bigger lugs than the female, but due to the many different manufacturers of fire hose, this isn`t always the case, so it cannot be relied on for all situations.
No. The Higbee indicator won`t work to identify a coupling because it is too small to feel with or without gloves on and is on both couplings. Remember what it is used for.
Yes, the female coupling does swivel, but only when it is not connected to the male coupling. This is extremely difficult to do with a charged hoseline.
One of the most reliable ways to determine the difference between couplings is that the female almost always has a long, smooth surface away from the lugs (remember, never say “never” or “always” in the fire service)–referred to as the “shaft” or “shank.” It`s also big enough to identify with gloves on. There may be a time, however, when you are so disoriented that all you can do is determine which coupling is which to start to get yourself out and not ever remember some of the longer versions of what to do.
Now that you have identified the couplings, you can simply move in the direction of the male coupling to start working your way out. Remember, go in the direction of the hand that has the male coupling. This is just one of the many ways to find your way out of a building. It`s simple, basic, and reliable. But then again, lack of the basics continues to contribute each year to the fire service line-of-duty deaths. A word of caution: Complacency kills.
In the Darien-Woodridge (IL) Fire District, we purchased the Bernard EASY EXIT System for our attack hoselines. The system was developed by a firefighter who had experienced a personal loss when a firefighter died in a structure fire when he apparently followed the wrong coupling while attempting to get out.
Rubber sleeves, which have a black background and a large yellow arrow on each side, are slipped over existing hoselines. For a 50-foot length of 134-inch hose, one sleeve would be at the center and one three feet in from each coupling for a total of three sleeves/arrows. For 100 feet of 134-inch hose, six sleeves would be used–one three feet in from each coupling, one 25 feet in from each coupling, and one three feet on either side of the middle of the length (50 feet), which should be thought of as a coupling. The idea is to keep everything as consistent as possible.
RICK LASKY, an 18-year veteran of the fire service, is chief of the Coeur d`Alene (ID) Fire Department. He previously was a battalion chief with the Darien-Woodridge Fire District in Darien, Illinois. He is an editorial advisory board member of Fire Engineering and a member of the FDIC Advisory Board.
