FIRE ENGINEERING

FIRE ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENTS

EDITORIAL 6

VOLUNTEERS CORNER 8

Salvage or savage?

TRAINING NOTEBOOK 10

High-rise hose pack innovations

DISPATCHES 16

Accident case resolved

Improved benefits proposed

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 12

EQUIPMENT DIGEST 60

NAMES IN THE NEWS 61

COURSES/COMING EVENTS 62

APPARATUS DELIVERIES 63

MANUFACTURERS’ LITERATURE 65

CLASSIFIEDS 66

READER SERVICE CARD 67

FEATURES

COMMUNICATIONS

MAINTAINING MANUAL DISPATCHING SKILLS 18

A good CAD system can lull its operators into becoming dangerously dependent on it. And if the system shuts down, your dispatchers’ manual communications skills will be the only defense against pandemonium.

BY FRANCIS X. HOLT

TRAINING

DESIGN A TRAINING PROGRAM 22

By systematically organizing a structure for training programs, fire service instructors can help their departments increase firefighter effectiveness while reducing operating costs.

BY JAMES E. SAGE

HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

DECISION GUIDELINES 29

The more training and experience that a rescue team has under its belt, the more likely that correct evaluations will be made during an incident.

BY TOMMY D. CRAWFORD and WILLIAM P. MAHONEY

OXYGEN 40

Although essential for life as we know it, oxygen presents a serious potential danger to emergency responders when it becomes involved In an accidental release.

BY FRANK L. FIRE

PROTECTIVE CLOTHING

CHEMICAL PROTECTIVE SUIT MAINTENANCE 36

In addition to offering some maintenance tips, this article also discusses safety considerations when operating inside a chemical protective suit.

BY ARNOLD MERKITCH

FIRE REPORT

AEROMEXICO PLANE CRASH 48

The strategies and tactics used to mitigate last summer’s air crash disaster that claimed the lives of more than 80 people is reported here, and the attention given to the possibility of post-traumatic stress disorder is discussed.

BY EDWARD R. SHERMAN

SAFETY

WHAT FIRE TRUC…? 54

Tests show that civilians very often don’t hear us coming. Never assume that the right of way will be granted to you—particularly at intersections.

BY LAURENCE F. HATTON

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Hand entrapped in rope gripper

Elevator Rescue: Rope Gripper Entrapment

Mike Dragonetti discusses operating safely while around a Rope Gripper and two methods of mitigating an entrapment situation.
Delta explosion

Two Workers Killed, Another Injured in Explosion at Atlanta Delta Air Lines Facility

Two workers were killed and another seriously injured in an explosion Tuesday at a Delta Air Lines maintenance facility near the Atlanta airport.