Question: What recent change in the fire service has influenced your department most over the past 10 to 20 years?
THE SAYING GOES, “THE FIRE service is 150 years of tradition unimpeded by progress.” I’m not sure where that quote came from, but it would seem that its “author” hasn’t been around the fire station in awhile.
Looking back more than 32-plus years (I kept up with the job before coming on because my father was also a firefighter) of this occupation, I can vouch for many changes: self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) use, the incident command system (ICS), positive-pressure ventilation (PPV), and automatic nozzles, to name a few. I believe that the most significant advancement in the fire service over the past 20 years has been the application of the ICS to structural firefighting. Nothing has done more to bring control and coordination to the fire scene. If applied correctly, it standardizes all fireground operations and should virtually stop freelancing (we all know that freelancing kills) and provides for an accounting of all fireground personnel.
-John “Skip” Coleman, assistant chief, Toledo (OH) Department of Fire and Rescue, is author of Incident Management for the Street-Smart Fire Officer (Fire Engineering, 1997) and Managing Major Fires (Fire Engineering, 2000), a technical editor of Fire Engineering, and a member of the FDIC Educational Advisory Board.
Rick Lasky, chief,
Lewisville (TX) Fire Department
Response: Ten or 20 years may not seem like that much time in the grand scheme of things, but when you really take a hard look at how far some fire departments have come-the fire service as a whole, for that matter-a lot can happen in that time span. Our SCBAs changed, turnout gear improved, apparatus seemed to grow in size overnight, and there were innovations and improvements in our tools and training. We also became a little more health conscious. And yet, even with the progress, many fire departments have still managed to hold on to their heritage and many fire service traditions.
We’ve come so far, and yet we have so far to go. When it comes to enhancing firefighter health and safety, training in firefighter survival, continuing to work at being “good” at the basics, and fire prevention, we’re never finished. The day we think we are, we need to pack it in and move on down the road, because we’re a half step away from catastrophe. I’m a traditionalist when it comes to what the fire service is all about and why it’s so very special, but hanging onto something just for the sake of hanging onto it can often lead to blindness and something really bad.
Looking back at the major influences for our fire department in the past 10 to 20 years, several areas jumped at us. Our operational and administrative staffing changed; our apparatus, equipment, protective clothing, and tools all improved; and we grew as a department. We implemented a variety of new operating methods and returned to some we had discontinued. We were able to reinstill in many of our members the pride and ownership that made them what they are today-a highly regarded and respected fire department. We got better as a team.
The “topper,” if you will, the one thing that really changed how we operate day to day and has enhanced how we operate administratively and operationally, was adding the position of field incident technician (battalion chief’s aides or drivers in most areas). The aide is an invaluable partner for the battalion chief and allows the battalion chief to be just that, a battalion chief.
Thomas Dunne, deputy chief,
Fire Department of New York
Response: You’d probably have to go back to the transition from horse-drawn fire engines to duplicate the level of change our department has experienced in the past 20 years.
First, there are the technological changes. Bunker gear, thermal imaging cameras (TICs), and the issuing of fireground radios to every firefighter have all influenced the efficiency and safety of our job.
Then there are the procedural changes. The role of the rapid intervention team (RIT) has been established and refined. Roof-venting tactics have been altered in response to the dangers of truss construction. The assimilation of EMS responsibility has increased our workload and training requirements.
But, I think the greatest change stems from the nature of the challenges we currently face. The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a wake-up call. The 2001 attack was an outright shock to our organizational and emotional systems. The prospect of terrorist attacks, mass casualties, and hazardous materials situations has redefined our department’s mission. Training, equipment, and expertise have all been radically upgraded in the past six years. There is also a heightened awareness of the need to work effectively with other agencies. I think these considerations have left us with a very different perspective of our job and the world around us.
FDNY recruits of the 1920s and 1930s probably could not have imagined a job that once required feeding and cleaning horses every day. My generation of firefighters never envisioned that we would have much to fear beyond the “normal” high-rise, tenement, and taxpayer fires with which we have always dealt.
Gary Seidel, chief,
Hillsboro (OR) Fire Department
Response: The fire service of 200 years ago looked at itself as a one-service organization. However, the fire service of today (from the 1960s forward) has expanded its perspective and vision by looking at the community’s sociological and economical values. We are also more cognizant of legal and political issues being raised and are now responding in one voice to these issues. We are also addressing and embracing new technological measures that enhance our prevention, mitigation, and education. So, as we continually look toward the future, our realm of “all-hazards” response is holding true.
Our biggest change here is the need to provide more services as we continue to enter into the “all-hazards” emergency/nonemergency business. We now rely on alternative funding sources to support our budgets. We spend considerable time determining workload indicators to justify our staffing levels. We are continually training to meet our all-hazards challenges.
As far as response is concerned, people will continue to require our services, and we will always respond with trained professionals, using technology that allows us to do our jobs safely, with adequate, safe staffing to accomplish the tasks, minimizing our risks and supporting our all-hazards holistic mission.
Bobby Shelton, firefighter,
Cincinnati (OH) Fire Department
Response: In recent years, we have seen some significant changes in training, responses, resources, and technology. In my opinion, these changes are the results of the death of Firefighter Oscar Armstrong III on March 21, 2003. He was killed in the line of duty in a flashover in a single-family dwelling fire caused by food that was left unattended on the stove. That tragedy, I believe, was the impetus for changes within my department.
In the past four years, we have obtained our own flashover simulator to educate recruits and incumbent firefighters on the signs of impending rollover/flashover and how to combat it. We have built our own two-story house with electricity, appliances, and furniture so we can practice RIT techniques with rooms specifically designed for the Nance and Denver drills. We have built a mask confidence trailer/maze to practice air-conservation techniques and getting out alive. We have changed our response configuration so that a reported one-alarm dispatch consists of two engine companies, two truck companies, two district chiefs, one rapid assistance team, one paramedic ambulance, and one heavy rescue. We added a second heavy rescue/haz-mat company so that our response capabilities are doubled. Now, we are looking at possibly making some sweeping changes in our EMS system. All of these things have come about within the past four years.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with tradition. It plays a part in who and what we are. There is absolutely nothing wrong with change, as long as it is not for change’s sake or with no purpose. Change and tradition can work hand in hand. It just has to be done correctly. Our department is nowhere near where it could be, but it certainly is a lot closer than it was four years ago. And I wonder where we would be today if Oscar had not died.
In the final analysis, I think that the “150 years of tradition unimpeded by progress” statement has become archaic and should be discontinued in the fire service. Progress-large or small, sweeping or not-is still progress. Quite a few of us have been encouraged by some of the progress made within the fire service so that we have become agents of change within our organizations. The changes we make now will influence firefighters 25 years from now, so they will never hear the phrase “175 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress.”
Mike Mason, lieutenant,
Downers Grove (IL) Fire Department
Response: The changes seen by the fire service over the past 20 years for the most part are unbelievable and are saving civilian and firefighter lives. The fire service has incorporated imaging technologies, safety practices, firefighter rescue and survival innovations, engine and truck operations, improved operational tactics and strategies, command competencies, auto extrication technologies, and technical rescue techniques, to name a few.
We are experiencing the benefits of computer technologies in mobile databases, global positioning systems, computer preplanning, digital training software, and radio communications that have been expanding by leaps and bounds.
Leadership and education have provided new insights in educating and managing fire departments and their members with incredible productive and meaningful results. New advances in and better understanding of risk management and scene safety are also being realized and incorporated into fire departments and the fireground. We also are providing and participating in proactive health and fitness programs that are improving our endurance while reducing unnecessary injuries and deaths.
Better understanding of and applications in high-rise firefighting have improved our abilities to protect life and property. Applying initial action plans and better tactical approaches to managing and improving the fireground is continuously evolving.
In addition, our department is looking into many new innovative procedures and technologies in the areas of foam operations, positive-pressure applications in high-rise firefighting, innovative gas detection systems, interior tracking technologies during firefighting, accountability systems, respiratory protection equipment, and clothing/personal protective equipment (PPE) that will help improve all our endeavors in planning, responding, and firefighting.
Improvements in life safety products have automated accountability and emergency signaling systems, voice and radio communications in personnel accountability reports, and evacuation signaling capabilities. Other innovations have been incorporated into our department’s abilities to handle not only structural firefighting but also hazardous materials and technical rescues. Other new products involve advanced collapse and forcible entry tools and technologies, monitoring meters, hazardous protection suits and equipment along with rescue struts, air lifting bags, pneumatic impact tools, and a host of other technical rescue innovative equipment.
Craig H. Shelley,
fire protection advisor
Response: In the industrial sector, the most recent change affecting departments now and that will continue to affect them in the future is the technology that allows high-volume water delivery. When I served in the municipal arena, 1,000-gpm pumpers were the norm; 1,500-gpm pumpers were rare. FDNY had 2,000-gpm pumpers for use in its “Maxi-Water System”; this was virtually unheard of in other municipal departments. For industry, the flow rates needed for large process unit fires-in particular, storage tank fires-necessitated innovative solutions. Large-capacity pumpers and portable pumps were the first step. Our department uses 4,000-gpm pumpers as our standard response apparatus. Five-inch hose is used for supply and discharge to portable ground monitors. For larger, sustained high-volume flows, industrial fire departments and third-party companies have gone to 12-inch hose and high-volume monitors.
A 10,000-gpm trailer-mounted monitor supplied by two trailer-mounted portable pumps using 12-inch hose for supply and discharge can now be placed in service. The technology to quickly deploy this equipment is now available. Foam delivery systems that work with this high-volume equipment are also available, so large-diameter storage tanks previously thought impossible to extinguish can now be successfully extinguished.
Radio communications, tracking devices, and thermal imaging cameras have also had a profound impact on our firefighting operations. I urge municipal departments to explore the feasibility of using high-volume water delivery systems.
Jeffrey Schwering, lieutenant,
Crestwood (MO) Department of Fire Services
Response: Improved training has been our biggest improvement in the past 10 to 20 years. Innovative training has strengthened our department on numerous levels. We are expected to do much more than fight fires. By understanding the growing requirements of the fire service, my department has been able to improve training programs within the department to meet the needs of our firefighters and citizens.
We participate in multidepartmental training in rapid intervention teams, large-area search teams, and hazardous materials, to name a few areas that would have been unheard of years ago. This interagency cooperation continues to improve department relations and firefighter health and safety. Through better relationships, we improve the level of service we provide to our citizens.
My department has realized the increased need for preincident planning, increased knowledge of building construction, and company officer-level training to ensure our members’ safety.
Although many positive changes have taken place at my department, the training and safety of our personnel are the main priorities. A proactive approach to training all members allows for a positive outcome at the end of the shift.
Matt Weil, captain,
North Oakland County (MI) Fire Authority
Response: The largest change our department has dealt with started about 10 years ago and is still influencing us daily. Up to that time, a local volunteer ambulance took care of all EMS calls. We fought fires and provided extrication, as most fire departments did. At first, we would run an EMS call here and there when the ambulance was unavailable or tied up on other calls-one or two calls a month rapidly turned into two or three calls a day. One night, our phone rang. It was the director of the ambulance service. He announced that it had closed up shop. “EMS is all yours,” he said.
Since then, our department has transitioned from an EMS agency that provided limited first responder medical responses to a full-service advanced life support (ALS) transporting fire department. That transition has increased our budget from about $200K to just shy of $1 million. We are adding full-time positions-most recently a chief-to keep up with training, safety, and other mandated requirements in addition to meeting day-to-day operational issues. Our responses have shifted drastically since inheriting EMS; 80 percent of our calls are related to EMS. We have fewer fire and vehicle accident calls these days. I would think this is the case with many departments.
Michael Coleman, fire service instructor,
Burlington County, NJ
Response: In the 33 years I have spent in emergency services, the biggest change has been the availability of grant funding from the federal government. These funds have made it possible for small volunteer companies to make needed improvements they could not afford before. The government’s recognition of our needs and its support allow us to make the much-needed changes and to comply with the latest standards.
Randall W. Hanifen, lieutenant,
West Chester (OH) Fire-Rescue
Response: So many changes in training, equipment, and procedures have occurred that I can hardly remember the fire service of 24 years ago. However, an external factor has most influenced our department: the rapid growth in population in the suburban areas. Twenty years ago, our department served a very small population, and the majority of the firefighters were volunteers. Today, we serve a population greater than 60,000. This has altered the makeup of our department in every aspect.
All personnel were changed to on-station; the majority of the workforce are career employees. Our apparatus changed from individualized pieces of equipment, such as a ladder truck and rescue truck, to multifunctional equipment such as quint apparatus and rescue pumpers. Our number of fire inspections, mandated training hours, and areas of training have grown rapidly. Stations that once needed only a recreation room for those stopping by the station have been converted to full-function firehouses capable of accommodating a platoon shift schedule. The number of stations has doubled.
Also, the hazards have continued to grow. Not only do we now cover 1.2-million-square-foot distribution centers, but we also cover numerous multiple-story buildings. Although these hazards and population rates seem miniscule to large cites, the struggle to provide services to accommodate all of these changes without unlimited funding has most influenced our department over the past 20 years.
Roger A. McGary, chief,
Silver Spring (MD) Fire Department
Response:, has led to improvements in every aspect of our response to incidents: Changes in protective clothing, respiratory protection, rapid intervention, and command have their beginnings in NFPA 1500. The roots for every new piece of equipment, new standard adopted, and new technology applied can be traced to NFPA 1500.
Billy Jack Wenzel, training/safety officer,
Wichita (KS) Fire Department
Response: So many changes in the way we do business have occurred in my 27 years in the department. The introduction of computers allowed us to dispose of carbon paper and the different colors of correction fluid used in handwritten reports. Wash-and-wear hose eliminated the need for hose towers and the dreaded hanging of hose. Technology has certainly caught today’s fire service; I could not even have dreamed of much of the high-tech stuff in the early 1980s.
However, I believe the change that most influenced the fire service was the introduction of the ICS. We introduced ICS in the middle 1980s. It met with the usual resistance to change-“Now we are going to talk the fires out.” But, in fact, it completely changed the fireground. Before ICS, there was little fireground management, no real risk analysis, and no accountability. It was fun in a chaotic, reckless way and very dangerous. Before ICS, we were effective in spite of ourselves and did not appear very professional in our response. ICS changed all of those negatives.
In a time when fire departments were being downsized, ICS became a management tool that allowed us to do more with less. Accountability and the overall priority of firefighter safety became the goals. Fireground officers began to engage fire in terms of risk vs. benefit. ICS ushered in the era of the professional fire service and gave us a model for professionally managing the fireground.
I know firefighters who have argued that ICS has killed more firefighters than it has saved, but I disagree. We owe a debt to all of the contributors to today’s ICS. I think it is what makes us professional in our emergency response. All emergency services should embrace it.
Ed Herrmann, captain,
Boynton Beach (FL) Fire Rescue
Response: After being a part of the same department for more than 19 years, I would have to agree that there isn’t much that hasn’t changed over that time. That being said, there is no question that what has changed and improved our organization more dramatically than anything else was the leadership.
Our present chief was brought in “from the outside” around 10 years ago, during a low point for our department (infighting, investigations, grievances, and so on). His first actions were to mend fences with the union board while setting up a system in which input from the troops was not only accepted but strongly encouraged. Teams were created to divide the issues of the department into logical groupings; everyone down to the newest probie was encouraged to attend the committees’ meetings. From these meetings came new policies, standard operating guidelines, training topics, specifications for equipment (trucks, gear)-and, above all, the feeling of “pride in ownership.”
While this was happening at our level, the chief was working to create his competent and professional staff and gain the respect of the city’s administration. He accomplished this so well that when our city manager developed a significant illness, our chief filled his seat for the duration of the illness. Our chief also was named Chief of the Year for our state.
Joseph D. Pronesti, captain,
Elyria (OH) Fire Department
Response: The greatest change is the decrease in fire duty. Nationally, fires, fortunately, have been decreasing at a steady rate; my department is no exception. This is a wonderful thing; however, it directly affects members’ skills and expertise in fighting the fires that occur. Sure, we can train and study, but the lack of fire duty and the increase of EMS runs, I believe, have led to a focus that can sometimes be too complacent. A typical member of our department, with all the contractually permitted time off, may be lucky or unlucky, depending on how you look at it, to see one or two fires year. This number is not nearly enough to make you comfortable with your skills in fire attack and all the other areas associated with a successful and safe fireground.
Firefighters cannot let down their guard. Fire officers must constantly keep themselves and those under their command mentally, physically, and tactically ready to meet the fire potential in their community. This means employing self-study, becoming familiar with the buildings in our area, and exploring technology that can help us be better prepared, such as preplanning programs, fire simulators, and computer programs. These programs need to be at our fingertips in the firehouse.
D. Scott Shelton, training officer,
Baton Rouge (LA) Fire Department
Response: I have heard that cliché as long as I have been associated with this profession. It is often said with a whole lot of sarcasm and just a hint of pride, but this is not your father’s fire service any longer.
The most notable changes in our department have been the technological advances and the amount of education and training required to stay on the cutting edge. Chief Tim Sendlebach said in his 2007 FDIC General Session address: “The fire service is no longer a blue collar profession.” I agree wholeheartedly with this statement. The number of recruits with college degrees now outnumbers those without. Twenty years ago, even 10 years ago, the opposite would have been true.
Twenty years ago, no one could have envisioned the impact computers would have on the fire service. They permeate every aspect of our department-training presentations, training records, staffing and payroll, incident and prefire planning. They have become invaluable. Computers even have a prominent place on responding apparatus. Company officers and chief officers now have two choices-keep up with the computer advances or become lost in the wake of those who embrace this change.
Never in the history of the fire service have we as a public service agency been required to be so diverse. So I say, “150 years of progress encouraged by tradition? This is not your father’s fire service.”
Robby Samuel, lieutenant,
Elsmere (KY) Fire District
Response: Having been in charge of training since 2000, I have seen plenty of change-and from my position, most of it hasn’t been for the good. To start with, most training now involves a computer or a television. The fire service is more worried about specialized training instead of the everyday calls to which we respond. It is great that we can slide down a ladder upside down; but if we train correctly, maybe we could instruct students in the signs they should look for and in the proper hands-on fire control so that the fire doesn’t get to the point where they have to jump out the window upside down. Only so much can be learned from a video. Burning straw and wood pallets doesn’t give students a realistic view of fire behavior. If we don’t train our people properly, we have no one to blame for our failures but ourselves.
The biggest change in our department has been regulations from various sources that tell you how to properly train. I highly doubt whether the people who make these have ever been involved in firefighting. Firefighting is like sports, and you have to practice like you play. I understand that safety is number one, but this is a dangerous profession. Sometimes, you can do everything right and still have bad outcomes. If we have good training in the fundamentals, a lot of other things will take care of themselves.
Andy Marsh, captain,
Mount Oliver (PA) Fire Department
Response: Two items come quickly to mind: the incident command system and an accountability system. Of these two, I would say our department was most influenced by and is dedicated to a good accountability system. We developed and incorporated an accountability system shortly after the Bricelyn Street fire in which the city of Pittsburgh lost three firefighters on February 14, 1995. Our town is completely bordered by Pittsburgh, and we certainly felt the loss. We have improved our accountability system over the years and are still very much dedicated to our team concept of accountability. We use it and the ICS on every call no matter what the incident. When mutual-aid departments come into our town, they use our system, because we are accountable for them as they are accountable to us, to their department, and to their families.
Under one accountability system, we work under the concept of one big department: Regardless of the home stations of the teams working together, we know where everyone is without question, because every team after the initial entry teams must go through accountability before going to their assigned task. The initial teams must tag at their assigned ring before entry. Our hydrant man, who is our accountability officer, collects all tags and maintains that position until he is properly relieved. Our rationale is that we will always have a hydrant man at major incidents; therefore, we will always have an accountability officer. For those incidents where we don’t need a hydrant, the officer of the apparatus appoints one; if we need two or more hydrants, there will be two accountability officers, for the front and rear of the buildings. All of our fireground firefighters are well trained in both. It is a quarterly requirement in our department. We also have worked and will continue to work with our mutual-aid companies to ensure its fluidity at major incidents. The lack of fireground accountability used to be one of the top five causes of firefighter deaths and injuries, according to a Fire Engineering survey some years ago. Hopefully, now all fire departments have implemented an accountability system and that frightful statistic is no more.
Brian K. Singles, firefighter,
Hampton (VA) Fire Department
Response: There have been quite a few changes in our department during the past 20 years (I have been here for 25 years). Probably the most positive changes have been improvements in safety equipment and the first-class fire apparatus we added and replaced in the past 20 years. Turnout gear has gotten lighter and protects better. Breathing apparatus has also gotten lighter and is more efficient and easier to don and doff.
Twenty years ago, there was no such thing as a TIC, which is a huge help for firefighters searching for victims in smoky environments. Hydraulic rescue tools have also changed for the better. They are much lighter and stronger than their predecessors and have been improved many times in the past 20 years.
Fire apparatus has also gone through many changes in that time period. Tailboarding and riding in open canopies are long gone. Today’s fire apparatus have enclosed cabs with heat in the winter and air-conditioning in the summer. The new-generation firefighter will never know what it was like to ride in the open and get the “wind blown rain and snow in your face feeling.” There are larger, more efficient motors for running the fire truck’s pump and hydraulic system and an onboard generator for lighting up the night sky and all the other small safety equipment on today’s fire apparatus.
Twenty years ago, first-due fire engines and ladders carried little or no ALS equipment. Today, they carry not only more advanced ALS equipment but also the ALS providers. Let’s not forget the lighter fire hose and its multitasking nozzles of all sizes, types, and shapes. Without them, we couldn’t do our jobs every day. I believe that the fire service has changed for the better, and I can bet you that our firefighting forefathers are very proud of these changes, too.
Paul J. Urbano, captain,
Anchorage (AK) Fire Department
Response: This question gave me an opportunity to interview several members of our department with at least 20 years on the job. Here are the highlights.
Safety: We’ve seen a cultural shift in our focus toward safety-more fitness and seat belts, less freelancing, better accountability and accident reporting, improved policies, PPE, annual physicals, and individually assigned portable radios.
Apparatus, tools, and equipment: They are more computerized, complex, and customized; four-door cabs, compressed air foam systems (CAFS), SCBAs, TICs, PPE (structural turnouts, wildland, EMS, and specialty team).
Education and training: Many of our newly hired members have college degrees. To remain competent and safe in today’s fire service, every day must be a training day.
Staffing: The number of personnel has grown significantly over the years; however, most of our members have only a few years on the job or in rank. That lack of experience demands increased training.
Fire prevention: In our recent reorganization, our former Fire Prevention Division was divided into the Fire Marshal’s Office and Public Affairs to better meet the needs of the community. Managing public affairs is crucial, since we are inundated with requests daily.
Nonfire response: In addition to an enormous increase in EMS response, specialty teams abound-dive, swiftwater, hazmat, trench, confined space, collapse, back country, and high angle.
Some other things that have changed the way we do business include lightweight construction, smoke detectors, CO detectors, sprinklers, gypsum board, cell phones, driving while intoxicated/driving under the influence (DWI/DUI) laws, and automobile air bags, just to name a few.
Unimpeded by progress? No way! It’s a struggle to keep up with the ever-changing, increasingly complex fire service.
Skip Heflin, captain/training officer,
Hall County (GA) Fire Services
Response: I work for a county fire department in a suburb of Atlanta. For my department, the most influential change has been growth. Our community has grown significantly; we have entire subdivisions and commercial complexes where forests used to be. The growth has been in every area, not just in the size of the department, which has tripled in the past 20 years. Our county’s population has doubled, and the days of responding only to fire and medical calls are long gone. We now respond to hazmat and carbon monoxide calls and technical rescues. Because of our new responsibilities, we carry new tools and equipment, and our training requirements are more than doubled. The divisions that support our department have grown along with us.
With all that growth, our experience base is much thinner than it used to be. Managing the growth has become a large issue for us; succession planning is something we are learning, and we are training young and often inexperienced officers. Growth in industry technologies has allowed us to leverage new innovations in protective equipment and vehicles while increasing our budgets. Departments that can realize growth create change and empower their firefighters to embrace both the growth and change, to be proactive and stay ahead of the growth, and to remain prepared. The fire service many times struggles to keep up with the times; we have to learn to anticipate our needs and plan to manage the growth we experience.
Derek Williams, captain,
Mesa (AZ) Fire Department
Response: Tradition vs. change has always been and most likely always will be a significant component of fire service culture. It is no secret that firefighters don’t like change. However, I believe that we have become more receptive to change and its effects on our industry. With the recent tragic history of domestic and foreign terrorism in America, the fire service has had to accept this change as part of doing business.
Our department has seen the effects of this change. We now have two squad/heavy rescue companies trained in special operations, including weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and mass-casualty incidents. We have purchased and equipped two large apparatus for metropolitan medical response (mass casualty) and WMD. We have trained our entire membership in gross decontamination procedures and response to mass-casualty incidents, including START triage. Our EMS and training sections have been challenged to find the time to train our members on new procedures and equipment related to these needs.
In addition to training and equipment, standard operating guidelines (SOGs) have changed to reflect such things as secondary devices during explosions and investigations of unknown substances. Coverage of areas during special events as well as preplans of high-risk occupancies now include a terrorist threat assessment and plan.
I don’t think any issue has directly changed the way our department does business more since the 1970s than when we decided to take on the additional duties of emergency medicine. Terrorism and mass-casualty preparation affects every aspect of our department, from training, education, and equipment needs to budget concerns to SOGs. All these issues, and more, have been affected by America’s recent history and shall forever be changed.
