NIOSH issues Safety Advisory on setup of aerial ladders
On May 8, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) issued a Safety Advisory entitled “Improper Set-up of Aerial Ladders with a Locking Waterway May Put Fire Fighters at Risk.”
In the notice, NIOSH recommends that all fire departments using aerial ladder trucks with locking (pin-anchored, lever actuated, clamped) waterways immediately take the following actions to reduce the risk of firefighters being struck by unsecured waterways or parts of the waterway:
- “Ensure that Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and/or Guidelines (SOGs) on setting up multi-position waterways include steps to properly position the waterway and to inspect and verify that the locking mechanism [anchoring pin(s), lever, clamps, etc.] is properly installed and functioning as designed before pressuring the waterway.”
- “Properly train and practice the correct method of securing waterways and verifying they are secured (per manufacturer’s recommendations).”
NIOSH is investigating an April 8, 2008, firefighter line-of-duty death that indicates that adhering to manufacturer recommended setup procedures for aerial ladder operations is “paramount to ensuring fire fighter safety.” The pin-anchored waterway design involved in this investigation, NIOSH adds, is not limited to a single model or apparatus manufacturer.
NIOSH is aware of similar incidents that occurred in Delaware; Michigan; New Jersey; Texas; Virginia; and Ontario, Canada, without serious injury. Newer aerial ladder trucks may use different types of anchoring mechanisms or a more fail-safe design, but proper setup still needs to be verified before operation, NIOSH warns.
For a detailed account of the April 8 waterway failure accident, see “The Importance of Training Highlighted in Aerial Waterway Fatality” by William C. Peters in the June 2008 Apparatus Supplement to Fire Engineering.
August 18-22: National Firefighter Health Week
The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) is sponsoring National Firefighter Health Week (NFHW) August 18-22, 2008. It is a time to focus on the importance of nutrition, exercise, and making healthy lifestyle choices. The focus topics of this year’s NFHW are as follows:
- Monday, August 18: Behavioral Health.
- Tuesday, August 19: Nutrition.
- Wednesday, August 20: Heart Health.
- Thursday, August 21: Respiratory and Lung Health.
- Friday, August 22: Diabetes.
For additional information, go to www.healthy-firefighter.org.
ACEP propose solutions for ER “boarding” problems
“Patient boarding is a dangerous trend that results from shortages of staff and hospital beds on other floors,” explains Dr. Linda L. Lawrence, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). She says the ACEP Task Force report “Emergency Department Crowding: High-Impact Solutions” relates how some hospitals have improved patient flow through changes in routine administrative procedures and by freeing additional resources in the emergency department. Nine emergency physicians, in cooperation with The American Hospital Association, which agreed to share it with member hospitals, compiled the report.
In an ACEP survey, nearly 3,000 (2,902) emergency physicians said crowding from inpatient boarding is their leading patient safety concern. For two-thirds of the respondents, crowding was the top concern, followed by the availability of consultants (50%) and nursing shortages (39%).
Among the task force’s recommendations are the following:
- Move admitted patients out of the emergency department to inpatient areas. Each unit’s taking a small number of patients spreads the burden of boarding more evenly throughout the hospital and enables the emergency department to provide better care for emergency patients.
- Coordinate the discharge of hospital patients before noon. Research shows that timely departure from the hospital can significantly improve the flow of patients in emergency departments by making more inpatient beds available to emergency patients.
- Coordinate the scheduling of elective patients and surgical cases. The uneven influx of elective patients (heaviest early in the week) is a prime contributor to exceeding capacity.
The ACEP is also looking to the federal government for relief. It is asking the presidential candidates to offer proposals for addressing emergency department crowding.
Port Authority “negligent” in first World Trade Center bombing
A New York State appeals court agreed with the jury verdict that found the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey negligent in protecting the World Trade Center before the 1993 terrorist attack that killed six people and injured 1,000, according to a report in The New York Times.
A jury in State Supreme Court in Manhattan found in 2005 that the Port Authority did not act to close the center’s underground parking garage, which was vulnerable to an attack. In February 1993, militants detonated explosives in a van parked in the garage.
The court noted in its decision that the Port Authority “had been repeatedly placed on notice of a gaping vulnerability in its subgrade parking facilities … indeed, defendant was repeatedly advised, not simply to the vulnerability, but as to the precise manner in which it could with little practical difficulty be exploited to devastating effect.”
The Port Authority did not say whether it would appeal. “Bombing Verdict Upheld Against Port Authority,” John Sullivan, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/30nyregion/29cnd-bombing.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=…
SFPE backs legislation for building safety
The Community Building Code Administration Grant Act of 2007, introduced in the U.S. Congress, would authorize a grant program through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development providing locally matched federal grants to jurisdictions that want to upgrade their local buildings and fire code administration and enforcement resources. The grants would provide $100 million per year over five years to help local governments employ building and fire code officials to improve building and fire code enforcement in jurisdictions throughout the United States.
Each year in the United States, more than 3,000 people die, thousands are injured, and more than $10 billion in property are lost as a result of fire, according to the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), which is backing passage of the legislation.
“Improved code enforcement will lead to better design and construction practices,” says Chris Jelenewicz, SFPE engineering program manager. “As a result, our nation’s schools, hospitals, shopping centers, homes, and high-rise buildings will be better protected.”
The House version of this legislation (H.R. 4461), sponsored by Congressman Dennis Moore (KS), was referred to the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee. The Senate version (S. 2458), sponsored by Senator Mary Landrieu (LA), was referred to the Senate Banking Committee.
Florida bill mandates placarding of structures with trusses
The Florida legislature passed in May a bill that will require that commercial, industrial, and multiunit residential structures that have lightweight roof or floor trusses have on the outside a placard noting the presence of the trusses to alert firefighters responding to a fire in those structures. At press time, the bill was expected to be signed by Governor Charlie Christ and become effective July 1.
According to Battalion Chief Leigh Hollins of Cedar Hammock (FL) Fire Rescue, single-family homes or duplexes are not covered by the law.
The bill, called the Todd Aldridge-Mark Benge Firefighter Safety Act, is named in honor of two firefighters who died in 1989 at a gift shop fire in Orange County.
The state fire marshal’s office will design the placard, determine where it will be mounted, and set the deadline for complying with the law.
Hollins, who lobbied lawmakers to support the proposal, noted that a grassroots effort helped to get the bill passed. “Firefighter protection law awaits governor’s signature,” Jessica Klipa, Bradenton Herald, May 7, 2008
National EMS Week marked by local events
National EMS Week was celebrated May 18-24. Building around the theme “EMS: Your Life Is Our Mission,” local organizations sponsored various programs to call attention to the dedication of EMS providers. In Ingleside, Texas, for example, the Fire Corps has been promoting the Vial-of-Life project. The program encourages individuals to post their medical information on their refrigerators to assist emergency personnel in administering proper medical treatment.
The Milwaukee (WI) Fire Department held Milwaukee Fire Department Day at Miller Park, the stadium of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team, on May 29. The fire department displayed its special teams (hazmat, heavy urban rescue team, and dive rescue team) and equipment in the morning. Paramedics William Echevarria and Jason Oberg threw out the first pitch at the 12:05 p.m. baseball game between the Brewers and the Atlanta Braves. The two paramedics were honored by the Milwaukee Brewers because they saved a woman from being beaten and robbed while they were on a medical run on Milwaukee’s East Side.
National EMS Week is sponsored by the American College of Emergency Physicians.
Fires in Ford Windstar under NHTSA investigation
Federal regulators are investigating 130 complaints that fires occurred in the engine compartments of Ford Windstar midsize vans from the 1995 to 2003 model years. The Office of Defect Investigations (ODI) at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said a preliminary investigation has been opened to determine the cause of the fires. Thirty-three of the complaints ODI received reported that the fires occurred while the vehicle was parked.
Ford has recalled almost 12 million vehicles since 1999 to repair the cruise control system, suspected as the cause of the fire. The Windstar was not included in Ford’s latest recall as of the end of April. The Ford Motor Co. reportedly says the potential for fire caused by the cruise control switch is small. The NHTSA, in February, urged owners of the recalled vehicles “to go to a Ford or Lincoln Mercury dealer as soon as possible to have the cruise control system disconnected.” The NHTSA noted that a fire could occur even if the speed control is not in use. http://ajc.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Daily+Briefing&expire=&urlID=2863026; “Feds Probe Ford Windstar for Fire Hazard,” Joe Benton, ConsumerAffairs.com, May 19, 2008, http://consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/05/ford_fies8.html;
“Metro” Chiefs elect officers, set agenda
The Metropolitan “Metro” Fire Chiefs Association, a section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), elected officers and board members and established its agenda at its annual conference in Virginia Beach, Virginia, April 25-30.
Among the actions taken at the meeting were the creation of a committee to monitor and provide input for future selection processes for administrators of the United States Fire Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Attendees also passed resolutions expressing unanimous support for initiatives such as the Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes, residential sprinklers, and firefighter health and safety.
The following new officers were elected: presidentChief William “Bill” Stewart, Toronto (Ont., Canada) Fire Services; vice presidentChief William “Shorty” Bryson, Miami (FL) Fire Rescue; secretaryChief Robert “Bob” Hendricks, Lexington (KY) Division of Fire & Emergency Services; and treasurerChief Greg Frederick, Louisville (KY) Fire & Rescue.
Chief Douglas Barry, Los Angeles City (CA) Fire Department, was newly elected to the board. Other board members chosen were Chief (Ret.) Doug Ratto, Stockton (CA) Fire Department, senior board member; Chief Manuel “Manny” Navarro, Colorado Springs (CO) Fire Department, alternate board member; and Chief Keith Richter, Contra Costa County (CA) Fire Department, immediate past president.
Metro Awards for 2008 were announced: Chief William “Shorty” Bryson, Miami (FL) Fire Rescue, Fire Chief of the Year, and Chief (Ret.) Charlie Dickinson, Pittsburgh (PA) Bureau of Fire and former deputy USFA administrator, Lifetime Achievement Award.
Approximately 150 Metro chiefs from the United States, Canada, China, and the United Kingdom attended.
USFA and DOT offer study of traffic incident management systems
Traffic Incident Management Systems (TIMS) guides local-level fire departments in compliance with the Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices and the National Fire Service Incident Management System (IMS) Consortium’s Model Procedures Guide for Highway Incidents. The DOT’s Federal Highway Administration and the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), in conjunction with the International Fire Service Training Association (IFSTA), developed the report, which provides technical guidance and training programs in traffic incident management for fire and emergency service providers.
The project examines technologies and practices designed to cut down on deaths and injuries of emergency service providers while working on roadways.
The manual includes case studies of roadway incidents in which firefighters died, highway scene safety survival basics, and incident command for roadway incidents. It also provides information on the American National Standards Institute/International Safety Equipment Association (ANSI/ISEA) Standard 207, High Visibility Public Safety Vests.
The report can be downloaded at http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/fireservice/research/safety/roadway.shtm#B/.
Firefighters Who Responded to the 2001 WTC Terrorist Attacks Must Register by August 14, 2008, for Benefit Eligibility
If you are a volunteer firefighter who participated in the rescue, recovery, or cleanup at the World Trade Center (WTC)regardless of where you resideyou have until August 14, 2008, to register with the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board to preserve your right to future workers’ compensation benefits.
Most people who worked on WTC operations between September 11, 2001, and September 12, 2002, at any of the following locations are eligible for inclusion on this list:
- The World Trade Center siteanywhere below a line starting from the Hudson River and Canal Street, east on Canal Street to Pike Street, south on Pike Street to the East River, and extending to the lower tip of Manhattan.
- The Fresh Kills Landfill.
- The barges between the west side of Manhattan and the Fresh Kills Landfill.
- The New York City morgue and the temporary morgues on the West Side Piers.
The New York State Workers’ Compensation Board is launching the “Tell Us You Were There” national campaign to reach firefighters/responders. The centerpieces of the campaign are radio and television public service announcements in English and Spanish featuring retired New York Yankee baseball player Bernie Williams. The Board is also contacting directly self-identified workers and employers of workers who likely responded.
For more information, to get a form, or to obtain posters for your fire station, call (1-877)-WTC12-08, or visit www.WTC12.org.
According to a report in the New York Daily News, state health officials report that more than 360 workers who worked at the WTC disaster have died and that 80 of the 154 responders and volunteers who worked at Ground Zero, the blocks nearby, and the Fresh Kills Landfill died of cancer.
The World Trade Center Responder Fatality Investigation Program noted that most of the tumors were in the lungs and digestive system. It has not yet been determined whether the number of cancer deaths was higher or lower than those normally occurring in men in their 20s to 50s who work as cops, firefighters, or laborers, which represent the majority of 9/11 workers.
Line-of-Duty Deaths
April 29. Firefighter Jeremy L. Jylka, 34, Pine City (MN) Fire Department: cause of death unknown.
May 12. Firefighter Tyler Casey, 21, Seneca Area Fire Protection District, Racine, MO: injuries sustained in a tornado on May 10.
May 13. Training Captain Joseph R. Mixon, 51, Birmingham (AL) Fire and Rescue Service Department: cerebrovascular accident.
USFA Firefighters Memorial Database
