FE Volume 144 Issue 7

The Latest

PHOSPHORUS INCIDENT IN COOPER COUNTRY MISSOURI

The Union Pacific Railroad line between Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri, is 250 miles of well-traveled track, much of it winding through rural countryside. Almost midpoint between the two cities lies Cooper County, a farming region just west of Columbia. Missouri.
Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting

EARLY DEFIBRAILIATION FOR ADVANCED CARDIAC LIFE SUPPORT

Each clay approximately 1,000 Americans die of heart attacks before reaching a hospital. Many others die from heart failure resulting from accidents such as drowning, electrocution, and suffocation. About 85 percent of these patients suffer ventricular fibrillation [rapid, irregular twitchings that replace the normal contractions of the muscular walls of the ventricles] immediately after circulation stops.
Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting
EDUCATION AND TRAINING REQUIREMENTS

EDUCATION AND TRAINING REQUIREMENTS

Education and training regarding bloodborne diseases. Understanding the risk differences between Categories 1 (bloodborne) and 2 (airborne) diseases. Knowing how to use personal protective equipment (PPE) and the reasons for its uses. Knowing the procedures for each task to be performed. Knowing the procedures to be followed in an exposure situation. Knowing where to find, how to use, and how to dispose of PPE.
Fire PPEFirefighting Equipment

HAZARDS AT THE COOPER COUNTY DERAILMENT

In addition to the visible hazard of the burning pool of phosphorus, responders were faced with the unknown condition of the car that had been subjected to impact damage and localized heating for almost five hours. Phosphorus, which has a melting point of 110°F, is loaded as a liquid in a closed (piped) system that excludes air.
Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting

More FE Volume 144 Issue 7

BEHIND THE SCENES

This issue contains an account of two very dramatic and courageous rescues accomplished by New York City firefighters. While you read it, I’d like you to keep something in mind, beyond the spotlight, the medals of valor, and the supreme satisfaction that comes from saving lives from certain death, what are rescues all about? Courage, yes. And beyond that? Preparedness, meaning training. The one controllable element in rescue is training.
Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting
PHOSPHORUS (WHITE OR YELLOW)

PHOSPHORUS (WHITE OR YELLOW)

White or yellow phosphorus is a flammable, toxic, corrosive, wax-like, transparent, nonmetallic solid with a disagreeable odor similar to garlic; it will spontaneously ignite in air as it approaches its autoignition temperature. For this reason the product is kept in a vacuum, in an atmosphere of inert gas, or under water to keep it from igniting.
Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting

FIRE FOCUS

What is your size-up outline? What's "real" and what isn't? Do you trust your eyes and experience? Usually, if you can rapidly answer these questions on the foreground, you're in pretty good shape. However, there are problems with temporary structures. What looks like an urban street of "brick and steel" is nothing more than paper, plastic, and wood.
Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting

SCBA TRAINING DRILL

A drill designed by the El Paso (TX) Fire Department to help firefighters obtain maximal air-cylinder capacity from their SCBAs has been the impetus for improving our members’ skills, fitness levels, and health. The drill consists of 14 fireground evolutions performed while wearing SCBA and turnouts.
Firefighter SCBAFirefighting Equipment

TURNOUT GEAR IN THE WATER: SINK OR SWIM?

The fire service is decades behind when it comes to water-related incidents. Not enough attention is paid to safety procedures specific to on or near-water incidents, and lack of training has fostered fear and ignorance that increase the potential for disaster when a firefighter wearing turnout gear accidentally falls into a body of water.
Technical RescueWater Rescue
MANUFACTURES’ LITERATURE

MANUFACTURES’ LITERATURE

HD Electric Co. offers a twopage color flyer illustrating the features and functions of the Versa-Lite™ family of portable lighting. It features the Model R, which has a 250,000 candlepower Quartz Halogen lamp, is cordless and rechargeable, and has a trigger switch with lock-on/off.
Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting
USING LISTENING DEVICES UNDER SPECIAL CONDITIONS

USING LISTENING DEVICES UNDER SPECIAL CONDITIONS

Following are some conditions and equipment that can create interfering signals that overload the device and mask the signal from the victim. Wind. Cover sensors and place them inside the structure if possible. Do not attach sensors to beams extending out of the rubble pile. Weigh down connecting cords to prevent their vibration from carrying into the sensor. Rain, sleet, hail.
Firefighting Equipment
OSHA FINES

OSHA FINES

Less Than Serious: $1,000. This can be reduced up to 80 percent by employer's good faith. Serious: S 1,000 per violation. This can be reduced by 80 percent, depending on employer’s good faith, history of violations, and size of facility. Willful:
Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting

INFECTION CONTROL: PROTECTION EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES

Fire PreventionFire Safety

LIFE SAVING ROPE

MagazineRope RescueTechnical Rescue

COMING EVENTS

Rope RescueTechnical Rescue

SOME NOTES ON FOAM APPLICATIONS ON HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

HazmatTechnical Rescue

SHOULD YOUR DEPARTMENT ADOPT AN EARLY DEFIBRILLATION PROGRAM?

Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting

ATTRACTING RECRUITS: A MATTER OF IMAGE

Fire Service CareerFirefighter Training

EQUIPMENT DIGEST

Firefighter SCBAFirefighting Equipment

CHEMICAL DATA NOTEBOOK SERIES #62: HYDROGEN SULFIDE

HazmatTechnical Rescue

EMS IN THE FIRE SERVICE: YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW

Fire EMSFirefighting

TRAINING PAYS OFF

Rope RescueTechnical Rescue

LISTENING DEVICES IN HEAVY SEARCH AND RESCUE

Technical Rescue

FIRE ENGINEERING

Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting
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