By Clay Magee
Photos by author except where noted
全国各地有一些常见的消防部门。第一，我们都去火了。两个，我们大多数人跑步EMS。全国许多部门也对运输患者负有额外的责任。消防服务中有许多不同的型号。一些服务，例如殖民地（TX）消防局，纽约消防局和纳什维尔地铁公司的救护车。许多部门，例如我自己的伯明翰（AL）消防和救援服务部，都有消防医务人员staffingtheir transport units. Some departments such as Memphis (TN) Fire Department have fire medics on their units, but they are strictly paramedics when assigned to the ambulance. Some departments such as Miami-Dade (FL) Fire Rescue ride three members on each ambulance, while most departments ride two members on an ambulance.
The use of ambulance crews staffed with fire medics on the fireground adds valuable resources to get the job done. Departments spend thousands of dollars training paramedics to be firefighters and in many places they are underutilized. At the same time, many of these departments have limited staffing, riding engine and truck companies with three personnel. The ambulance on scene is capable of many tasks besides standing by for EMS and departments should strongly consider using them for such tasks. Ambulance crews, as a team of two, can pull an extra line, force doors, throw ladders, conduct a primary search, and performvent enter search (VES)和horizontal或者垂直通风。This is especially true for ambulances arriving first due at the same time as the first-due engine that they are stationed with. Smaller departments often rely on their staffed ambulances for staffing on the fireground and have a noticeable difference in manpower when the ambulance is on an EMS run and a fire call comes in.
反对使用救护人员的最常见论点之一是，他们是初级人员，经验最少。那太好了，但是您如何看待他们在不断被淘汰时会获得经验。浪费了部门设备和纳税人的资金，可以使用这些成员并且不使用。通常，部门似乎正在使用它们来获得ISO点，并帮助他们满足NFPA 1710在纸上的要求，但是实际上，它们并没有完全习惯。应给救护人员的船员提供所有机会，以镇压船员参加培训，以便他们的公司官员和营负责人对他们感到满意，并意识到他们可以进行什么任务。此外，部门应尽一切努力不要将两名初级消防医务人员搭配在一起，而是将一个初级少年与可以监督他们进行监督的高级员工配对。
Now that we’ve covered the reasons to use your ambulance crews and what tasks they can be assigned, let’s look at different setups of ambulances to help future decision in spec’ing your apparatus. Any ambulance that is going to be providing fire suppression activities must have firefighters’ bunker gear and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) readily available for donning on scene. Bunker gear should be in the cab or a cabinet stowed in an easily accessible manner and set up by everyone to his liking to aid in quick donning. I prefer that the officer in charge’s (OIC’s) gear be on the OIC’s side and the driver’s gear be on the driver’s side, including the SCBA (photos 1-3). Often, however, we find the SCBAs grouped together in the driver’s side (photo 4). Another thought to consider is that some compartments don’t allow for a fire medic to place all their gear in a single compartment, forcing them to break it up between multiple compartments (photos 5 and 6). This will lead to a delay in getting gear on and going on air. Whatever setup you go with, spec your apparatus to create ease in donning gear in a timely manner.
Ambulance personnel should have their own complement of tools and these should be based on the jobs members are most likely to perform. The minimum complement for an ambulance should be a set of irons, a hook, and awater can(photo 7). The more tools available, the more jobs your members are capable of. With a set of irons, a hook, and can, the team of two can perform forcible entry for the engine; act as an outside truck takingburglar bars, forcing doors, and controlling utilities; and acting asoutside vent。The hook can be used for outside truck duties as well as assisting the engine with opening up on the inside or as part of a vertical ventilation assignment. The can gives the ambulance crew the protection needed to search independent of the hoseline, especially if they arrive first to a fire in the early stages.
Heavier duty ambulances can be outfitted with even more equipment to increase the number of assignments that the crew can be used for. Other items to consider for equipment include a rotary saw to aid in forcible entry, a chain saw for ventilation, air bags and cribbing for lifting, and VES ladders (an out-of-service ladder cut down to a shorter length) to assist with VES at houses or apartments with higher window sills than normal. If serving a high-rise area, you could even place hose packs on the ambulance to assist with placing more high-rise packs on scene and provide additional personnel during a labor-intensive firefight (photos 8-12, courtesy of Bill McCann).
你的救护车f的可能性ireground are near limitless. With the proper training, your ambulance firefighters can be the extra set of hands you need on the fireground. If your department is paying for and staffing equipped ambulances with fire medics that aren’t being used, then you are wasting taxpayer money. Many studies have been done on staffing and they all conclude that the greater the staffing on the fireground, the better. Training these members is crucial; remember, if you are not comfortable with your ambulance firefighters’ skills, it’s your job to train them. The next time you get ready to sideline your ambulance crew, give them an assignment— it’ll get done quicker than waiting on the next unit to arrive and give your companies better odds at achieving a better outcome.
CLAY MAGEEis an instructor withMagic City Truck Academy和a firefighter/paramedic with Birmingham (AL) Fire and Rescue. He began his career with the East Oktibbeha Volunteer Fire Department in 2004. He has a bachelor’s degree from Mississippi State University and an associate of fire science degree from Columbia Southern University. He has been published in188金宝搏是正规吗和contributes to the Fire Engineering Community. He is an organizer of the Deep South Fire Conference. He has taught HOT classes at the Alabama Fire College, LSU FETI, Metro Atlanta Firefighters Conference, Firemanship Conference Portland, and multiple departments across the state of Alabama.
