By Robert Finger Jr.
The warning label on firefighter gear reads: “Firefighting is an ultra-hazardous, unavoidably dangerous activity. This [garment, hood, helmet] will not protect you from all burns, injuries, diseases, conditions or hazards.” Studies in progress and those already completed by Underwriters Laboratories and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have shown that fires do not act the same way they did in structures of old. We hear too many veteran firefighters say, “We have always done it this way, and it works. Why change?” The reality is that we haven’t always done it this way. The fire service only started going inside buildings and putting firefighters in that ultra-hazardous environment with the invention of the self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and turnout gear. If we are going to change the way we fight fires, we need to change the way we train.
Why do fire departments have drill night, practice, muster, or whatever you want to call it? Often, it’s to meet state and federal requirements. We have to provide our firefighters with annual Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Bloodborne Pathogens, Respiratory Protection, and Hazardous Communications training and a litany of other governmental requirements mandated to increase personnel safety. We hold training sessions when we get a new piece of equipment in the firehouse to make sure everyone knows how to operate with it before it is put into use; however, are we really providing training that makes our members safe on the fireground?
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