Crew Resource Management: A Key Component In Fire Fighter Safety

Additionally, the Fire Chief and his administration are ultimately responsible for the safety and well being of the department. Safe work practices are paramount at all levels of the fire service. My department addresses these areas through the National Firefighter Safety Down Day where current issues and concerns with firefighter safety are address, and teaching material is presented to improve overall safety.

There are many areas in the fire service where potential lawsuits and liability can arise; some of these areas include, but are most definitely not limited to negligence, hazing, and not following the fire department’s SOPs/SOGs. As our society has changed, so has its expectations of those in emergency services—while many in the community may think of firefighters as the pinnacle of what an upstanding citizen must look like, there are countless moral and ethical pitfalls that firefighters can fall prey to and diminish the reputation of the fire service.

The importance of accountability in the fire service is paramount. Whether it is being on time to school or handing my accountability tag to the officer at the front of a burning building, the imprint that the fire academy made on me with regards to accountability is prodigious. I do my best every day to be accountable for myself because I know that if I cannot hold myself accountable I cannot be a leader in the classroom, on the athletic field, or in my community. Although I have not been in the fire service for a long time, it is abundantly clear that helping my community and helping people are not always invigorating experiences. Even though the majority of calls are false alarms or routine incidents, it is importance that the community feels safe. Being a part of the fire department allows me to instill a sense of security in people because they know that even on the worst day of their life someone will be there to help them. Even on the worst day of someone’s life he or she can smile because of a simple action of either saving pictures or helping them cover valuable items when water is being sprayed into their home. I have learned that simple acts of kindness can completely change someone’s mood and I have implemented this

Our employees have the benefit of a safety first oriented work environment and will not experience retaliation when bringing any safety concerns

NIOSH found the following (2009) Ensure that fire fighters receive essential training consistent with national consensus standards on structural firefighting before being allowed to operate at a fire incident, develop, implement, and enforce written standard operating procedures (SOPs) for fireground operations, ensure that fire fighters are trained to follow the two-in/two-out rule and maintain crew integrity at all times, ensure that adequate numbers of apparatus and fire fighters are on scene before initiating an offensive fire attack in a

While dangerous work like firefighting often requires decisive and quick action against one of nature’s most destructive elements, do the inherent risks of firefighting justify risky decision-making by officials? In this dangerous and often daring line of work, when is the line between protecting the public and protecting public employees crossed – and who is responsible when that line is crossed?

The safety of my crew is a responsibility that I take personally. I will utilize any and every tool available to me to ensure that they go home safely. Many fire fighters have been seriously hurt or killed do to unrecognized flashover conditions. Under appropriate circumstances, a “transitional attack” can be

The program outlines the requirements of the Reading Fire Department Command Staff and Reading Fire Department members. All members are responsible for their personal safety. The safety of Reading Fire Department is the number One priority of the Reading Fire Department Command Staff. Understanding the inherent risks involved with fire suppression and other critical tasks, the goal is to minimize and manage the

Being a first-responder is an incredibly challenging yet rewarding career choice. Facing possible death in the hope of saving life is as noble of a cause as it gets. Fortunately, with proper training, methods to make proper decisions in highly time sensitive moments. Also, allocating resources properly to address the situation at hand is necessary in order to best utilize these resources for success. Typically, unlike the military, first-responders operate on a majority rules basis. Having authority or taking authority to act is a necessary step to leading a team, and therefore having a strong sense of decision-making is critical to securing the confidence of one's first-responder team.

Firefighter fitness and health have become common topics in the fire service over the last few years. With programs such as the Fire Service Joint Labor Management Wellness-Fitness Initiative (WFI) and the Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives produced by Everyone Goes Home, demonstrate the importance of working towards improving the overall physical and mental health of firefighters. These programs are a result of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) establishing guidelines for firefighter protection. There are three standards that have been established to address firefighter health and wellness; NFPA 1500, Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program; NFPA 1582, Standard on

Why is it a good idea to include human resources on the incident response management team?

Crew Resource Management is a great tool for avoiding incursions. Inside the cockpit in a stressful situation, it can help just to help spread to load to the rest of your resources at hand. This is especially helpful midair flying IFR or in an emergency. Having multiple people helping and calculating specific situations help spread the load so you’re not swamped trying to judge who situation as a whole. Many midair incursions could have been avoided if the pilot would have practiced

Today’s training environment for aviation professionals has come a long way since the crash of Avianca Flight 052. Not only are the aircraft systems more advanced to alert crews to potential problems, but simulators are also more advanced and realistic allowing training to reach new levels. Likewise, we have learned from past mistakes and CRM training has been developed to mitigate threats like the ones identified in Flight 052. CRM helps prioritize duties between the pilot flying and the pilot monitoring. As a result, someone is always flying the plane while the other is working on identifying and fixing the problem. Additionally, when time permits, crewmembers are trained to seek out information from all available resources, such as: other crewmembers, ATC, operations, maintenance, and the like. Furthermore, the captain should not have the only opinion on what the course of action should be, but rather he or she should solicit opinions and suggestions from the rest of the crew. Thus, training CRM

The greatest threat facing the Modern Fire Service is the rate at which firefighters are dying in the line of duty. Excluding the terrible event of 9/11 that occurred in 2001 that forever changed the dynamics of the emergency response services1, firefighter deaths have averaged around 100 fatalities each year for the since 1990. This unacceptable rate of firefighter deaths has found its way to be a benchmark in the industry. The problem is that the benchmark should be zero firefighter deaths while on duty and every year that there is a fatality is a year that the fire service has failed its members. The number one cause of firefighter related deaths yearly is proven to be medical, stress, or overexertion related fatalities2. All of these causes of firefighter deaths can be avoided with implementation of training and awareness.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Customer relation management (CRM) is a cross functional enterprise system that computerizes numerous customers serving form in direct marketing, sales, customer service and accounting management. CRM allows a company to distinguish and focus on their best customer so that they can be held as a loyal customer for a longer period of time.