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In part one of this series we began the checkout of one of our most important pieces of equipment. Today we will continue with what good goes into a thorough SCBA inspection. Twist your regulator off of the facepiece, there should be no cracks or obvious signs of damage. Press...

One of our most important pieces of personal protective equipment is our self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). It enables us to breath in an environment where we would not be able to otherwise, it alerts others when we may be in trouble and if worn properly and consistently...

In part one we started discussing fundamental hydrant procedures to ensure a positive water source to our apparatus. Today we will continue on with the discussion… Step 2 – Remove Supply Hose From Apparatus Remove enough hose from the rig to reach the hydrant as well...

Water supply is an important consideration for an incident commander as well as the engine company officer and chauffeur. Since establishing a water supply is needed in almost every fire operation a well-trained firefighter should be able to make a hydrant connection blind...

Read Part 1 Here Let’s continue with the fundamentals of our PPE inspection: Hood Inspection Our hood should be free of any rips or tears as well. The opening for your face should fit well and not be stretched. There should also not be any signs of thermal damage to the...

One of the tasks we need to complete on a regular basis is to check out our equipment to ensure that it is ready to perform its specific job when we need it too. We spend countless hours a year checking our apparatus, saws, SCBA’s and the list goes on and on. However, many...

In part one we discussed some background on fundamental air management, today we will look at some action items that can be taken to teach the subject, realize the importance of it and to make your firefighters safer in that respect. Click Here to read part 1 3 Factors of...

Few will argue the fact that one of the most important tasks we can do as firefighters on a daily basis is train.  One of the things some departments do not train on enough is their SCBA. There are many aspects to the SCBA but the one will will spend some time with today...

In the last article we looked at some potential underlying problems of communicating between crews. Today we will look at some additional items that will make for a clearer and more concise transmission over the radio. There are many items that need to be transmitted across the...

Effective fireground communication is an essential part of successful and safe operations. If we look at NIOSH reports detailing line of duty deaths we will see that a breakdown of communication is listed time and time again as a potential contributing factor. So, in an age where...