SA Firefighter

Vote NO: 3 Fire brigades
Vote YES: Euan, and the rest of the community realising that CFS CAN and DO respond to more than just Rural fires.

I would really love to see some high capacity (5000+ L) rural fire trucks that carry the bare minimum, ie. water, pump, hose, crew though. And I would like to see CFS step away from the concept that all fire trucks have to be either MR or LR.

But on the other hand, I also like the idea of rural brigades having multiple NPWS style 14 appliances ie. 3 per brigade and some more BWC's (probably most cost effective option)...this is rather than having X4P appliance and X4 appliance... ie. have X4P appliance and 3 14 appliances, with multiple tankers within a group. 

From OH&S perspective, i am pretty sure most OIC's would be wanting you wearing long pants and a long sleeve shirt. remember PPE doesn't just protect you from fire. there are many other nastys that you may come across on a job like that such as angry wildlife and UV radiation.
But as far as boots and helmet go, i think it is a matter of personal preference, although, i would still encourage some type of head wear be worn

MFS: *CFSRES: Seaford RESPOND Car Fire, Sauerbiers 195 N9 Seaford Meadows, dirt tr 14/01/2009 9:34:27 PM

New paging format??

If so I'm not a fan... I much prefer old(previous) style

Where's the Daily Inc# gone?? makes it much easier to be responding to Inc#Blah, rather than having to name the incident by its location before having full confirmation of the actual location.

what do the comm's operators on here think about this matter??

not listening to it, but saw this on pager site...

MFS: *CFSRES INC065 20/12/08 17:52,RESPOND COMMERCIAL FIRE,35 COMMERCIAL RD,HYDE PARK MAP 130 F 10 TG182,,ADL205 41 GLO441 ADL203 ADL202

MFS: *CFSRES INC070 20/12/08 19:11,RESPOND GRASS FIRE,35 COMMERCIAL RD,HYDE PARK MAP 130 F 10 TG182,,SAIR55 GLO441

MFS: *CFSRES INC070 20/12/08 19:19,RESPOND DOMESTIC FIRE,35 COMMERCIAL RD,HYDE PARK MAP 130 F 10 TG182,441 ON SCENE,ADL202

MFS: *CFSRES INC070 20/12/08 19:29,RESPOND DOMESTIC FIRE,35 COMMERCIAL RD,HYDE PARK MAP 130 F 10 TG182,,ADL204 ADL203 STM401 41 ADL205

MFS: *CFSRES INC073 20/12/08 19:33,RESPOND DOMESTIC FIRE,35 COMMERCIAL RD,HYDE PARK MAP 130 F 10 TG182,ENTER UNLEY RD,ADL206

MFS: *CFSRES INC070 20/12/08 19:55,RESPOND DOMESTIC FIRE,35 COMMERCIAL RD,HYDE PARK MAP 130 F 10 TG182,,BLP211

actual job? or something else?

MFS: *CFSRES INC057 17/12/08 17:53,RESPOND DOMESTIC FIRE,19 COPELAND AV,LOBETHAL MAP 113 B 16 TG140,PUFFS OF SMOKE COMING OUT OF THE CAVITY,LOBE19

I was of the understanding that it is automatic 2 brigades to all domestic jobs? or is that just in my area?

Kind of scary having only 1 truck respond to a reported domestic, in its incipient stage!

***take note, this is only going from the pager site***

MFS: *CFSRES INC041 21/11/08 14:33,RESPOND Vehicle Fire,SOUTHERN EXP,HACKHAM WEST MAP 186 D 14 TG182,NEAR HONEYPOT RD OVER PASS,CDN439 SEAF00 MRPH00 STM401

Second Alarm vehicle fire??

Im guessing Christies 431 is booked K0 (broken?)

strange that 421 was missing from the 2nd response...

yes, it is possible to manually lock up the torque converter on some autos, not too sure about the truck ones though.

talking from my experience with 4x4 cars, (im not a truck drive, yet, and thus only have limited experience driving a manual 24).

autos are much much much better in off road situations for numerous reasons, no clutch to worry about. be that slipping when under extreme pressure, slipping whilst wet from a water crossing, or when trying to negotiate extremely steep variable terrain (rock crawling) you don't have to worry about trying to slip the clutch to gain traction, without spinning the wheels.

no issues with hill starts. or extended hill climbs.

i agree that if someone cant drive a manual they shouldn't be driving a fire truck, but, i am also of the opinion that if there is an easier option available, take it!

as i said i only have experience with driving cars, but from my experience , in pretty much all circumstances, autos win. ie. city driving, auto wins because less attention to gearbox. (i know it shouldn't take much). in 4x4ing, auto wins hands down. no slipping clutch, ever!

although, i would love to see all our off road firetrucks & 14/qrv's fitted with auto boxes, and selectable diff locks front and rear.

Now let me tell you about this VA I did last week where I waited 20 mins for the firey's to get there.......while I stood on the side of the road and told the public that I couldn't do anything for the woman with her bilateral femur fractures and her 2 year old child in the backseat with multiple lacerations from the broken windows because apparently I'm not smart enough to work out whether or not the car is safe enough for me to get into.......

I am sure most ambos would know not to poke their head in the drivers window, if they suspect the air bags might go off... of might like to hop into the car and work from the backseat or between drver/passenger seats. but occasionally you will see the ones who get a touch narrow minded and only focus on the patient not the potentially harmful situation they may be putting themselves into.

anyways back to tricks of the trade,

- always try to learn other fires/whatever from surrounding areas names/nicknames. makes for a much friendlier atmosphere, (it gets annoying constantly being referred to by your last name.)

- If working with ambos, introduce yourself to them, so you can talk to them by name rather than "hey ambo"

- Lock your car when you attend the station for firecalls, even if it is 3am on a tuesday morning (bye bye mobile phone and change from ashtray)

Because the maintenance of competencies is vital is us retaining the status of "quick-on your feet-lateral thinking professional volunteers who can manage anything that gets thrown your way without any politics or inter-agency issues"

some things are possible to learn without hands on approaches, but others are not, also, not everyone learns in the same manner, nor retains knowledge in the same way.

Also mock incidents allow more experienced members to step back and watch the less experienced ones work, without the politics related with having the most appropriate person doing whatever. ie. having a rescue operator with 15 years+ on the tools, always taking over and not letting equally capable young/new people work. (seen that happen.)

This can achieve 2. main things, 1. It can give the older more experienced operators confidence in the younger ones skills, (and the cfs's ability to train people well.) 2. the older/more experienced people can note down things which concern them done by less experienced operators, and bring these up at the post "incident" debrief, (like we all have )

**SA Firey, Sounds like you guys got the risk assessment thing brought up at your meeting tonight too **

If theres no immeaditate problem, such as sparking, an inability to turn the ignition off, or a large fuel leak, it seems that with both the advent Hybrid Cars and the large number of electronically controlled internal vehicle systems it can be easier to leave the battery connected. This still allows you to operate everything inside the cabin, such as seat positioning controls, making casualty removal that little bit easier in certain circumstances.
http://www.traser.com.au/index.html?target=dept_3.html&lang=en-us

BINGO.

That is exactly what i was hoping you would say. ( I figure any noobs that are likely to take advice from forums probably visit regularly and are much more likely to listen to you than myself. )

***Note for noobs... Undeployed airbags and seat belt pre-tensioners are dangerous, the only way to deactivate these systems is by disconnecting the battery and waiting the predefined amount of time set out in the little blue book which you should have in your truck. Always work cautiously around undeployed air bags, and use steering wheel airbag restraints where possible. never place yourself between an undeployed airbag and casualty, or stick your head in the drivers or passenger side windows without the airbags being deactivated. if available, place undeployed air bag sticker on vehicle before it is towed by tow truck operator.
IF IN DOUBT ASK YOUR OIC OR A RESCUE OPERATOR.

now for my tricks of the trade.

-Spend the 20 bucks or so at K-mart/big w etc. and buy yourself a cotton long sleeve workshirt, change into this before/enroute to a job. it stops your t-shirt/whatever getting sweaty and gross and stinking of smoke.

-Hang your flashood on the same hook as your pants, this should help you remember to put it on before your turnout coat. (they make awesome neck warmers in winter,  )

-SPARE SOCKS!

-Rope, as numbers said, around 5m of thin rope, same stuff as used for personal lines.

-Don't judge fellow fireys on age, gender, race, helmet color or stripes, or uniform. Judge them on their ability and knowledge.

-If in doubt, don't!, ask your officer!

sorry numbers, had to add tree downs to the list, but couldn't change maximum number of options.

I pretty much only ever wear my PBI + Structure Helmet.
setting a good example i know, but if they have been proven to offer better protection, why wear gear of a lesser standard?

Just wanted to see what other people in the real world do.

sorry, i thought CFS didn't respond to tree downs these days, and that is why i cant do my chainsaw...

would you guys seriously risk destroying your PBI removing trees from roads??