Firehouse Magazine, November 2005

Firehouse Magazine, November 2005
The Thermal Imager and Accountability
By Jonathan Bastian

At most incidents, even relatively small ones, chiefs and officers face a difficult task of maintaining accountability for firefighters working at the scene. A number of tagging and marking systems are available to assist fire officers in tracking firefighters. A thermal imager can be an excellent tool to assist in this task, especially when visibility is poor.

Essentials

Probably the best way a TI can help an officer with accountability is to monitor exactly how many firefighters are operating in a sector. Especially in the early phases of an incident, when companies are still arriving rapidly and deploying, officers can quickly lose track of how many people are under their watch. By regularly scanning the area with his TI, a sector officer can monitor the “head count” of those operating with him. This type of numbers-based accountability can help officers recognize sooner when firefighters may be separated or lost. It can also help find “missing” firefighters equally fast, as an officer will notice the extra firefighter within his view.

As always, officers using the TI for accountability must remember the limitations of the technology. The TI sees heat signatures of items and does not see visible light; therefore, it cannot differentiate colors of like items of a similar temperature. While the TI can be used in a “stand-alone” manner for accountability, it will most likely be used in conjunction with other tasks. Consider:

Shapes are easily identified with thermal imagers. Some fire departments have had success using different helmet styles to identify probationary firefighters from experienced ones: recruits receive contemporary helmets and transfer to traditional helmets after their probationary (or training) period. An officer using a TI in this system would easily identify the number of experienced firefighters working inside a structure.
The TI can help officers identify firefighters whose turnout gear has been exposed to excessive levels of heat. The officer can then coordinate relief for these firefighters faster, helping to protect firefighters from hyperthermia and burns. They can also more easily identify firefighters that have been engaged in the interior (see Photo 1).
Under specific conditions, high quality thermal imagers in mild to moderate temperatures may be able to distinguish unit identifiers, such as decals on fire helmets or leather numbers on leather fronts.
Because thermal imagers see heat rather than light, they cannot differentiate colors. If a fire department uses black numbers to indicate engine companies and red numbers to indicate ladder companies, the thermal imager cannot indicate a difference between Engine 5 and Ladder 5.
Thermal imagers do see reflections. Officers should verify that the firefighter they see on the display is actually another firefighter and not a reflection of themselves or a previously counted firefighter.

3 of the 4 firefighters have obviously been inside, fighting this fire. Their helmets are much hotter than the 4th firefighter’s helmet, shown on this TI as white.

The company officer can see that he has three firefighters advancing down the hallway towards the room of origin. As a result, he knows that the entire company is with him at this point in the incident.

Practice Makes Perfect

Consider using thermal imagers during live-fire training exercises to enhance training, as well as accountability. Not only is it great practice to use the TI during a burn, it has tremendous advantages for the training staff. An instructor equipped with a TI can monitor the entry, movement and activities of trainees. This can be especially important with recruits who are still becoming comfortable operating in zero-visibility while totally encapsulated. By viewing the scene with a TI, the instructor can also monitor the location of safety crews and verify their condition. Because the TI sees heat, firefighters who are exposed to high levels of heat will appear in lighter shades on the TI display than those firefighters who have not been exposed. This level of accountability helps ensure that firefighters are cycled in a timely manner through interior positions, and that equipment and personnel do not suffer any undue stress.

Reflections can pose challenging issues with accountability, as officers may be tricked into counting firefighters that are not present. Because reflections can cause significant problems with TI use and interpretation, firefighters and officers should practice around the fire station, and elsewhere, to understand different reflective properties. Practice looking for clues that an image is actually a reflection:

A portion of the image is bordered by a frame, indicating a mirror, window or glass door;
The image appears similar to the user’s surroundings or situation (i.e. three firefighters near a bed in a room);
The image mirrors activities occurring near or around the user (i.e. two firefighters pulling ceiling, looking for fire extension).

Table Talk

Company officers can do several simple drills in the firehouse. First, they can use their thermal r to determine what identifying marks and details are visible on their firefighters’ gear. Does their TI differentiate enough (under ambient conditions) to identify unit numbers or decals on fire helmets? Can a firefighter’s name on his turnout coat be read? Keep in mind that in many cases, the answer to these questions is, “No.” It will be the rule, rather than the exception. This does not mean the department has a “substandard” TI; it just means that all of the temperatures are too equalized in the environment for the TI to detect a difference.

Firefighters can discuss options they have to make their gear unique, and therefore recognizable, for their officer. For example, firefighters who carry wooden wedges on their helmets can all carry them on the left, pointed rearwards, to help identify them as a unit. Remember shapes will be more evident with the TI under normal fire conditions.

Final Report

Tracking individual firefighters with a TI can be challenging. Unique identifiers may blend into the thermal scenery, making individual identification difficult. But, fire officers can use TIs to track firefighters in their overall tasks: an officer can verify that he entered with four members, advanced to the attic with four members and there are four members working in the attic. As always, planning and practice will greatly contribute to the success chiefs and fire officers have in using the TI to maintain firefighter accountability.

For more ideas on using the TI for accountability, visit the Technology Section of Firehouse.com.

For Firehouse.com

The November thermal imaging training column in Firehouse magazine addresses the issue of using a thermal imager to maintain firefighter accountability. The article addresses a number of the key points, including some of the challenges that chiefs and fire officers must remember during accountability efforts. As usual, this article will expand upon those ideas.

First, thermal imagers need to be incorporated into the department’s standard operating procedures. The SOPs need to be more in-depth than just, “Take it out and turn it on.” While the thermal imagers may need their own SOP dealing with care, maintenance and training, they should not be isolated from the rest of the department’s policies. TIs should be incorporated throughout the SOPs, as mandatory or recommended tools for a variety of situations. Specific personnel need to be assigned responsibility for bringing the TI into scenes. Frequently this is a company officer’s duty, but it does not have to be. Additionally, those assigned the TI need to practice deploying with the TI and any other tools they regularly carry. By practicing in advance, firefighters will ensure that they have developed a comfortable means for deploying all their tools in an effective and efficient manner.

Second, do not underestimate the risks and challenges of identifying reflections. One New York firefighter used to love telling his first experience in a structure fire with a TI:

As the officer of the second-in truck company, his company was assigned to search apartments above the fire floor. After they forced entry into their first apartment, he began using the TI to scan the apartment while his company deployed to search by hand. On the other side of the apartment, he saw more firefighters searching and spreading out. He saw the officer holding a TI ... they looked at each other and waved. Taking this as a sign that the other company was going to search that half of the apartment, he ensured that his company did their half, and then they backed out to search the next apartment.

The officer did not learn the truth until after the fire, when he asked the chief in charge which truck helped on his floor. The chief said, “None ... why?”

A reflection had fooled him into thinking he had help, when in reality half of the apartment was not searched. Fortunately, no one was in the un-searched portion. The officer was able to learn from this mistake and ensure others avoided it in the future.

As you practice with your TI, remember that accountability can be a task managed concurrently with other tasks. As you advance the hoseline down the hallway, looking for heat and safety concerns, you can verify you still have all three members of the company on the line. Or, when your company is checking for extension above the fire floor, you can scan the hallway for heat while you verify which rooms or apartments are currently being searched and that those firefighters are safe.

As with many firefighting activities, accountability does not have to be done in a vacuum. Skilled, comfortable users will integrate accountability as a part of their normal use, not as a stand-alone application.