Firehouse September 2004

Firehouse Magazine, September 2004
Safety
By Jonathan Bastian

Thermal imagers improve firefighter safety. It’s a proven fact. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of document cases in which firefighters using a thermal imager avoided a potentially fatal situation. By taking the TI with them during fire attack, firefighters across the US have avoided holes in floors, identified missing stairways, and identified roof systems ready to collapse.

Despite all the safety advantages, there are also safety disadvantages to consider with a thermal imager. Firefighters need to be aware of the safety concerns and regularly practice avoiding them.

Essentials

It is human nature to associate darkness with danger; conversely, we associate safety with the ability to see. A thermal imager gives you the ability to see in dense smoke, but it does not make the situation safe. Remember these key points:

Thermal imagers lack peripheral vision. You have to move the imager to get a full picture of a room or scene.
The TI display is an “eye magnet.” It is natural to want to see, so it is common for people to stare at the display and ignore their other senses. Be sure to maintain your situational awareness.
The ability to see breeds complacency. It is common for users to navigate from “point A” to “point B,” rather than maintain a traditional right- or left-hand search pattern. You still need to stay on a wall, or have a rope line to follow out.
You can lose the use of your TI. You might drop it, lose it, or break it. The battery could die. If Mr. Murphy has his way, this will happen when you are at the greatest risk. You cannot rely on the TI alone to enter or, more importantly, exit a structure.

Practice Makes Perfect

For your TI to make your job safer, you have to use it safely. Practice the following techniques to ensure you and your company do not get complacent.

Standardize your search pattern with the TI. Every scan should move from shoulder to shoulder, viewing the ceiling, then the walls, then the floor (high-middle-low). Since your TI does not have peripheral vision, this full shoulder-to-shoulder scan is the only way to ensure you view the entire scene. As you move through a structure, remember to scan behind you to ensure your primary exit is still secure.
Generally, firefighters who stare at the TI as they navigate become disoriented when it is taken from them. After you scan, choose a waypoint and put your thermal imager away. Get the TI away from your face so that you are not tempted to stare at the display, then crawl to the next waypoint. You should use the TI as you would use a compass and map: as a reference tool to stay oriented and move in the correct direction. At the waypoint, rescan the scene with your TI and then choose another waypoint. This type of drill reinforces situational awareness skills.
Navigate with the TI, but follow your standard search protocols. You can use the TI to move faster and more safely, but do not forget to have a backup plan. You should be able to continue a search or exit a structure without a TI. This means sticking with a right- or left-hand search pattern, or using a tagline.

Table Talk

While you cannot accomplish too much at the firehouse kitchen table, you can do several drills around the firehouse to practice safety with your TI. The bunkroom can be an ideal place to practice because you can do so in darkness. Practice all three of the key safety techniques. Scan shoulder-to-shoulder, high-middle-low, choose a waypoint, and put your TI away. Then move along the wall. Complete a full search pattern through the area. To emphasize the importance of traditional search techniques, at some point in the drill, take the TI away from the team. Ask them to continue the search or to evacuate.

This is an excellent way to drive home the use of proper techniques, as well as determine the best system for carrying your TI. Some sort of strap is the most common method, as it gives you the ability to remove the TI from your sight and free both hands to help advance a hoseline. However, you should try different carrying systems to find the one that suits your operations the best. Normally, the manufacturer has several carrying options; however, you could find that a backboard strap or other system is more convenient.

Final Report

Your TI is an awesome tool. It gives you the ability to see dangerous conditions, as well as changing conditions, inside a smoke-filled structure. But that ability to “see” can foster over-confidence, as well as over-reliance on the tool. Remember that the TI does not change the environment. Practice solid search techniques regularly so that your TI adds to your safety level, rather than detracting from it.

For more tips on safety, as well as a deeper discussion on how to move through a structure, visit the Technology section of Firehouse.com.

Image 1: Thermal imagers do not have peripheral vision. Note how we cannot see the whole ceiling, any of the floor, or anything to the immediate right and left.. Firefighters need to make full scans to ensure safety.

Image 2: Practice carrying your TI in a way that moves the display out of your view. Notice how the firefighter keeps his hand in contact with the wall to maintain his traditional method of orientation.

For Firehouse.com

September’s Firehouse thermal imager training article addressed safety. Too often, firefighters lock onto their TI display and ignore their normal training and safety considerations. The ability to see makes us complacent, and we need to practice proper procedures regularly to avoid getting into trouble while using our TIs.

Think about the last time you went in to overhaul after a fire. You have light smoke in the building. Do you use a left-hand search? Do you crawl? Of course not! Why? Because you can see. Depending on where you work, you might not even wear your SCBA facepiece! The ability to see makes us feel safe. Now, when you have a thermal imager in a smoke-filled structure, you can see. The catch, of course, is that it is not safe…you are still in a structure that is compromised, and you are combating both fire and an IDLH (immediately dangerous to life and health) environment.

Staying safe means making effective scans and moving through the structure in a coordinated fashion. Remember, your scan should be shoulder-to-shoulder, high-middle-low. Always start “high” because that’s where your indicators of high heat will be, and also because stuff falling down hurts more than stuff falling up. Also, don’t cheat on your shoulder-to-shoulder scan. Since it lacks peripheral vision, your TI cannot show you the portions of the scene that you would normally capture with your eyes. Believe it or not, it actually takes significant practice to make the shoulder-to-shoulder scan a normal process. Since we do not have to move our eyes or heads very much to scan a room, there is a natural tendency to scan with a TI the same way.

As you scan, choose your waypoints to determine how you will progress through the structure. These will be objects or structural features that you can feel as you crawl along. In a single-family dwelling, the likely waypoints are furniture, corners or doorways. Furniture is a common waypoint because your TI cannot see through it. Therefore, when you scan an area, if you see a couch, dresser or other larger piece of furniture, remember that a victim might be on the other side, depending on your angle. If the furniture is along the wall you plan to use in your search pattern, then the opposite side of that piece of furniture is an ideal waypoint. You clear the unseen area, as well as pause to scan the whole scene from a different angle. Of course, you cannot forget to check your primary exit.

After each scan, it is imperative that you sling your TI, or otherwise get it out of view. If you keep the TI in front of your eyes, you will end up watching the display as you navigate through the structure. If you doubt the magnetism of a television, ask anyone with kids how mesmerizing a TV can be. Realize that your TI display is a little TV, and it will be a magnet for your eyes. Of course, if you rely only on your eyesight to get into the structure, you will probably need your eyesight to get out. By moving the TI away from your view, you are forcing yourself back into darkness. This encourages you to follow your safety protocols, staying low and crawling while in contact with a wall. It also encourages you to draw your “mental map” as you progress through the building.

All of this may sound simple, but it really isn’t. It is not enough just to tell people how to do this; on company drills they actually need to practice it. And they have to practice it a lot! It is human nature to rely on our eyes, and it is human nature to want to “see” our way through a structure. The only way to overcome this instinct is to force yourself to practice it repeatedly, making it second nature to use the TI as a reference tool.