Firehouse Magazine, February 2005
Company Drills-TI Contingencies
By Jonathan Bastian
It is time again for specific training drills that can help you become more proficient with your thermal imager. One of the recurrent themes in this series has been that regular practice with the TI is essential for successful use at an emergency incident. However, firefighters must always remember that a TI is just a tool, not a panacea.
Thermal imagers are electronic devices manufactured by people, and TIs still rely on battery power. As such, there is the potential that a TI can fail. Additionally, the user could drop and lose the TI at an incident. If “Mr. Murphy” has his way, the failure or loss will occur at the most inopportune time, such as when you are 125 feet deep into a commercial structure with dense smoke and heavy fire. Because the risks are so high, it is imperative that firefighters know how to continue an advance or to affect a retreat if they lose the use of their TI.
This month, there is only one drill suggestion. It is such an important drill, it stands alone and should be considered a “must do” for any fire company assigned a thermal imager. This drill could help you save a civilian, as well as yourself.
Return to Basics
A number of articles in this series and elsewhere have identified the need to use a TI as a reference tool to orient yourself, search the room or area and choose a path of advance. While advancing, you cannot rely solely on the vision provided by the TI; you could lose it at any point. You must stay oriented and have a “back up” plan detailing how you will proceed through, or exit from, a structure. Failure to maintain orientation is potentially fatal, as one drill in Illinois demonstrated.
During a rapid intervention drill, the RIT used a TI to locate and package the “injured” firefighter. Once the team was ready to extract the firefighter, an instructor took the TI from the team, removed its battery, and returned the TI. He then ordered them to proceed with the rescue. To the chagrin of all involved, the four-man RIT had failed to stay oriented through other means. They had all relied on their eyesight (enhanced with the TI) to get in, and therefore needed their eyesight to get them out. But without a functioning TI, their “eyesight” disappeared. No one on the RIT knew how to get out of the structure without the TI. If this had been a real incident, the incident commander would have been faced with a disaster: five “maydays” at once!
The importance of maintaining orientation is easily emphasized and developed through regular search drills. The drills can be done in a dark environment, such as a bunkroom or basement, or in a smoky environment. Firefighters benefit from practicing in either environment, since normal visibility is limited and they are tempted to rely on the “eyesight” given by the TI. Properly used, this ability to see increases search speed, search accuracy and firefighter safety. Carelessly used, however, the TI can increase the risks to firefighters.
In the drill, firefighters are tasked with searching the area for victims by using normal search tools, including the TI. Set up the area to simulate a residence or commercial property. Place obstacles in locations that force firefighters to search “off the wall.” This makes the search more challenging. At some point in the drill, an instructor advises the team to turn off the TI, which simulates a battery or electronic failure. The instructor then advises the team to continue the search or to evacuate. Make sure you ask search teams to practice both. You do not want to practice only evacuation, because this would reinforce the notion that a TI failure requires evacuation. Firefighters must know how to continue a search after a TI failure, since the search team may be the only chance for a trapped civilian.
Also, ensure that you have a set procedure for informing Incident Command about the TI failure, and practice communicating this during the drills. The IC should know about the situation, because it can affect the efficiency and future assignments for the company. Some fire departments may choose a special code, such as a ten-code (i.e., 10-80D), to advise they have lost the use of a TI. Others may choose plain text:
“Harlem Road Command from 805 Alpha.”“805 Alpha, go ahead.”
“Command, 805’s TI is down. We are continuing with a standard search.”
“10-4, 805 Alpha…TI is down, continuing standard search.”
Now, the IC can choose to commit another TI to the search, or a “non-TI” company to assist with the standard search.
As your firefighters become more comfortable with alternating between “seeing” and “blindness,” increase the difficulty of the search. Add rooms or obstacles; simulate partial collapses that separate search partners, etc. These exercises help reinforce that firefighters must constantly maintain a search pattern or tagline that will take them quickly to safety. Properly oriented firefighters will be able to continue searches safely because they have proceeded in a logical pattern and know how to continue it. These challenges also reinforce that your firefighters must maintain their traditional search and safety skills, critical skills that are easily lost without regular practice.
Conclusion
No one likes to plan for failure. The stakes are so high at fire emergencies, we must plan on contingencies. We practice RIT procedures “just in case” a firefighter is injured or lost. We practice low-air and bailout procedures “just in case” a firefighter finds himself in a dire situation. Pumping relays and water shuttles are designed to keep operating “just in case” an apparatus fails. Our TI training must include “just in case” training as well.
If you ensure that firefighters can comfortably switch from TI-assisted searches to traditional searches, you will dramatically improve the safety of your firefighters. With regular practice, the transition will be easy and effective.
For more information on “TI contingencies,” visit the Technology Section of Firehouse.com.
Photo 1: An instructor offers guidance to firefighters practicing thermal imaging skills. Safety, orientation and search skills were the primary emphasis of the drill.
For firehouse.com
February’s Thermal Imaging Training article in Firehouse Magazine addressed the importance of knowing how to move efficiently from a TI-assisted search to a traditional search. In short, firefighters have to practice skills with and without a thermal imager to ensure they can operate regardless of the status of their TI.
If your TI fails completely during an incident, your only option is to operate without it. For hundreds of years, firefighters have operated without TIs. You already know your efforts are easier, safer and more effective with the TI. Therefore, it is important that you practice skills that can help you recover the use of a TI as quickly as possible. Some of the potential problems can be overcome with proper training and practice. Below are two common problems that you and your company can practice correcting on the fireground so you can place your TI back into service when you need it, not after you have returned to the firehouse.
Batteries: Thermal imager battery failures are one of the most common challenges faced during an emergency incident. Practice changing batteries while wearing firefighting gloves. If possible, practice changing batteries in the dark, to simulate an emergency replacement in poor visibility. Note that this drill makes sense only if your standard guideline suggests the user carry a spare battery with him during an incident.
Also, be sure you have a battery charging and management plan. The plan must be formal, written, well-communicated and universally used. If each shift follows its own schedule for charging or swapping batteries, you are inviting battery failure. You should remind your equipment personnel that rechargeable batteries do have a fixed lifespan. Depending on the chemistry of your rechargeable batteries, as well as their quality and usage, expect them to last 12 to 36 months. Write “expiration dates” on your batteries and buy replacements in advance. Do not wait until you are only getting five or ten minutes of battery life before you think about buying a replacement.
Condensation: Condensation can build up on the lens or germanium window on the front of the TI. This layer of water dramatically reduces the amount of infrared energy reaching the detector inside the TI, and as a result, degrades the thermal image. Keep in mind that one of the byproducts of combustion is water, which can make a structure fire a humid environment. You may find the thermal image appears very fuzzy and that there is condensation on the display cover. If you have condensation on the display cover, you probably have condensation on the lens. Train your firefighters to wipe the display cover and the lens whenever they notice moisture build up or image degradation.
Since most firefighters do not carry a tissue in their turnout gear for wiping lenses, the tip of a gloved finger will have to suffice. While this is not a recommended care practice, it may be the only way to get your TI functioning properly if condensation is on the lens. In a humid fire, you may find the lens has to be wiped five or six times before the temperature of the lens exceeds the dew point.
These may seem like simple issues, but they can frustrate your fire company immensely if they happen during a fire. By preparing yourself and your company for potential problems, you are ensuring that this awesome tool, the thermal imager, will be available as much as possible. The TI can only help you if it comes off the truck. Of course, when it does come off the truck, it needs to work for the entire incident to be the most valuable. It is up to you to give it the best chance of performing to your level of expectations.
Use your TI often, wisely and safely.