Robert J. Schappert III
Chief Officer
Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company
Severna Park, Maryland
I am the developer of the PPV program for the Maryland Fire Service and a member of the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute faculty …. With regard to the concern that PPV used improperly can push fire throughout a building, injuring or killing firefighters, I pose this question: How many chief officers have really seen firsthand a fire that was pushed throughout a building by PPV, endangering, trapping, or killing firefighters?
Rumors, opinions, and innuendo–not facts–fuel the perceived myths about PPV applications on the fireground. Command decisions by officers not properly trained in the tactical applications of PPV are responsible for the problems incurred operationally during working incidents.
I have used, conducted training in, and applied PPV in a large dwelling of balloon construction, basements, attics, high-rises, tunnels underneath the Panama Canal and for mobile conveyance, dumpsters, and shipboard scenarios.
It`s true, as Deputy Chief Frank C. Schaper observes: You don`t learn PPV tactical applications in a structural building at a training center. You learn the tactical applications of PPV and its efficacy during live fire evolutions on acquired structures.
Departments should review their training programs to determine how many hours are devoted to PPV training. It takes three to five days to properly conduct this specialized training–a full day in the classroom and two to four days in the field drilling on scenarios. Budgetary constraints, politics, and a lack of scope/vision are some of the reasons for the inadequate number of training hours.
If officers are going to negatively comment on a proven technology that saves firefighter and civilian lives and greatly reduces exposure time for interior attack crews, the statements should be based on facts and fireground experience, not what others think. The biggest problem the fire service has on a national level as it relates to applications of PPV on the fireground is the lack of knowledge and tactical experience on the part of the command officers calling the shots. If they never used PPV as junior officers, how can they as chief officers reasonably be expected to endorse it along with more aggressive interior attack applications? Unfortunately, the younger, more aggressive firefighters and instructors who want to use this technology are often stymied by command officers who, because of a lack of training and understanding, are uncomfortable with allowing them to apply it. The learning curves will never increase with post-extinguishment applications. During my travels, I have even heard some fire service personnel say that their union will “fight” PPV because it might reduce truck company staffing levels.
To those of you who use PPV and truly understand it, keep up the good work! To those of you that voice opinions not based on first-hand experience, you are missing a golden opportunity to be on the cutting edge of positive change and some exciting results that will follow.
