OSHA says Tropicana Casino collapse could have been prevented
The collapse of a garage under construction at the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City, N.J., on October 30, 2003, could have been prevented if contractors had not ignored danger signs, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has concluded. Four constructions workers were killed in the collapse; 21 others were injured. The Press of Atlantic City obtained a copy of OSHA’s confidential report.
According to The Press report, OSHA cited “construction contractors’ failure to install crit- ical reinforcing steel to connect the garage floors with the support columns.” Workers reportedly told contractors about dangerous cracks in the concrete before the collapse. The Press of Atlantic City, Oct. 30, 2004, A1.
CA firefighter organizations agree on “unity” and “revitalized coalition”
The California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the California State Firefighters Association (CSFA) signed a memorandum of understanding in October. The organizations will now speak with one voice before the state legislature on issues of importance to front-line firefighters and paramedics, form new alliances at the local level, and improve their relationship.
Among key provisions in the agreement are the following:
- The CPF and the CSFA will not adopt conflicting positions on labor-related fire service legislation and local and legislative election endorsements.
- They will consult on endorsements for statewide ballot propositions.
- The two presidents will meet quarterly; the executive boards will meet jointly semiannually.
- The organizations will promote and lead a revitalized “California Fire Service Coalition.”
In addition, the CSFA will not endorse in elections for any statewide constitutional office or nominees for key paid full-time fire service appointments, including the state fire marshal, OES director, and director and deputy director of the CDF.
- The organizations will not interfere with or discourage membership in each other’s organization and will encourage their locals to abide by the same principle. www.firetimes.com, art. 10499, Oct. 28, 2004
New initiatives at Chicago (IL) Fire Department
Chicago Fire Commissioner Cortez Trotter has announced Project FAST, which will make it possible for the department’s firefighters to participate in a high-rise “school” by way of computers installed in the fire stations. Trotter notes that using continuing education in place of academy training is cost effective because it eliminates the need to pay for overtime and replacement crews. The commissioner said, however, that some hands-on training will still be provided. Also scheduled is the “Emergency Medical Services Continued Education” module for cross-training firefighters as paramedics.
Project FAST covers four automated areas: training and education, tactical intelligence (each member will be given aerial maps and building layouts for training sessions and strategic planning), staff management, and workflow automation. Administration functions will also be automated.
The department is also field-testing a hand-held computer chiefs can use to view the layout of a burning building and the surrounding streets.
A health and fitness program was implemented on December 1. According to a department release, “The program will help increase health awareness in the department since the most common single cause of on-duty deaths among firefighters is heart attack.” The program has four components: fitness, nutrition, support system, and partnerships.
A departmentwide awareness campaign will be instituted. The program includes a fitness video created by the department for all fire stations; nutritional information to be disseminated to all fire station kitchens; nutritional cooking classes for fire station cooks; physical evaluations by the department physician; a new volunteer “wellness committee,” which will motivate members to joint the “CFD Team” at health and fitness events and promote events on the department Web page and in the newsletter; a poster campaign featuring department members who have seriously committed to health and fitness; a Partnership with Yourself! innovative fitness program (a fully interactive fitness program that will challenge 30 department members to burn calories as part of a health and fitness challenge); and reduced discount memberships at the city’s health clubs. Bally’s Health Club is providing the department with several pieces of equipment to be placed in fire stations throughout the city.
The impetus for these innovations grew out of evaluations and investigations of the department following the fire in the Cook County Administration Building last year in which six people died. WQAD news channel 8, www.wqad,com art, 2609093, Nov. 29, 2004; www.suntimes.com, Nov. 24, 2004
FEMA/USFA, DOT, and IFSTA initiate TIMS study
The International Fire Service Training Association (IFSTA) will research and develop effective technical guidance and training programs for fire and emergency service providers in Traffic Incident Management Systems (TIMS). The project will enhance responder safety and guide local-level fire departments in how to comply with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) and soon to be released National Fire Service Incident Management System (IMS) Consortium Model Procedures Guide for Highway Incidents. The work will be done in conjunction with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through the United States Fire Administration (USFA) and the DOT’s Federal Highway Administration.
“Reducing the number of firefighters struck while operating on the roadway is an important initiative in supporting the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Firefighter line-of-duty death (LODD) prevention effort,” notes R. David Paulison, U.S. Fire Administrator. Additional information on this project and other USFA efforts in emergency vehicle safety are at www.usfa. fema.gov/inside-usfa/research/vehicle. shtm.
Resources
“EMS Operations at Multi-Casualty Incidents.” This four-hour course is now available online. It addresses the following: preparedness planning; incident management; safe and efficient triage, treatment, and transportation of patients; and the de-escalation of the response. It does not provide detailed steps in the care of patients. It is at USFA’s Virtual Campus at http://www. training.fema.gov.
Medical Surge Capacity and Capability Handbook. Based on valid principles of emergency management and the incident management system, it can be used by fire, EMS, and law enforcement to coordinate incident management and emergency management systems. It is consistent with the new National Incident Management System. The handbook can be viewed at www.hhs.gov/ asphep/mscc sept2004.pdf. n
Strategies for rebuilding Iraq’s infrastructure and fire service focus of PennWell conference
Iraqi government officials and international experts in areas related to agenda topics for the Iraq Reconstruction Conference and Exhibition presented and discussed strategies for rebuilding the country’s infrastructure. The event, organized by PennWell Corporation and held under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of Bahrain, was held at the Bahrain Exhibition Centre in Manama (capital of the Persian Gulf’s island kingdom) September 13-15, 2004.
Dr. Alì Saeed Sadoon, director general of the Iraqi Civil Defense Directorate, and Chief Robert Triozzi (Ret.), a 28-year veteran of the U.S. fire service and founder and head of the Fire Rescue Development Program (FRDP),1 were principal presenters and facilitators. The Iraqi ambassador to Bahrain, the Iraqi Minister of Energy, and HRH Prince Michael of Kent, Great Britain, were among the attendees.
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The focus of the conference was to identify the existing problems and propose strategies and solutions for reconstructing Iraq’s petroleum sector, water system, telecommunications capacity, power generation industry, and Civil Defense Directorate (Iraqi Fire Service), one of the primary areas of discussion at the conference.
The Civil Defense Directorate/Iraqi Fire Service
Dr. Ali presented a summary of the evolution and responsibilities of the Iraq Civil Defense Directorate/Iraqi Fire Service:
- The Directorate is not a military organization; however, military activities, such as maintaining air raid shelters, providing early warnings of imminent attacks, identifying areas contaminated by unexploded ordinance (UXO), and disposing of UXO, are among its responsibilities.
- The Directorate, originally organized in 1941, had been an entity of the Ministry of the Interior and also was once a part of the Defense Ministry. It was organized on a municipal level before it was returned to the Interior Ministry in 1977.
Under Dr. Ali’s tenure, which began in April 2003, the primary objectives were to acquire the basic necessities for the fire service, which—along with Iraq’s infrastructure—had been severely damaged in the war. Although some equipment, such as the 300 fire apparatus ordered prior to the war through the United Nations Oil for Food Program, and contracts for training and equipment through the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) have been received, the contracts were often awarded without any input from his office or consideration of the country’s actual needs. Often, his office was told which vendors would supply which equipment and services.
Future goals for the Directorate include increasing the size of the force, opening new fire stations, improving communications, increasing rescue capabilities, implementing training on various levels, and introducing specializations within the service.
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“Sustainable Development for the Fire Services” Concept
In reorganizing the Iraqi Fire Service, Chief Triozzi explained that the concept of “Sustainable Development for the Fire Services,” the basic philosophy of the FRDP, is crucial for success. The concept, he explained, “is committed to providing assistance that will allow local firefighters to grow and evolve and to implement programs that will continue long after international aid leaves town—in a nutshell, programs that help them to help themselves.”
Among the highlights of Triozzi’s presentation were the following:
- It is imperative to development that the help being offered a country such as Iraq is indeed help. All too often, those wanting to help take initiatives that neither reflect realities nor take into consideration what the actual needs are. Examples include assistance offered by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to the Basra Fire Department. The money that was to help the Iraqi Fire Service was used to paint the fire station pink while firefighters were fighting fires without gloves, boots, helmets, or any protective clothing whatsoever—an action that did not constitute help and was neither cost-effective nor practical.
- The FRDP philosophy has proved successful in many parts of the world because the solutions offered are “low tech, simple, practical, and—above all—applicable locally.”
- A country’s history, culture, and mentality must be understood and respected before engaging in programs for reorganizing the fire service. What may seem obvious and logical for one city or nation may not necessarily be what is needed in another.
- Success will be achieved sooner if the reorganization programs build on the structure already in place and maximize the use of existing resources. The help the fire service receives should include first making the service efficient in using whatever is immediately available. New techniques and equipment can slowly be introduced over time. The primary goal is to render firefighters capable of putting out a fire safely.
- Functional priorities are critical in the early stages of reorganization. They include maintaining an evolution of progressive events that permit the fire service to function and grow in a natural way that enriches its capabilities and sticking to basic, traditional fire service roles related to training and the purchase of equipment.
- Responsibilities in the early reconstruction stages should be limited to firefighting; basic rescue with hand tools; elementary haz mat; and, in the case of Iraq, explosives and ordnance disposal (EOD), a tradition in the Iraqi Fire Service. What is key is to have a fire service that functions and puts out the fire safely.
- Specialized units and high-tech operations, such as high-angle rescue teams, fire service rescue diving, advanced haz-mat units, heavy rescue, and EMS, for example, can come much later, just as occurred in the industrialized world.
- The order of progression in Iraq should be as follows:
1. Render existing firefighters efficient with what is at their disposal.
2. Create an officer/management corps.
3. Create a staff of instructors.
4. Hire new recruits and introduce new equipment and techniques.
Reference
1. The FRDP is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization (NGO) comprised of firefighters from nine countries on four continents. It is headquartered in Rome, Italy, and has offices in Chicago, Illinois, and Johannesburg, South Africa. The FRDP was created to assist firefighters in developing world and war-torn countries. It is the only Fire Rescue NGO recognized by the United Nations. Its members are the only firefighters in the world to serve as delegates to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Within the United Nations, the FRDP is most active in areas related to “Disaster Impact Reduction” and is very involved in promoting “Sustainable Development for the Fire Services” in poorer nations.
The FRDP led a mission in Iraq in July 2003 to evaluate the Iraqi Fire Service and to provide recommendations for its reorganization. The FRDP team visited all parts of Iraq, from the Turkish border in the north to Kuwait in the south.
Line-of-Duty Deaths
November 2. Firefighter Donald Nathan Carlson, 60, Ute (IA) Fire Department: apparent heart attack while responding to a motor vehicle accident.
November 6. Lieutenant Charlie “Littleman” Webb, 63, Mayking (KY) Volunteer Fire Department: apparent heart attack while responding to a forest fire.
November 13. Captain Edward G. Schnauss, 54, Morrison (MO) Volunteer Fire Department: apparent heart attack.
November 15. Battalion Chief H. Donald Kersting, 47, Wichita (KS) Fire Department: undetermined (pending autopsy).
Source: National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Database, United States Fire Administration.
News Glimpses
Parking Garage Collapse. A construction worker was killed when a six-story parking garage under construction at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., partially collapsed at the end of November. The Montgomery County Fire and Rescue located the victim on the fourth floor. The cause of the collapse was under investigation at press time. About a dozen or more workers trapped by the collapse were rescued by fire department apparatus or escorted out by firefighters. www.chicagotribune.com, art. 1,4355760, Nov. 29, 2004
National Fireman’s fund supports NVFC Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program. The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) received a $175,000 donation, which will be used to help educate firefighters about the risks of heart disease. The program’s goal is to reduce heart-related on-duty firefighter deaths by 25 percent by the year 2005. The Heart-Healthy firefighter kit is available at www.healthy-firefighter.org.
Massachusetts nightclubs must have sprinklers. Legislation passed in August requires that nightclubs in Massachusetts with an occupancy capacity of 100 persons or more must install sprinklers within three years. Stiff penalties have been set for safety violations. If clubs with occupancy capacities of fewer than 100 are cited for an occupancy violation twice in a year, the bill requires that these nightclubs must install sprinklers within 90 days or be shut down. Criminal penalties for dangerous conditions in public-assembly buildings are as follows: first time—not more than $5,000 fine and/or imprisonment of up to 21/2 years. If the dangerous conditions contribute to a fire-related death, the penalty rises to $25,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years. Provisions for accelerated tax depreciation deduction are provided for those establishments that must be retrofitted and purchase automatic sprinkler systems.
“Crash cams” in FDNY fire trucks? The Fire Department of New York is considering installing video cameras in its fire apparatus as a means of reducing th numbe of accidents and ensuring that apparatus operators are following department rules and procedures. FDNY Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta noted that the cameras would be helpful in instances where neighborhood residents immediately take the side of the civilian in an accident. The issue would be resolved by a video of the event, he explained. www.emsnetowrk.org, art. 12368, Nov. 15, 2004
Montgomery County, Md., moves to increase road safety. Fire and rescue officials say motorists don’t seem to know that the law requires them to pull to the edge of the road and let emergency vehicles with lights and sirens on pass. Consequently, officials are implementing a public education program to remind drivers to pull over when they see or hear emergency vehicles. The program was developed by a paramedic whose ambulance was hit by a car. Fire officials report that their vehicles were involved in 150 crashes in 2003 and that there were 50 accidents in 2004, as of the end of November. In addition, paramedics and firefighters are taking additional classes in safe driving, and the county is working with the state of Virginia and the District of Columbia on a regional education campaign, since the laws vary among jurisdictions.
Meridian, MS, receives grant for first responder training. The city received about $350,000 from the Federal Railroad Administration for first responder emergency preparedness training through the Southeastern Transportation Safety Center in Meridian. The training focuses on “best practices” for responding to incidents involving chemical, biological, nuclear, radiological, or explosive devices. The center will develop courses on passenger train interdiction and techniques for controlling and securing scenes during criminal or terrorist events. It will work closely with Amtrak and freight railroads in developing and conducting the training. Additional information may be obtained from Steve Kulm at (202) 493-6024.
NVFC hires corps director. Shawn P. Stokes has been hired as the director of the National Volunteer Fire Council Fire Corps Program. He will coordinate the NVFC, International Association of Fire Chiefs’ Volunteer Combination Officers Section, International Association of Fire Fighters, and White House’s USA Freedom Corps Office partnership. Fire departments can register their Fire Corps program at http://www.firecorps.org./ Stokes is a medic and the president of the Dunn Loring Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department in Fairfax County, Virginia.
