Responding In Apparatus

[huzzie59 75]

All this discussion about riding around with Santa, How many firefighters get suitted up in the cab while the rig is responding to a call?

You can't get dressed with a seatbelt on.

[IzzyEng4 427]

Well I can say I have been able to suit up in a rush with a seat belt on, there is a trick but in the end all, it was wrong for me to do so. You should not fully suit up while the truck is in motion though I have done it in the past with our old truck and our new current one. Shame on me for that.

However I can see putting on your pants and throwing on your coat, unbuttoned, getting situated and belted in. Then while en route snapping the coat up and putting on your SCBA reasoning is that you should be checking you gear after you step out of the truck and entering the danger zone of a scene.

But though my misguided actions, I have always stressed that you should suit up before you get on the rig to the point were you can make the final adjustments. Just shame on me for my stupidity.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

Well said Izzy. Lets not go from what is common sense of what should not be done, to asking about common sense about a certain situation which can occur.

If you are not in the truck, don you PPE before getting in. If you have to unbuckle to don your SCBA (which doesn't occur in Phoenix does it) don it and put it back on. That's what's called reasonable operational risk, your talking 45-60 seconds to put on the straps and reapply your seatbelt.

Do you sometimes get caught in between yes...your on the road and a call comes in. You gotta get dressed, get it done and get belted. Your not on a hose bed dressed in red riding around for 2 hours. If you are out in the store, the vehicle is stopped, your doing an inspection, don your $hit then get on. If the probie is in the store...use the time he takes to walk out to get your $hit on. He can do it when he gets there.

SEATBELT SAVE LIVES. THE NUMBERS OF LODD'S THAT WERE UNRESTRAINED SPEAK FOR ITSELF.

[STAT213 332]

We get dressed before we mount the piece.

I usually slide my arms through the shoulder straps of the SCBA if warranted and then buckle up. If we're on the road and a call comes in, I dress on arrival. Not my emergency. If I am going croak on this job, it ain't gonna be cause I wasn't wearing a seat belt.

I don't know how much harder those of us who espouse this theory can put it. Its not just some idea we are trying to push off on you because we think it is cool. The goal was reducing LODDs to fifty this year. We didn't even come close.

[HFD750 6]

Our policy is you have to have your bunkers and coat on before you board the apparatus. We use to gear up while on the way,but like all of you are saying it's just too dangerous.

[Remember585 815]

We do the same - coats and bunkers before boarding. We also store the SCBAs with the securing strap around the whole thing so you can't don it until you stop. Once the rig stops, you can then remove it and throw it on either on the way out or after you get out. Seems to be working well.

Storing the packs outside like Phoenix wouldn't have worked for us - we need all of our cabinet space. 3 Packs and 2 spare cylinders are in one compartment, and the 7 non-driver seats have a pack too. An 11th pack is in the RIT/FAST bag ready for deployment.

[Guest nickcabral]

I have been caught a few times being in station wear while in the rig and a call comes in. Every time its happened to me, the driver pulls over to a safe area, the crew dismounts and dons night hitches and bunker coat and remounts the machine. Being that we put on our turnout gear several times a day, it can be accomplished quickly and the time delay is minimal, no more than if we were in the station and had to get to the bay floor and don it prior to getting in.

[Scottyk107 9]

I have been caught a few times being in station wear while in the rig and a call comes in. Every time its happened to me, the driver pulls over to a safe area, the crew dismounts and dons night hitches and bunker coat and remounts the machine. Being that we put on our turnout gear several times a day, it can be accomplished quickly and the time delay is minimal, no more than if we were in the station and had to get to the bay floor and don it prior to getting in.

←

Why not just wait till you get to the scene? unless it is an MVA on a busy road or somthing of the sort you may lose time by pulling over just respond and don your gear when you get there.

[Arrowxt 8]

I dress before riding on the unit leave zippers and snaps open finish when I am belted in, zip up boots on the way and put the shoulder straps of the SCBA on and turn valve to open and then finish when I am on the scene, BUT ALWAYS BELTED.

ARROW

[AFD-PM 0]

Arrowxt, why do you turn your SCBA on in the Truck? I have found that this can lead to more distractions for the driver. If you are sitting in your seat with your belt on you can not really move that much and then the PASS Alert goes off which is really bad for the driver.

[Arrowxt 8]

Arrowxt, why do you turn your SCBA on in the Truck?  I have found that this can lead to more distractions for the driver.  If you are sitting in your seat with your belt on you can not really move that much and then the PASS Alert goes off which is really bad for the driver.

←

You know , I never thought if it bothered the driver. But then again they have never said anything either. The movement of the truck keeps the PASS from going off but they do "chirp" when the air is turned on. On the way in I check the air level on the gauge as well.

Arrow

[IzzyEng4 427]

Arrowxt, why do you turn your SCBA on in the Truck?  I have found that this can lead to more distractions for the driver.  If you are sitting in your seat with your belt on you can not really move that much and then the PASS Alert goes off which is really bad for the driver.

←

Not like the siren, air horns and the radio are not bothering him also! I'm joking of course since I'm a driver.

Seriously though, as true with any pass device and SCBA with or without an integrated device, personally I rather wait until I get on scene to turn on the bottle rather than have all the loud alarms, test alarms, ect go off especially if you are stationary and you know that damn pass (AKA The F.O.D. - ask me in a private mail if you can't figure the acronym out.) I can't stand them when they sound in a structure doing overhaul!

ArrowXT is right about it bothering drivers because we have enough noise in the cab as it is and having those go off can really distract us from the road and we can't hear anything else that may be comming or waring us.

[Guest nickcabral]

Why not just wait till you get to the scene? unless it is an MVA on a busy road or somthing of the sort you may lose time by pulling over just respond and don your gear when you get there.

←

I think the opionion is that you look like an a** when you pull up to a scene and are not ready for battle. Also when you arrive on scene you should be doing more important things than worrying about getting dressed and putting on SCBA...every FF should take a good look at the building for size up etc.. If you arrive on scene and your mind is thinking about donning gear, you may miss something. Like I said in my first post, you really lose no time, it takes just as much if not less time than if you were in station and had a run. The benefit of arriving on scene and being ready to go with turnouts and SCBA on and being able to focus on the important fireground activities out weigh the 1 minute it takes you to pull over and get ready.

[maisela 0]

While I agree that firefighters should be doing most of their gearing up prior to arrival on scene, I've seen this taken to an extreme. Several times riding to a call, I've noticed some firefighters will mask up before the apparatus arrives on scene. Personally, I think that this is a problem because it does not allow the firefighter to perform his own size-up/ 360 of the incident. I can only assume that people who do this put a great deal of faith in their officer. However, an officer is only as good as his crew and will frequently rely on his team to provide additional size-up information that may have been overlooked.