Where firefighters come to talk training

Seat Belts and SCBA's: Practice

Since we are looking at the Denver Fire Department for some great training information in relationship to firefighter rescue and survival with the Denver Drill, let’s look at another issue that Denver has attacked. Seat belts and SCBA’s.

It is a common known fact that firefighters are killed and injured each year because they were not wearing their seat belt. I personally have heard firefighters and officers make statements that are just flat out ignorant in regards to wearing seat belts.

It takes too long to do; I can’t get it on over my gear; I can’t get packed up and put my seat belt on. There are many more, but the bottom line is that a few extra seconds allows us to arrive safely and to actually make the save or make an attack on the fire.

If we don’t arrive safely, we can’t do our job. We owe it to ourselves, the people we serve and our families to arrive to calls and back safely.

The Denver Fire Department has put together this video that shows some practical solutions and methods for putting on your seat belt over your gear and pack. Put aside you ego for a few minutes and learn something and then pass it on. Officers, make your crews watch this.

Please stay safe at all times and be careful.

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Permalink Reply by Ken Slaven on December 1, 2010 at 2:16am

Wear your seat belt! It is possible to don the SCBA shoulder straps prior to entering the roadway, then fasten your seatbelt. I've seen several firefighters get tangled when the waist belt and seat belt are worn together. How much time are we really saving? It is shameful to kill firefighters because they are not wearing their seat belts.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Bricault (ret) on December 1, 2010 at 3:35pm

-How about just putting the damn SCBA on when you arrive on scene?!?! Has every brain dead, lazy firefighter forgotten how to throw an SCBA on their back or is everyone dependent upon slipping into it while seated in the cab?
-Gear up, belt in and don the damn SCBA when you arrive on scene and are exiting the rig. Not that hard.
-I have even heard good arguments for taking the SCBA out of the cab and mounting them in exterior compartments again. I'm not saying I would... but I have heard some good compelling arguments.
-Last week one of our firefighters fell out of a moving apparatus and was seriously injured while attempting to dress out in the cab.
-Safe arrival is everything. You can't be a superhero if you don't get on scene.
-I am tired of all these excuses by firefighters that attempt to justify unsafe or foolish practices by explaining how much time they save.
-Do the job correctly and you won't need to use half assed short cuts. Slow is fast; fast is slow.

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Permalink Reply by Mike France on December 2, 2010 at 10:14am

i have to say that our Board as of last Voted and approved a mandatory Seatbelt policy for all that ride in Fire District vehicles . Althought this is meeting opposition from several i believe in time it will be accepted.

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