Last month we looked at the question, where is your PPE? This month let us ask the question, are you combat ready in relation to your PPE?
In either a career or volunteer fire department, there is an element of being ready to go at any moment. This involves everything from the apparatus to the firefighters themselves. This, of course, includes personal protective equipment. And just as much as the apparatus, it needs to be ready to go at any moment.
Being combat ready involves being in a ready state at all times. The firefighting gear needs to be readied so that firefighters can quickly don it. In a volunteer setting, a firefighter’s gear may not be at the truck ready to go, but in a locker along the wall.
Does it have all the required components needed such as the liners installed correctly, the pants and boots set up properly, gloves, flash hood, SCBA face piece if equipped with one, personal flashlight charged, and any other items that are needed? Are they in a readied state for quick and easy deployment?
In a career fire departments and some volunteer fire departments, the gear is usually set beside the assigned apparatus. This allows the firefighter to respond to the apparatus and get dressed quickly, board the apparatus and leave the station for the assignment.
When the firefighter’s gear is not set up for quick deployment, it slows down the overall response time and usually leaves that firefighter scrambling to make sure everything is on correctly. In the photo below, you can see a firefighter’s gear bag sitting beside the apparatus. This is not what you want to see as combat ready. This is a bad example of what to do.
How about when the assigned shift starts or ends? Is the gear right away pulled out from the locker and set up beside the assigned apparatus or is it done later after other things have been accomplished? When it comes close to the end of the shift, is the gear pre-maturely put back into the locker for a quick exit?
These bad habits all contribute to a domino effect that will eventually lead to a firefighter becoming handicapped on the fireground. Response times are critical when there is an emergency of some type.
Delaying that response time because gear is missing, not assembled properly, not set up ready to go or even put away is only going to hurt the fire department overall and make that firefighter a handicap for that crew.
Be combat ready.
