Fire service terms every new firefighter needs to know

The fire service is known for its unique lingo – and its even greater love (or at least propensity) for acronyms.

Unless they’ve grown up in a family of firefighters, new firefighters often find themselves frantically trying to keep pace with the firehouse jargon all around them.

The following A-Z guide should help ease the learning curve – and even give aspiring firefighters a head start on the job. (Note: Share your suggested terms to add in the comments below.)

A

• AAR – after-action review (or after-action report)
• Alpha side (aka Side Alpha or just “A”) – front side of a building
• ALS – advanced life support
• Apparatus – encompasses all fire trucks, engines, rescues, etc.
• ASE – active shooter event
• Automatic aid – assistance that is dispatched automatically by predetermined agreement among agencies. [Learn more: Automatic and mutual aid: The response conundrum]

B

• BC – battalion chief [Learn more: What are the firefighter ranks?]
• BLEVE – boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion [Learn more: What firefighters need to know about BLEVEs]
• BLS – basic life support
• Bravo side (aka Side Bravo or just “B”) – left side of the building

C

• CAD – computer-aided dispatch
• CAFS – compressed air foam system [Learn more: 5 reasons to fight fire with foam]
• CAN – condition, actions, needs (a type of fireground report)
• CBRNE – chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, explosives
• Charlie side (aka Side Charlie or just “C”) – back side of a building
• COAL WAS WEALTH – construction, occupancy, area, life hazard; water, auxiliary systems, street hazards; weather, exposures, apparatus/personnel, location, time, hazards [Learn more: 2 operational acronyms firefighters must learn]

D

• DCD – descent-control device (for rope rescue)
• Delta side (aka Side Delta or just “D”) – right side of a building

Photo/Rom Duckworth

E

• ED – emergency department
• EMS – emergency medical services
• ePCR – electronic patient care report
• Extrication – removing patients from a vehicle crash [Learn more: 5 steps to extricate patients from modern vehicles]

F

• FAST – firefighter assistance and search team (similar to RIT/RIC)
• FEMA – Federal Emergency Management Agency
• Fentanyl – a synthetic opioid 100 times more potent than morphine [Learn more: 6 strategies to protect first responders from fentanyl]
• FirstNet – the public safety broadband network
• Flashover – a rapid event involving a significant increase in fire growth and development [Learn more: Flashover: Know when it’s time to get out]

G

• gpm – gallons per minute

Photo/Imgur

H

• Halligan – a vital fireground tool [Learn more: How the Halligan tool changed the firefighting game]
• Handline/hoseline – the hose used to douse flames
• HOT – hands-on training [Learn more: Firefighters weigh in on their favorite types of evolutions]
• Hazmat – short for hazardous materials

I

• IAP – incident action plan [Learn more: 5 keys to a great fireground incident action plan]
• IC – incident commander or incident command
• ICS – incident command system
• IDLH – immediately dangerous to life and health (describes a type of environment)
• IMT – incident management team

J

• Jaws of Life – a type of extrication tool [Learn more: How the Jaws of Life became a tool to snatch you from the Jaws of Death]

K

• KSA – knowledge, skills and abilities

L

• LCES – lookouts, communications, escape routes and safety zones (related to wildland firefighting)
• LDH – large-diameter hose [Learn more: LDH: How to get big water to big fire]
• LODD – line-of-duty death

M

• Mayday – the term used when a firefighter is in need of help [Learn more: Here we are again, evaluating our mayday procedures after a tragedy]
• MCI – mass-casualty incident
• MIH – mobile integrated healthcare
• Mutual aid – Read more “Mutual-aid agreements: Mission critical to rural public safety”

N

• NFPA – National Fire Protection Association
• NIMS – National Incident Management System

O

• OSB – oriented strand board (used in building construction)

P

• PAR – personnel accountability report
• PASS device – personal alert safety system [Learn more: Is that my PASS alarm? The problem with tuning out safety features]
• PPE – personal protective equipment
• PPA – positive pressure attack
• PPV – positive pressure ventilation [Learn more: Horizontal ventilation and PPV: Back-to-basics tactics]

Q

• Quint – a type of apparatus that provides five tools for firefighters to carry [Learn more: The quint: A unique and still misunderstood fire truck]

R

• RECEO-VS - Rescue, Exposures, Containment, Extinguish, Overhaul - Ventilation and Salvage (firefighters’ actions on the fireground in order of strategic importance) [Learn more: 2 operational acronyms firefighters must learn]
• Rehab – short for fire rehabilitation, the process of resting the body after exertion
• RIC/RIT – rapid-intervention crew/rapid intervention team (the team that rescues a downed firefighter)

Photo/U.S. Navy by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Bryan Reckard

S

• SAR – search and rescue
• SCBA – self-contained breathing apparatus
• Size-up – the initial report from an incident scene [Learn more: How to deliver a strong 360-degree size-up]
• SOP/SOG – standard operating procedures/standard operating guidelines

T

• TIC – thermal imaging camera

U

• UAS – unmanned aerial systems (aka drones)
• USAR – urban search and rescue

V

• VES/VEIS – vent, enter search and the newer vent, enter, isolate, search [Learn more: Back-to-basics Vent-Enter-Isolate-Search]

W

• WUI – wildland-urban interface

X

• Gen X – Individuals born between 1965 and 1980.

Y

Gen Y (aka millennials) – Individuals born between 1981 and 1996. [Read more: Are millennials really the problem – or lack of mentorship?]

Z

• Gen Z (aka Zeds or Zoomers) – Individuals born between 1997 and 2012. [Learn more: How to deal with an 8-second attention span]

• Level Zero – when a system has no ambulances available for patient response