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There is a saying about not making judgments until you have “walked a mile in my shoes.” Well, three of our Livonia City Council members walked a mile in our fire boots on a Saturday in May. Council members Brian Meakin, Maureen Miller Brosnan and Conrad Schwartz met Livonia firefighters at the training facility off Glendale to find out first-hand more about our jobs.
During the week prior to the training, the council members were fitted with firefighter turnout gear and respiratory testing to make sure they had the right equipment to do the job. Bright and early on Saturday morning, firefighters and council members met with the goal of gaining insight into the job requirements of Livonia's firefighter/paramedics.
While it would be impossible to cram all of what we do into a four-hour session, we decided that a car crash scenario and two live burns were a pretty good start. While many people understand the emergency medical part of our job as paramedics, and some of our station life can be seen during tours, these two previously mentioned sides of our job are a mystery to many. We go on many car crashes, and most of them do not require extrication of the crash victims. When we do have to extricate, we usually have the victim out very quickly so few people get a chance to see us operating our heavy rescue tools.
Fires are depicted incorrectly in many movies and television shows, as the thick, dark smoke would be too difficult for actors to work around. Hollywood prefers the white smoke made by machines that can be controlled. Therefore, a few live fire scenarios were going to be included in the training day.
Vehicle extrication work requires handling heavy tools and equipment, and working in roadways where drivers are a threat to our safety. While our vehicles were at our training facility, our council members performed admirably, getting the feel for using specialized tools to gain access to patients. All this is done while providing protection for any victim(s) who may be present.
The first fire scenario had council members completely geared up in firefighter protective clothing, including self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). They entered one of our burn chambers and watched a fire start and grow up until the point of the dangerous flashover, with ceiling temperatures more than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit! While in the burn chamber, council members were able to use our thermal imaging camera (TIC) to help locate the portions of the room that are hottest, along with any victims.
In the second scenario, our brave council members pulled an attack hoseline into a burn chamber, went downstairs to the seat of the fire, and sprayed water until the fire was extinguished. Next, in high heat and zero visibility, they had to crawl and find a victim placed in the burn chamber.
The entire event was set up to allow our council members an inside look at some of the job functions performed by Livonia firefighters. In that regard, this was a success. The event was dubbed Fire Ops 101, and similar programs are held in Lansing and throughout the nation to create awareness about the importance of resources such as adequate manpower staffing and state-of-the-art equipment and apparatus. We thank Council members Meakin, Brosnan and Schwartz for showing up and wanting to find out more about the job of their firefighters.
Tom Kiurski is training coordinator for the Livonia Fire Department.
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