MEDIA CONTACT: Mark E. Brady, Chief Spokesperson, 240-508-7930
mebrady@co.pg.md.us @PGFDPIO
Beginning June 15, 2014, and continuing through June 21, 2014, the Prince George’s County Fire/Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Department will participate in the 2014 International Fire/EMS Safety & Health Week (Safety Week). An entire week is provided to ensure that each shift and volunteer duty crew can spend one day focusing on firefighter safety, health and survival. Although we should focus on safety year round, Safety Week is a great opportunity for chiefs, company officers, firefighters, and paramedics to work together to manage risk and enhance their health and safety.
This military style “stand down” is designed to raise the level of awareness toward firefighter and EMS personnel safety, and call attention to the high volume of preventable deaths and injuries plaguing the Fire/EMS service. All non-emergency activities should be suspended in order to provide an opportunity for personnel to review and reflect on the requirements of the profession, and what we can do individually and collectively to ensure one another’s health and safety. All personnel are directed to participate in this important endeavor to help ensure that Everyone Goes Home.
This year’s Safety Week will focus on the importance of adequate training to prepare for safe fire ground operations. We will begin Safety Week by utilizing the ground breaking research conducted by UL and NIST to review several past incidents where firefighters have been seriously injured and killed. This cutting-edge research has impacted the way we “fight” fires today, and has changed the way we train and understand the changing dynamics of modern structural fires. This understanding of the modern fire environment has been the driving force that has changed the way we “Train Like We Fight.”
ALL personnel will be expected to view three online videos:
1. Understanding the modern fire environment: flow paths, fuel and ventilation (part 1) http://youtu.be/82OJqcftNVg
2. Understanding the modern fire environment: flow paths, fuel and ventilation (part 2) http://youtu.be/ISJuQfcj62A
3. Understanding the modern fire environment: flow paths, fuel and ventilation (part 3) http://youtu.be/fIjOGCAZfgk
Personnel are expected to review and discuss these online videos with their crew(s). This training will help our personnel open the dialogue within their stations about the changing dynamics of structural fire-fighting.
We will use these resources to focus on what we can do to help “Train” our personnel to “Fight” with the life–saving knowledge that can be initiated at every level of fire-fighting operations.
Volunteer chiefs and station officers are responsible for ensuring all personnel under their supervision have viewed these materials.
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