Stress: a firefighter’s daily bill of fare

The conditions that firefighters work in are a breeding ground for stress. Various stressors can be identified both in the work itself and in how it is organized. Emergencies that mean working against the clock are obviously highly stressful. The alarm shatters the fire station routine: all activities, including sleep in a night-time callout, are summarily interrupted. The on-call firefighters stop what they are doing and prepare to turn out. The clock starts ticking, as it were, from the pre-operations phase and the pressure of an emergency response will ease only once the operation is finished. On top of the time pressures are those of the kind of operation and its procedures. Particularly gruelling working conditions in terms of the physical, physiological and/or emotional demands, an awareness of the risks run and the stakes, are all especially when added together apt to generate stress among on-scene personnel. Organizational and relational aspects of firefighters’ work may also be stressful. A lack of strong, reassuring leadership or communication breakdowns on-scene, for example, may be particularly anxiety-producing. On the organizational front, union representatives point to employers’ disregard of various components of fire service work organization (i.e., working time, work/life balance, personnel and skills management, workload allocation, communication between firefighters of different grades and statuses, social recognition, etc.) as being particularly damaging to firefighters’ psychosocial well-being.

So firefighters are not immune to work-related stress, which may be somatic (e.g., heart disease, high blood pressure), psychosomatic or psychological (e.g., depression, burn-out). The problem of alcohol and other kinds of substance abuse (e.g., anxiety-relievers, drugs) that some studies have helped highlight in the fire services should prompt thought about prevention and be at least partly considered as a behavioural response to chronic stress. The European framework agreement on work-related stress requires employers to take steps to prevent, eliminate or reduce work-related stress for firefighters. Exposing them to inordinate stress on the grounds that it is inherent to firefighting tasks is unacceptable. While nothing can be done about the characteristics of incidents that are in themselves acutely stressful, they can perfectly well be factored into the pre-operational risk assessment so as to adapt operations accordingly. However, many stressors are related to the organizational and inter-personal aspects of work. While nothing can be done about stressful organizational arrangements derived from the obligation to ensure a continuous service (e.g., night work), a wide range of specific, especially collectively-agreed measures exist that can be used to act on many sources of organizational and inter-personal stress.

Employers in some countries seem to recognize the extent of the problem of stress among firefighters and some are seeking to tackle it by offering their staff training in stress management. This kind of individual-centric measure may help to cope with stressors that cannot easily be acted on, but they are no magic bullet.

A collective, preventive approach (e.g., directed at eliminating stress at source) will surely yield more conclusive results.

Post-traumatic stress

Firefighters are used to difficult operations. Their operational commitment – i.e., knowing what to do and how to do it on arrival on-scene - usually allows them to focus on the work, keep a healthy distance from the suffering of any victims and avoid developing negative feelings (e.g., powerlessness, anxiety, insecurity, guilt). Some events, however, can break down this vital psychological barrier - incidents where lives are at stake, for example, especially of children or acquaintances. Likewise on-scene injuries or deaths of colleagues such incidents face firefighters with a major emotional shock or trauma that can cause post-traumatic stress disorder.

This syndrome is now well documented, and the symptoms associated with it are well-established. The serious mental and physical toll it can take on workers suffering from it requires specific support. Like the help provided to physically injured firefighters, those confronted with a traumatic or potentially traumatic event need appropriate psychological help. Specific psychological counselling techniques (e.g., defusing, debriefing) have been developed by psychologists to prevent the syndrome developing among emergency services personnel. To be effective, counselling must be available immediately after exposure (i.e., on-scene support). It has also been shown that successful counselling for firefighters depends on compliance with the social comparison principle. These requirements and findings are behind the creation in some European countries like Belgium of Firefighters Emergency Stress Teams (FiST) − teams of firefighters specially trained in the prevention and management of post-traumatic stress. They are rapid response teams distributed more or less nationwide, and work to the social comparison principle by providing peer support.

Attacks on firefighters

A comparatively new phenomenon has surfaced in some European countries: attacks on firefighters. It has been seen in France, for example, most often in connection with innercity rioting. But it has also occurred in the United Kingdom, and similar problems are reported in Italy, Finland and Sweden. Whatever the causes the most commonly cited being equating firefighters with the police the attacks are endangering the physical safety and mental health of firefighters. They can also give rise to post-traumatic stress disorder, and cause firefighters to question their motivation and undermine their vocation – their sense of purpose in what they do.

In 2007, the European social partners signed a framework agreement on harassment and violence at work which recognizes that workplace violence can come from third parties, and confirms that employers have a duty to protect their workers from such systematic assaults. Secondary prevention is crucial here. The risk must be planned for by making good use of all information about the social and environmental context of the operation in order to take appropriate protective measures. Also, where fire and rescue personnel have been attacked, it is vital for the employer to implement a tertiary prevention system (e.g., defusing or debriefing) to limit the psychological impacts on attacked workers and, especially to prevent posttraumatic stress reactions appearing.

Text 11

Sprinkler Systems

Sprinkler systems save lives in the event of a fire, as they provide early fire control or extinguishment. They are an essential part of a complete fire safety protection plan for any facility. Along with other active and passive fire protection measures, a well-maintained fire sprinkler system can help suppress smoke and flames, and lessen the spread of the fire, reducing damages and giving everyone time to exit the building safely while fire services arrive.

There are six main types of commercial sprinkler systems, each adapted to the needs of various facilities to maximize response time and ensure the protection of employees and assets.

1. Wet Pipe Sprinklers. This is the most common type of fire sprinkler system. Wet pipe sprinklers contain water in the fire sprinkler pipes. They are easy to maintain and install. A wet pipe system is a great option for applications that need a basic, simple sprinkler system for fire protection.

2. Dry Pipe Systems. A dry pipe sprinkler system is similar to a wet pipe system except that the water is not contained within the pipes. The pipes contain pressurized air or nitrogen and the water is held back by a valve until the system is activated. Dry pipe systems work well in environments where the pipes are at risk of freezing.

3. Pre-action Sprinkler System. A pre-action system is pretty similar to a dry sprinkler system, the difference being that water is held back by an electronically operated valve. When a fire is detected, the valve opens, and each sprinkler head is activated individually. These systems are great in applications where accidental discharge of sprinklers would cause extensive damage.

 

4. Deluge Systems. These systems are installed in high hazard areas. In a deluge system, sprinkler heads are open, and water is held back by a valve. When a fire is detected, water is pumped through the system and discharged through the open heads to flood the affected area.

5. ESFR Early Suppression Fast Response systems are a great option for warehouses. They can be used in place of in-rack sprinklers provide better protection and to avoid accidental discharge. An ESFR system is a high volume, high velocity system that is located in the ceiling to protect storage areas.

6. In-Rack Sprinklers. In-rack fire sprinklers are used in warehouses to contain fires to a small area and prevent the entire storage area from being ruined by a fire. These sprinklers are located in close proximity to storage areas.

There are also foam water sprinkler systems, water spray systems and water mist systems.

Foam water sprinkler systems. This special kind of sprinkler system discharges a mixture of water and foam concentrate if activated. They are generally used in case of high challenge fires, such as in the presence of flammable liquids. The foam can be inserted in any of the systems described above.

Water spray systems. Water spray systems are identical to deluge systems but, unlike the latter, the first are designed to safeguard a uniquely configured hazard (so they don’t cover all the horizontal floor area of a space). Electrical transformers, for example, are usually protected by a water spray system.

Water mist systems. This kind of system is typically used in conditions where water may damage things or in case of minimal water supplies. They are provided with a heat absorbent vapour and operate as a wet pipe, deluge, dry pipe or pre-action system. In this case a compressed gas is used to atomise the water, so it turns into a mist.

Text 12

Fire Hydrants

Fire Hydrants are the inevitable safety equipments in our daily lives that can be considered as one of the colleague of fire fighters in order to retrieve water from the main water line. It provides water to firefighting crew at any possible moment to act rapidly. They can be found widely around our living environment including factories, warehouses, industrial buildings, residential buildings, airports, harbors, military areas, parks and where there is fire risk.

Underground fire hydrants are one of the oldest type of firefighting equipments started to be used in 18th century. Underground hydrants are more convenient when there is no space on the city ground and generally they can be accessible via the hydrant surface box.

How do they work?

Fire hydrants are connected to a large water supply through underground pipes. When firefighters arrive on the scene, they connect a hose to the side of the hydrant. Once the hose is connected, a special wrench with a pentagon-shaped socket is used to turn the nut on the top of the hydrant. This unique tool is not widely available, so only authorized people, like firefighters, can use hydrants.

Once the nut is turned, it opens a valve deep underground that allows water to start to flow into the hydrant. Most fire hydrants have these valves underground for a few reasons. If water were kept in the hydrant at all times, it could easily freeze in cold weather, possibly damaging the hydrant and making it impossible to access water when needed. Also, if water was stored in the hydrant, it could start flowing uncontrollably if it were, for example, hit by a car.

The hose connected to they hydrant is usually also connected to a fire truck. The water coming from the hydrant is then run through a pump, which helps to increase the water pressure, and can also divide the supply to multiple hoses.

Types

Wet barrel hydrants are used in warm climates on pressurized water distribution systems. Water remains in the barrel of the hydrant at all times. Each hose outlet is individually valved, and can therefore be operated one at a time.

Dry barrel hydrants are used on pressurized water distribution systems in climates subject to freezing. A valve below the frost line is activated by an operating nut on the top. When the valve is opened, water fills the hydrant body (or barrel) above it. All hose outlets on the hydrant are then pressurized concurrently. A drain is provided to allow gravity to empty the barrel of water when the valve is off. Clogged drains and poor valve seals are common reasons for hydrants to freeze and become inoperable. Dry hydrants are used on static water supply sources. They facilitate pumpers drafting water from the static source.

 

Text 13

Safety curtain

A safety curtain (or fire curtain) is a fire safety precaution used in large proscenium theatres. It is usually a heavy fibreglass or iron curtain located immediately behind the proscenium arch. Asbestos-based materials were originally used to manufacture the curtain, before the dangers of asbestos were discovered. The safety curtain is sometimes referred to as an iron in British theatres, regardless of the actual construction material.

Occupational safety and health regulations state that the safety curtain must be able to resist fire and thereby prevent (or at least hinder) fires starting on stage from spreading to the auditorium and the rest of the theatre, reducing injuries to audience members and members of staff.

The curtain is extremely heavy and therefore requires its own dedicated operating mechanisms. In an emergency, the stage manager can usually pull a lever backstage which will cause the curtain to fall rapidly into position. Alternatively, heat-sensitive components can be built into the rigging to automatically close this curtain in case of fire and finally it may be released electronically by a building's fire control system if any alarm box is operated. It can also be flown in and out, as some regulations often state that it must be shown to the audience, to prove its effective operation, for a certain amount of time during every performance. This usually occurs during the intermission.

In smaller theatres, a safety curtain is not usually required. Specifically, most United States building codes only require a fire curtain in theatres with a stage height of more than 15 m. The heavy, flame-retardant house tabs, can provide some degree of fire separation.

Related fire safety devices

The safety curtain can be combined with other safety devices, such as:

Smoke pockets are steel channels located at either side of the proscenium arch that the safety curtain travels within to create a physical barrier between the auditorium and the stage. The safety curtain is not intended to create an air seal but rather prevent material from falling from the stage house into the audience.

Fire doors are heavy, fireproof doors that are designed to automatically close any doorway onto the stage in the event of a fire. These doors are usually on a slightly pitched track, and are rigged in a way that causes them to automatically close when heated to a certain temperature.

Smoke doors or stage lantern are vents above the stage which, when opened in case of fire, will draw smoke out of the auditorium and up out of the roof of the theatre, enabling safer evacuation of the audience. The vents are often attached to compressed springs, so that when activated, they will stay open.

Drencher or deluge system is a large reservoir of water stored above the stage which, when released in case of fire, will flood the stage in an attempt to extinguish any flames. This type of system can be problematic, as water interacting with onstage electrical circuits can cause fire.

Water Curtain is a system similar to the deluge system, except instead of having the water drench the stage itself, the water flows from sprinkler heads or other nozzles directly in front of the proscenium to prevent sparks from flying off the stage or to extinguish any burning material (such as a set) which may fall through the proscenium.

 

Text 14