360 SIZE-UP... AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FO’ DAT!
We hear it. We’ve been taught it. We’ve done it. It’s been cited in LODD reports and it’s taken the first place prize in the fireground priority race: The 360 degree size up. But what if in the race to get the “big picture”, we have overlooked the one main reason we’re in this business in the first place?
The Safety And Rescue Of Civilians.
We still do that don’t we? That is still the unequivocal number one priority, isn’t it? Saving lives, right? I would imagine that every member of the fire service would answer yes to that question. A few might even state that the 360 size up offers that as an opportunity. But do our first due actions back up this sentiment? I would argue that for many of us that answer is actually “no”.
It doesn’t take more than a minute or two on YouTube to pull up a civilians cell phone video, or even the dash cam on the infamous fire SUV, to watch the actions of a first arriving officer or chief, parking their decked out command vehicle across the street from a working fire of some type.
The video may even show them getting out and talking to bystanders as they put on a reflective vest and begin to “take a lap” of the structure and reporting what they see from the outside over the radio to incoming units. “Fire is here... hydrant is there... reports of everybody out... fill the box...” and maybe a few other useful things we have all heard before. All the necessary tasks! Sounds like just another bread and butter operation coming together. Taking control of the chaos, if you will.
However, what has not been done yet is the most critical piece of that size up... Taking a peek inside the building! Why have so many lost this point? Why have we put so much pressure on having a “command presence” and establishing a command post for our companies to report to when they aren’t even on scene yet? I agree this needs done to some degree, but maybe we could set aside just another 60 seconds, and check inside the front door first.
Pull up another video and you can watch as a police officers’ body camera capture him choking on smoke and pulling a little old grandma out of the first floor hallway. You can watch as civilians with no training, and only the protection of “the green line”, run into a building and try and do some good for their fellow man in need. Why do some in the fire service take such a different approach when arriving on scene? We have the gear! We are firemen! We are trained for this!
If I came home from the grocery store, and upon pulling in the driveway, looked over and saw the neighbors house with smoke rolling out the second floor windows and eaves, I wouldn’t call 911 first. I would literally run (yes, run!) to the front door and kick it in! I would yell out “Mike! Kathy! Where are you!?” Maybe the first floor is clear and I can make the stairs and close the door to the bathroom that’s burning... Maybe I can use that dusty $20 fire extinguisher under the sink to knock down the majority of the mattress on fire before it spreads... Maybe I could search as far and as deep as cargo shorts and flip flop sandals will allow, looking for life, fire and layout (1). If I only made it ten feet inside the first floor before being forced to exit, closing the door behind me, so be it. But at least I spent those first 30-60 seconds possibly making a difference in the most critical first moments if the neighbors had fallen victim to smoke inhalation and were unconscious.
Time Matters To Them!
We know that the longer people are in smoke, taking in CO and cyanide, possibly in respiratory arrest, the less likely they are to be revived. The first two to four minutes is critical in making that difference. If you look at CPR statistics, we see that we lose a percentage and chance of saving a life every few seconds we are not doing quality chest compressions (2). Why is that any different when we show up in a half million dollar fire engine with all the special equipment and training that would make even our Army’s Special Forces a little jealous?
We need to reconsider what the first arriving member of the fire department does and prioritize taking a look INSIDE first! Even if it means getting down on your belly, holding your breath, and feeling five feet inside the smokey doorway. At least give the people that tiny chance! Then go about the normal exterior 360 degree size up and get started on all the other command level stuff.
We know that one third of the time people are being found in hallways and paths of egress by the team moving the hoseline
into operation (3). We know that the quicker they are found and removed from the hostile environment, the better their chance at making a full recovery. We should do as much as we can to reduce the delay in finding and removing them.
If you’re saying to yourself that this idea of taking a look inside first is already a standard part of every size up, I would just politely respond “think again” as time after time there are numerous departments NOT taking a look inside first, or sometimes at all! Assuming that first on scene officers or Chiefs are doing this is a mistake. For some, it is almost like it has become taboo for the initial arriving Incident Commander to put themselves and their white dress shirt in harms way. Can’t get that shirt dirty... You’ve got a meeting this afternoon! And while I’m thinking about it, why don’t we have a set of forcible entry tools in the command car and require the guy driving it to be good at forcing doors, maybe even by himself, if necessary? Or how about a 2 1/2 gallon water can and an ABC extinguisher? These items have saved way more lives and property than any dry erase board or Velcro tags.
Make no mistake, I truly believe in the importance of the 360. I often make the joke to my officers that as the nozzleman, all I need from them is to let me know if the fire is in the basement or outside in
the rear, everything else I will figure out inside the front door. Joking aside, those two pieces of information are indeed critical to the firemen inside working, but there is a time and place (more often than not, in my opinion) that we still need to get a look inside first. No better time than before all those guys show up looking to do work!
I have more questions than answers, but I do know one thing: The faster we get inside and find people, the faster we get them out of the smoke, the better chance they have of living to see another day.
Be smart, keep the priorities straight, and move with a purpose.
I leave you with this bit of historical perspective...
“We are engaged in the service of humanity. We are engaged in a work that never ends.
No armistice breaks the stress; no diplomatic treaty breaks the strain.
Firemen are ceaselessly engaged in combating the destructive energies of nature.
Often only a brick or a nail separates them from eternity
They do not whine, Sir;
They are willing to take a chance,
To seal their work with their lives
Should the occasion demand it.”
-Fire Chief John Kenlon, FDNY 1887-1931
(1)Credit to Brian Olson during many phone conversations for sharing “Life-Fire-Layout” with me.
(2) CPR statistics courtesy of the American
Heart Association “If bystander CPR is not provided, a sudden cardiac arrest victim’s chances of survival fall 7 percent to 10 percent for every minute of delay until defibrillation.”
Data collected by Brian Olson and Justin
McWilliams via Support The Primary Search and www. firefighterrescuesurvey.com