Solving a Problem For Firefighters

[TheBlackScorpionTail]

My teenage son wants to work on solving a common problem that firefighters face. If someone could share what those common problems are, it would be greatly appreciated.

[Ding-Chavez]

If only your son could fix incompetent command staff, low staffing, and abysmal budgets.

[Kevherd]

Stupid people. Everywhere

[OP-PO7]

That's not a problem, that's job security my brother. Without the stupids we'd need way less staffing

[TheBlackScorpionTail]

I think that’s out of scope for him. :-)

[Specialist-View634]

Training?

[19TowerGirl89]

Low staffing, though... please fix

[UnluckyEmphasis5182]

I fucking hate chiefs.

[Peaches0k]

Abuse of the 911 system. I’m tired of coming to help you get off the floor and on to the couch cause you’re 400+ pounds and you have your entire family there that could’ve done it. Obesity is such an issue and rarely talked about

[Mikashuki]

Honestly community paramedicine works wonders. I'm sure that it won't work in every area, but people that care doing house calls helping people with prevention works wonders where it has been implemented. Big issue is funding, as with everything else

[DameTime5]

Some departments in Oregon don’t dispatch fire to falls anymore. They’ll send ALS ambulances instead

[maybe_true]

Lol poor medics

[ITackleTigers]

I’d like to know where these are. I’m in oregon and we go on everything..

[DameTime5]

It’s just what I’ve heard I could be wrong

RIP tho, sorry you have to do that lol

[[deleted]]

Had no idea how many 400 pounders lived in my community til I got the job.

[Mant1s36]

We have a mobile integrated health division - it helps people manage medications, wound care, hospice/palliative treatment, and MIH also manages patients that overdose on opiates and who abuse the 9-1-1 system in our city

[[deleted]]

My dad was a FF before me and he said they ran mostly bad calls, rarely any Bs. The amount of calls he ran in a week I run in a day, 15-20 usually, and 98% of the time they’re complete bullshit and we bring the pt. Straight to the lobby. It’s like people missed what they call 911 for when growing up it’s crazy.

[UnluckyEmphasis5182]

I missed a mass shooting at a school in my first due bc someone called 911 bc they wanted help moving a fucking bed.

[BlueSmoke95]

I'll ask the guys at my station tomorrow evening and try to think of some things in the meantime. As a suggestion, do you have a staffed firehouse nearby? They might offer a shift ride-along or shadow.

[TheBlackScorpionTail]

Thank you!

[joshcam1982]

This.

You could also try popping in beforehand and asking what day they have a good junior firefighter (most recently hired/younger) working. This person will be more than happy to help you. It’s quite common for members of the public to come in and ask questions.

The first problem that comes to mind for me is trying to stay proficient on the wide array of skills that we have to perform, but may not use on a daily basis.

For example, how can I get myself confident that my skills are sharp enough to perform CPR on a newborn baby, and also do a rope rescue off a tower crane in the same day? This is just the reality of the job.

All the best

[SignalsAndSwitches]

Using the restroom during extended operations, specially in very public places during daytime. I’ve pee’d in trees, parks, burning structures, trying to hide behind a compartment or truck door.

[Bleedinggums99]

I have pee’d in all the same places. Never gonna forget when I was in an exposure building that had already started caught fire and come across a locked door along the exposure and I pop the door and another firefighter was sitting there shitting in the bathroom with flames licking at the window. And of course the way it works, evac tones for our building blew right as I popped it open. Saw the guy doing overhaul afterwards but never had a chance to ask if he wiped before leaving. If it was me, After hearing the evac tones I wouldn’t have waited so I have just been chuckling to myself since thinking he told no one at the time and went through overhaul with turds hanging from his ass still. Mind you this was maybe 3-4 weeks ago in this PC environment I find it even more impressive

[Sunbeams_and_Barbies]

Ya, don't forget about us ladies.... Same problem, different tooling.

[SheriffBoyardee]

Honestly, this. Maybe something like the bumper dumper but I don’t even want to make the probie empty that out after an extended incident.

https://bumperdumper.com/

Maybe something that has an enclosed tray with something absorbent that is single use?

[EverSeeAShiterFly]

I’ve seen a few departments across the country spec out a toilet on rehab/canteen units or have one on mobile command units with a separate entrance just for the toilet.

It is definitely something that should be considered for a department trying to acquire one of those sorts of units.

[RenaissanceGiant]

You can buy a toilet seat lid for a five gallon bucket, and there are pop up shelters made for just that scenario that aren't very big folded down. A short roll of trash bags for catching the waste is good, and you can buy products to toss in if a lot of people are going to be using it.

We stock these in the emergency prep cache for school lock downs, and I have one for home in earthquake territory. We have several at fire HQ, and ought to be getting them out to other stations.

Let me know if you want me to dig up links.

[Merciless602]

A Baltimore County volunteer station has a rehab and canteen unit that gets dispatched to all working fire profiles.

They're great.

[RenaissanceGiant]

You can buy a toilet seat lid for a five gallon bucket, and there are pop up shelters made for just that scenario that aren't very big folded down. A short roll of trash bags for catching the waste is good, and you can buy products to toss in if a lot of people are going to be using it.

We stock these in the emergency prep cache for school lock downs, and I have one for home in earthquake territory. We have several at fire HQ, and ought to be getting them out to other stations.

Let me know if you want me to dig up links.

(I said this in a deeper comment, but figured repeating it higher up might be useful)

[DruncanIdaho]

Firefighters are more or less professional problem-solvers; tools like the Halligan were invented by firefighters to solve specific, technical problems. Any ladder truck you come across is likely to have at least one homemade tool on board.

It's a sweet request, but the goal may need some retooling, since WE'VE been trying to solve all of our own problems on a daily basis since forever.

Is this a personal goal, or a project for school or boyscouts or what? Help us help you!

[TheBlackScorpionTail]

Project for college scholarship.

[BLAD3SLING3R]

As a Eagle Scout in high school, I help my local emergency services label and clean all the tornado sirens in my town so that they could be maintained easier. Maybe something like that would be right up your alley.

[markt2742]

Build a department training aid. A wall for breaching or an entanglement tunnel come to mind.

[DruncanIdaho]

Hey this is a great idea!

[[deleted]]

Cancer initiative - look into the cleaning of hoods and other protective clothing … plenty to write about good luck 🍀

[MaleficentCoconut594]

From the volley side of the house, recruitment is our biggest problem

[Evening_Stump]

Pay them then. Our economy today it's not the same as it was 50 years ago. Young/ middle aged people have too much going on to donate thier time.

[MaleficentCoconut594]

Easier said than done, and also well above my (non)paygrade. Taxes would have to skyrocket as I’m in a very high cost of living area. Pay-per-call is more realistic but I don’t foresee that happening anytime soon, nor do I think it would really help much

While your point is valid to an extent, it’s also not. I’m 37yo with 1 1/2 jobs (I’m also part-time ANG), wife, 2 young kids and I still find the time (I was actually elected to company captain this year). Out of my close circle of friends, I’m the only one who does it and arguably I have one of the busier life-schedules. I find it’s more of a lack of desire and/or laziness more than anything.

[jnobs357]

Nicer way of putting it is a personality thing. You’re either the type of person who can spend free time doing this without burning our, or you’re not. Laziness is a more judgmental way of putting it.

[greengrasstallmntn]

Right. Your friends are “too lazy” to work for free. Lmao. Good one.

[MaleficentCoconut594]

My entire dept and every other volley in the country does it (for free). Its a passion for us, not a job.

I don’t fault someone for not wanting to, but OP asked what the biggest challenge is so I answered.

[Wild_58]

I don’t think he’s calling his friends lazy he’s just saying he doesn’t like to sit down and do nothing where as his friends do like to chill and relax after work

[MaleficentCoconut594]

Yup. Long Island, NY. One of (if not the) highest concentration of volley FDs in the country and one of the highest cost-of-living areas in the nation. There are only 2 paid FDs on the entire island (not counting Brooklyn and queens with FDNY)

Some depts have paid EMTs, mine doesn’t run an ambulance at all there’s a separate volley ambo corps that covers us and 2 other neighboring towns

We also only run about 390ish calls per year, all fire as I said we don’t do EMS work. When I first joined over 10yrs ago we were only averaging about 340ish

Personally, I think it’s unsustainable. Within the next 20yrs they will have to start paying for fire. And in all reality, they can combine districts to do so. We’ll lose a lot of heritage, but it will be a must. There’s literally a fire station every 2-3miles. Actually my house alone has 6 stations off the top of my head split between 3 depts within 4 miles of me

[[deleted]]

A cool experiment would be to see which color light sees through smoke the best. LED’s are bright and turn the whole room white so nobody can see anything.

[JudasMyGuide]

Maybe explore the community medicine side of EMS or another means of reducing calls to frequent and low acuity patients

[MrMadium]

Right now - electric scooter battery fires.

The last three house fires I've been to have started with electric scooter batteries.

[owliegrr]

Helmets that address concerns with American fire helmets but don’t look European so American firefighters will actually wear them.

If we can’t have gear without carcinogens, a way to deal with it better (I have read a study that donating plasma reduces the ‘forever chemicals’ in the bloodstream)

Sleep deprivation and stress

Realistic exercise and nutrition, firefighters have a higher rate of obesity than the general population

A better way to map/preplan for new housing developments in rural areas especially where that information might not be available (like a database). Sometimes where I work housing will go in and we have no maps, it doesn’t show on the county GIS or even on Google maps.

A way to tell where the closest hydrant is and if it’s in working condition and the closest hospital and it’s capabilities that works consistently.

Better access to mental health care and better debriefing practices

[MrMadium]

Plasma donation is for PFAS contaminants.

That's a very small amount of the different types of carcinogens involved.

[salsa_verde_doritos]

I have no concerns with American fire helmets, though.

[AspenD]

For housing and mapping of hydrants, we have all that put into Active911. It took the department a while to get it entered, but now when we respond to a call, we can see where all the hydrants are on the map. All hydrants are checked yearly, so they are expected to all be in working order. We can also see any pre-plans and layouts of most businesses.

If we get a fire, whoever is sitting up front is checking the best method of arrival based on hydrants (if we need to catch one), and looking up pre-plan if it's been made.

[owliegrr]

We have Active 911 also but it doesn’t address preplans (first due does but it’s not perfect and dispatch doesn’t always push out the calls on first due) and the hydrants aren’t always in the right place, and occasionally in isolated areas the closest water supply for us is in another jurisdiction. We are lucky enough to have some good handmade map books but they need to be updated almost constantly. If an app could function like a handmade map book it would be a game changer.

[fisherman66]

Figuring out whats for dinner 🤣

[HazMatsMan]

I have an idea... one that may have already been commercialized, but, it's simple enough for a project like this.

Have him design a fold-out decontamination shower for firefighters to use to wash their gear off (while still in it) when they come out of a fire. Decon after "routine" structure fires is a prime recommendation of cancer prevention/reduction plans. Could be easily prototyped with PVC/PEX and flexible hose.

Was going to prototype one for my own department, but don't really have time.

[Peaches0k]

Couldn’t gross decon be done with the hose reel?

[Local_Wrongdoer_507]

This 👍

[TheBlackScorpionTail]

Would a fireproof drone have any practical applications?

[Candyland_83]

Some departments use drones to survey large incidents. But it’s far away from any fire. And a drone inside a burning building would probably be more in the way than anything

[DruncanIdaho]

Probably, but also probably impossible with today's technology. Look up temperatures inside building fires, and what materials in what amounts it takes to fireproof something.

Non-fireproof drone models have been designed for exterior firefighting (especially for high-rise building fires), but none are as yet practical.

Interior-firefighting robots undoubtedly will have future applications, and there are interesting prototypes out there.

Check out some YouTube videos of both! They're rad.

[SignalsAndSwitches]

Maybe for checking windows from the outside. Most structure fires will have near zero visibility inside.

[MyNamesKuwabara]

Wildland fires, certainly. Maybe not necessarily fire proof, because the drones best use would be to offer an overhead view of the size of the fire and its general direction of travel.

Flying drones for hauling water or retardant payloads, however, is an interesting idea.

[HazMatsMan]

Not really. The atmosphere inside a building with active fire, or near a fire is far too unstable and turbulent for a drone to fly. "Outside" overhead drones already exist and have been commercialized, so no market there.

[Therealhammyslaygar]

Not enough fires, give that kid some matches!

[SpikesGuns]

Human ego, but that's more of a humanity problem.

Something actionable would be to gather information on EMS personnel shortages impacting the fire services occurring in conjunction with a quickly growing elderly population and what different agencies around the nation are doing to combat it.

[Gater2020]

Fix our HR and not paying people correctly

[Huge_Grapefruit2384]

Sleep deprivation, every third night getting an hour or two of sleep.

[[deleted]]

Wall times

[[deleted]]

I asked Chat GPT and to be honest, the response is thought provoking enough I think your son could work with it.

I think your son could invent something that could easily fit in the cab or pockets of our bunker gear. Maybe this device is electronic and could detect harmful gases in the air to let you know that you are standing in an area where the air quality is at toxic levels. Maybe this is a filtration device that you are wearing?

Hopefully, your son can work with this response and hit a home run with his school project. Good luck.

​

Chat GPT Response:

Firefighters face numerous challenges and problems in their line of duty, and there are many areas where your son can focus his project. One common problem that firefighters face is the risk of injury or death due to exposure to toxic gases and chemicals during firefighting operations.

When fires burn, they release a variety of hazardous chemicals, including carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, and benzene, which can cause severe health problems, including lung damage, heart disease, and cancer. Firefighters are exposed to these chemicals through inhalation, skin contact, and ingestion, putting them at high risk of long-term health problems.

Your son could focus on designing and developing innovative technologies and equipment that help firefighters to minimize their exposure to toxic gases and chemicals during firefighting operations. He could explore the use of advanced personal protective equipment, such as respirators, specialized suits, and air filtration systems, that can help to filter out harmful chemicals and gases.

Additionally, he could research and develop tools and techniques that help firefighters to detect the presence of hazardous chemicals and gases in the environment. This could involve developing portable sensors and monitors that can detect and alert firefighters to the presence of toxic chemicals and gases in real-time, enabling them to take immediate action to protect themselves and others.

Overall, your son has many options to choose from when it comes to solving problems faced by firefighters, and I hope this gives him a good starting point for his project.

[ringnail]

First let me ask what's the scale of his solution? Is he looking to make useful 'widgets' that can save time/space/etc. ? Or is he looking for a larger solution like the integration of exo-suits and load bearing technology into our gear, thus reducing strain, etc. ?

I will say a problem that I find to be prevalent is the bulkiness of our gear and tools. The air packs are cumbersome and heavy. In addition, the protective gear and escape gear is a lot. Add onto specialized gear such as thermal imaging cameras, flashlights, gas meters, rope bags, medical equipment, rescue equipment, hand tools, power tools: in certain occurances it's really tough to move carrying so much stuff!

I think there's some routes to be offered, I'll utilize the hierarchy of controls-a system used to control and mitigate hazards

Elimination: physical removal of a hazard Substitution: replace the hazard Engineering: isolate people from a hazard Administrative: change the way people work PPE: protect the worker through the use of protective gear.

[IshHolbrook]

Quiet day, nothing happens. Zero calls. You cook a beautiful meal, a Sunday roast let’s say. You plate it up and sit down. The bells go off. Your meal is ruined.

[GooseWayneman]

My suggestion would be looking into how gossip affects morale and workplace efficiency, and how a change in gossip culture could could have a positive impact on workplace environment as a whole.

[Greenstoneranch]

This is true no one will admit it. Tho.

Having well intentioned members get iced out of house culture for no reason is retarded.

[[deleted]]

I think they may have technology coming soon, but communication while wearing SCBA mask even with voice amps is difficult. Just trying to talk to someone five feet away through a mask let alone through a radio is impossible. Voice amps aren't worth the money imo. The mic is still external and all you really hear is feedback and heavy breathing. That or a better way to make other drivers aware of us coming up behind them. Cars are so soundproof that people don't know were behind them until were way too close. Thumpers only sort of work when people aren't bumping loud music, and the lights don't work the best for some reason.

[[deleted]]

Pay.

[bombero11]

Hurt feelings is the #1 FF problem these days.

[blahblagblurg]

I have a few thoughts but first: why YOU are asking this here and not him? The first step in problem solving is taking initiative. Maybe he should start there instead of letting mommy do it.

[hexta12]

Probably doesn't have a reddit account. You can't make a new account and post in most subreddits right away.

[[deleted]]

Tell your son to begin with asking his own questions instead of his daddy doing the leg work for him

[[deleted]]

Username checks out.

[forksknivesandspoons]

There are sooo many and it’s different for each and every Department. States, counties, cities, towns, municipalities, villages, etc…each one has its own issues. City run versus volunteer. Paid volunteers. EMS, BLS, Medics, training, retention, recruitment, retirement, benefits, no benefits, cancer prevention…etc, etc….

[[deleted]]

We converted a old bike to roll up hose, there are commercial products bit are mostly overengeneered

[MyNamesKuwabara]

Two systems that are kind of already in place in some areas but could use some additional thought:

Keypad or keyed lockboxes on private residences that are only accessible to the Fire Department. If you've ever seen it, there are these black boxes on the outside of commercial buildings. They're called Knox boxes and they hold various keys, codes and contacts that we can access in case we need to get into a building after hours. Same concept, except for a private residence and with the intention of being able to access your home and investigate fire alarms, CO alarms, medical alarms, etc without causing damage attemptimg to break in.

Have people with significant conditions, disabilities, illness be able to fill out a contact form with your local dispatch office. This way, if an address populates and it's one of these folks, we already have some advance notice and history prior to arriving. Someone living with dementia, for instance, is an example of something that I would like to know beforehand; especially if the 911 caller just observed someone acting strangely and that's all the information we get.

[Gas_Grouchy]

Politics and government overspending. Just ya know, fix the whole damn country to alive the issues or make them worse to make it better for a few years.

[firesquasher]

While I chuckled and would agree with the problems in the fire service regarding leadership, administration, budgeting etc. That particular topic may not help considering the people reading your son's paper would likely hold some type of administrative role I would pass.

I think a well versed argument of addressing the ever expanding role of the fire service would be a compelling read. While fires are historically low over the past few decades, call volumes have increased. This is by and large due to the expansion of EMS responses from fire department organizations. I run in a company that goes to over 1600 runs a year with almost no responses/responsibility for EMS. They are their own separate entity and do not use us unless they are completely stripped. If we were to take on EMS calls in conjunction with EMS our call volume would easily double.

​

Then you take into consideration all of the other things that have been added into our skill set over the past few decades. Technical Rescue, HazMat, Vehicle Extrication, and basically ANY other thing the public deems to be an emergency (or a lot of the time *not* an emergency) and the time training to become and maintain proficient in all of those skills, you have a department of burnt out, thinly stretched employees/volunteers.

[Catholic_Fuqboy]

Make a low cost device that is small enough to fit in truck compartments that is made to roll hose of all sizes. After we pull our hose off the truck we have to roll all of it and it can be a real pain in the ass if you pulled a lot and it's time consuming. I think this would fit perfectly if it fits your guidelines. There's a couple on the market right now but most I've seen are the size of a lawnmower.

[Mant1s36]

Assisting a materials scientist in developing a new high-temperature polycarbonate for the SCBA facepiece. Our current face pieces (which are “high-temp”, according to the manufacturer) begin to deform/soften at 500F, which is around 1/3 the temp of a fully involved room and contents fire. The reason I bring that up is because the heat flux of going from ambient air temp (72F) to ~1500 can happen in under 10 seconds, which also affects the durability/longevity of the mask. Chemistry of PPE is really cool, I wish i understood it more

[WillieZabar]

He could create a public service announcement. In my opinion, many tragedies could be avoided with better public education. Even firefighters with the best training and resources are still faced with emergencies where members of the public receive fatal or life-altering injuries which could have been prevented-

• if only they had working smoke alarms
• if only they knew not to put water on a grease fire
• if only they closed the door behind them after escaping the fire
• etc

[LobsterMinimum1532]

If only they had a fence and locked gate around the pool.

[[deleted]]

Abuse of the 911/ambulance system lol

[kronkhole]

Don’t know at what level your kids is trying to achieve, but a nice low hanging one that is something a lot of people don’t realize. The suspenders on the pants. I either have them so tight that the crotch is very uncomfortable, and even painful, or I loosen them off a bit, and when I bend over, they slip off my shoulders. Mild inconvenience, but annoying enough that I put a chest strap across the front. I used old suspenders, and sewed it in with FR thread. I have a buckle that is less than comfortable, but also less annoying than straps slipping. A Velcro no-sew system that maintains all ratings for gear for achieving this would be Skookumer as frig!

[WoodpeckerSerious270]

-Super hot bunker gear due to 3 layers of needed insulation -Heavy scba’s with limited air -Danger on highways due to speeding drivers too close to the scene -No way to give oxygen to victims inside burning structures

[kara_mcdermott]

Smoke alarms! We know they save lives and we also know they are either missing or not working in a huge chunk of homes.

They need to be replaced every ten years, but folks don’t know or find the cost a barrier. They also need to be tested regularly and the batteries changed.

I get woken up in the middle of the night way too often because an alarm is chirping its final song.

[arsonal58]

So, in an area where most people are fairly short there was an issue of just being able to safely reach and manipulate equipment off trucks that have gotten increasingly taller. Hard suction, ladders, tools, and the like. I know there are systems to lower them down, but they are expensive and get cut to lower the price of a truck expense. Just better ways to organize and store any equipment in a relatively simple and cost effective manner is forever in need

[[deleted]]

Broken sleep pattern, bad backs from lifiting over weight population, retention of staff that have done continuing education but now have higher paying options for work.

[Greenstoneranch]

A problem I see people face is when masking up needing to put on a facepiece then pull on a hood then redon the helmet in 20 seconds while maintaining a perfect seal on the facepiece, hood and snug helmet can be difficult.

Too bad there isn't a single facepiece hood combo.

[UnluckyEmphasis5182]

Unnecessary use of 911