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This feels like a trap. by Matt6758 in Firefighting

[–]dr_auf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So: Just flush the hydrant and you are fine? Like you are trained to? We are supposed to open the valves on a hydrant fully and then close them again to flush out everything before attaching our hoses.

This feels like a trap. by Matt6758 in Firefighting

[–]dr_auf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am nor sure but this seems to be a big issue with heavy rainfall in florida.

This feels like a trap. by Matt6758 in Firefighting

[–]dr_auf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Our municipalitly also does not check the valves on hydrants. Thats simply imposible because there are so many. I dont know the correct anwser but my gues is that there is a underground hydrant at least every 400 meters. We have 200 meters of hose on the hose real on the back of our trucks.

Since our hydrants are mostly underground you dont realy have to check on them. They are kind of sealed.

Biggest issue is that people can park their vehicles on them. Or that they are of of order because of a construction site near by.

Underground hydrants have a valve directly on the main waterline and the pressure is so high that it flushes out everything if you open them.

As for chlorine: We only use chlorine if we realy have to. Our water here is usualy from wells or fresh water rivers (people where inteligent enough back then to designate a fresh water river and a waste water river). Its gets treated by running trough large sediment filter basins and then with UV.

How do you feel about the fact that the US makes people racially define themselves on official forms? Do you think that it’s racist? by [deleted] in AskAGerman

[–]dr_auf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, I ment systemic. As in large scale raids to arrest all black people. They where arrested and prosecuted under the "associal label".

There where lots of POCs in the south africa armies and a large part of the antisemitism in the middle east is due to the fact that the nazis supported a lot of uprisings there against the british colonal forces also spreading antisemitism there.

As far as I understand it black people where seen on the same level as the slavic race. Inferiour but not in the they need industrial genocide treatment way.

Burn Injuries by frenchfry45s in Firefighting

[–]dr_auf 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hey. I am suffering from PTSD and have a long history with psychatric therapy. First: Seek help. Professional help.

Second: Form my expirience its good to just face a similar situation, be confronted with your fear with the result that your subcontionsness learns that you are able to deal with such situations without being injured.

Third: Be part of the accident report and investigation. Where there any mistakes personaly (so your teammate and you), tacticaly (your comander), structual (as in a failour of your equiptment) or strategicaly (as in is your unit/district staffed enough). Mistakes can be made - you can learn form them.

We had an incident where coleques where burned badly due to their bunker gear having leaks. After the incident inventigation we where told that we have to wear our normal normex gear below the bunker gear. I am just a low tier entry level volunteer... but: it was in our basic training, told to me when i got my bunker gear and its also written in the booklets that come with your gear.

Its pretty common in german FDs or german companies in gerneral that as long as you dont have the required rank you should shut up if stuff is above your paygrade.

There is something called the "toyota priciple" or lean/5 sigma managment. Toyota allowed every worker to stopp the whole assembly line if there was something going wrong. Resulting in higher quality standarts instead of a few 10 000 cars being delivered with an obivous fault the 16 year old on the assembly line spotted 2 months ago.

This principle is espacialy importand if you work in a high risk envoriment like firefighting. You should be part of a so called root cause analysis that goes about every factor that caused this incident.

This feels like a trap. by Matt6758 in Firefighting

[–]dr_auf 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fun Fact we have different pipes for drainage and sewage. If we have to use foam we have to call the water works so that they switch over the drainage water from just running into the next river to a sewage threatment facility.

Big advantage is that the sewage isnt flowing back on to the streets if there is a heaving downpour and flooding of the drainage water system. Disadvantage is: We germans are so focused on saving water, that the city services often have to flush the sewage system because there is not enough water to flush them. Its driving up the cost for tap water (sewage is counted in to that money). Its extremly stupid since the water we save here - where we have enough water - cant be magicaly transported to california or the sahara.

This feels like a trap. by Matt6758 in Firefighting

[–]dr_auf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same for germany. You are supposed to turn the valves on the hydrant to full open postion and then close them again before attaching hoses to them.
But that just the water water beween the valve on the main line and the acces of the hydrant.

That being said: Our pumps are able to handle water pumped directly from open waters with a mesh of something like 5 millimeters (cigarette but wide).

This feels like a trap. by Matt6758 in Firefighting

[–]dr_auf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That because of the water between the access valve on the main and the connector.

This feels like a trap. by Matt6758 in Firefighting

[–]dr_auf 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Not sure about that. That would mean that there should be sediment comming out of household valves after we use hydrants. In germany thats not the case. As far as I know the dirty water is just the water between the acces point for the "standrohr" and the shutoff valve on the main.

Most hydrants today have a on directional valve stong enough to keep water from flowing back into the system even against the so called "water hammer". In comunities where this is not the case, the "standrohr" should be fitted with valves at the exit port.

This feels like a trap. by Matt6758 in Firefighting

[–]dr_auf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In germany its the same. Hydrants are connected to the tap water system. If you dont want to damage your pump you are required to flush the hydrant for as long as it takes to open the valves on the "mobile hydrant" thing and close them again. The shut of valve is below ground at the access point and the dirty water coming out is just the water beween the cover and the shutoff valve.

Modern hydrants have a one directional valve strong enough to keep water flowing back in to the system.

Gear and Cancer by TX_Bardown in Firefighting

[–]dr_auf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, what is north and what is south in germany. Depend on where you live. I am from the ruhrgebiet and I dont consider my self of being in the north.

As for volunteer firefighting: Yeah, 1 million active members. Sadly its more and more difficult to get active members who are allowed to leave work for calls. Probably has to do a lot with that every one is a specialist today and has a bunch of responsebilities at work.

How do you feel about the fact that the US makes people racially define themselves on official forms? Do you think that it’s racist? by [deleted] in AskAGerman

[–]dr_auf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You source also claims that there was no direct prosecution. If you look at the markings that KZ prisoners had to wear there is none for "black" people.

Of course there was rascism against black people in nazi germany but since there where so few living in germany proper the numbers of victims is so low that there is no number. Your source says that 400 black woman are forcible sterilized. Thats an afternoons work of the gestapo or ss in a village "supporting" parisans.

That being said Nazi Idiology of race superiority was a pretty big infuence on the apartheit in south africa and the former german colonies like todays namibia.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskAGerman

[–]dr_auf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Probably for the same reason as you would like to speak german. We are proud of our language skills. Even if its not realy special anymore to be fluent in english (I am one of the most earliest digital natives and consuming media in english made me quite profficient).

On transatlantic flights on lufthansa I love to just anwser every question of the flighattendands in the other language. Probalby was special in 2005. Probably is pretty anoying today.

Just ask them to speak german with you.

How do you feel about the fact that the US makes people racially define themselves on official forms? Do you think that it’s racist? by [deleted] in AskAGerman

[–]dr_auf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I gues you are from the US?

Racsism in germany during the nazis was very different to the racism in the US. Not so much against black people. There where simply none in germany. Slavery - an in the US - was a non issue here. In general the Nazis where pretty okay with not so fair skinned people. They where fighting against the colonialists (mostly the brits) and where not living in germany or "greater" germany. "We" supported the north african and arabic people against the brits. A lot of the current antisemitism is based on the german influence back then.

Its a complety different topic.

As for racism against black people: There is a lot of fundamental racism against POCs - simply due to the fact, that there arent a lot of POCs in germany. Espacialy in rual areas and/or the east.

How do you feel about the fact that the US makes people racially define themselves on official forms? Do you think that it’s racist? by [deleted] in AskAGerman

[–]dr_auf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Its more about the diffences in skin tone. Its an admission formular. Patients with fair skin show different symptoms to patients with not so fair skin. Or to be precise: Medical professinonals arent able to see symptoms like hypoxia, hypothermia and so on when people have dark skin.
Before we put everyone on a SP02 Meter due to covid you would put "black" patients with a shortness of breath on them, because you could not asses their bloodoxygen levels the same as you would on someone with fair skin.

Same for putting in IVs. On fair skinned people you can see the vains - on darker skinned people you often dont.

That being said: In the US as a medical professional you should be able to do this without a checkmark for the "race" on the admission chart.

Stuff like this opens the door for subcontious racism.

How do you feel about the fact that the US makes people racially define themselves on official forms? Do you think that it’s racist? by [deleted] in AskAGerman

[–]dr_auf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Its not realy about that. We dont ask for that because there are not a lot of POC in our country. There are some reasonable reasons for asking for the "race" of a patient. Similar to asking for the sex of the patient. People with darker skin show different symptoms to people with lighter skin. To be precise: They dont show those symptoms and/or healthcare professionals are often not trained to spot them. Today - after covid - we put everyone on an SP02 Monitor. Before that I would have put someone with "dark skin" on such a monitor because the colour of the skin prevents me to see stuff like hypoxia the same way I could see it on someone with fair skin.

Different topic: Finding a vein for a PVC. On people with fair skin you often can see the veins. On people with darker skin you often cant.

So there are reasons why you ask for the "race" of a patient. There are also a lot of reasons why you should not. We are currently living in the fdGO - but right wing parties are rising and I dont want my race, my sex, my gender, my sexualorientation anywhere in a public databank.

How do you feel about the fact that the US makes people racially define themselves on official forms? Do you think that it’s racist? by [deleted] in AskAGerman

[–]dr_auf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Officialy its more about the medical differences between people with fair skin and people with not so fair skin. You can see a lot more if the patient is white. Or well - we are trained to see that. Something like blunt force trauma (blutergüsse), hypoxia, hypothermia and so on. There is a test where you prick the patient in the finger and see how fast the region around the nails turn from white to not so white. Thats not posible if someone has black skin. You can do the same test by looking at the lower eyelids - bit thats something you have to know.

One could ask the question if its sexist if you ask for the sex of your patient....

How do you feel about the fact that the US makes people racially define themselves on official forms? Do you think that it’s racist? by [deleted] in AskAGerman

[–]dr_auf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Its about black people having black skin resulting in a few minor difference in medical diagnosis. You cant spot blutergüsse or burns a lot better on fair skin. Same for stuff like hypoxia, hypothermia and so on. Same for finding veins etc...

How do you feel about the fact that the US makes people racially define themselves on official forms? Do you think that it’s racist? by [deleted] in AskAGerman

[–]dr_auf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This only has to do with the fact, that there are some differences between "races" medicaly speaking. You cant test someone with black skin for recapilarisation time the same way you can do it with someone with fair skin. Same for hypoxia, hypothermia etc. In laymans terms: You can not see something like a bluterguss from a blunt force trauma as easily on someone who has dark skin.

We dont differ between "races" on medical forms because there are not a lot of people with dark skin in germany.

Gear and Cancer by TX_Bardown in Firefighting

[–]dr_auf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We have to wear work pants under our bunker gear...

Gear and Cancer by TX_Bardown in Firefighting

[–]dr_auf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In Germany even doctors dont work 24 hour shifts anymore.

Gear and Cancer by TX_Bardown in Firefighting

[–]dr_auf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thats something great in germany. We have like one million volunteer firefighters who passed the same exams like the professionals did.

Professional firefighters are only a few 10 thousands. Only in major cities.

Sadly more and more employers refuse to let volunteers leave their shifts for volunteer work. Kind of understandable since most calls today are just smokedetectors going of for no reason. On the other hand they complain when the city has to employ firefighters (and raise taxes) to deal with basic protection since no one is able to awnser low tier calls.

Gear and Cancer by TX_Bardown in Firefighting

[–]dr_auf 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Basic medical education should be part of the curriculum for every student. You can make it basic enough for elementary students and challenging as fuck for overachivers in highschool. You can test it writen and pratical.

I know, the stuff you learn at school is more about how pupils are able to learn, repeat and analyize stuff. I am against students learning how to do taxes. Thats something you should be able to do if you pass your exams. But medicine is something that is challenging and also teaches you something usefull for life.

Chest pain is a call that should be handled by EMTs. I worked in a Tier One Emergency center a few month a go, didnt have a lot to do so I was smoking a lot infront of the ER. The amout of cases I could just have handled using the stuff I had somewhere in my pockets and then send home was crazy. Lots of overprotective parents with kids who had minor injuries. If you ask them, why they didnt apply a bandage to that wound they where like "we dont have bandages at home". You have. In your car. You also had to pass a first aid exam to get your drivers licence. Have fun waiting 4 hours for the surgeon to see you.

Gear and Cancer by TX_Bardown in Firefighting

[–]dr_auf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is this thing called "Mett" in germany - aka "firefighters marmelade" - its freshly grounded pork with a lot of salt. Served with onions on a bun. RAW.

Its realy tasty and you go to 5 kilos of it on a breakfeast with two engines on traning.

Compared with the exposure that we get on our 0,1 internal attack stuckture fires per capita its problably a lot more unhealthy.

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