Here are recent Fire Chief's columns from
The Arizona Republic
City
of Phoenix Public Information Office - News Clippings - azcentral.com
- September 5, 2009
First responders want to arrive safely at scene
I was hired in August, 1982, and just recently celebrated 27 years as a Phoenix firefighter. It seems like yesterday that I was at our training academy in south Phoenix learning what recruit firefighters learn – basic survival skills and emergency medical treatment for patients. We were taught that training and falling back on procedures would save our lives and save the lives of people we were protecting in the community. This was drilled into us for 13 weeks and, like most things, it took about 13 years for me to understand the wisdom of those training officers.
One afternoon our training session included video footage of firefighters getting seriously injured or killed in the line of duty. The scenarios included collapses, explosions, fires, electrocution, and vehicular response. In fact, by the end of that day I was pretty sure that my career would end in a gloomy and dark sort of way. Sometimes it’s good to have a healthy respect or fear for what you’re doing when you are a firefighter.
Recently, trends across the United States have shown that one of the most dangerous parts of being a firefighter can be the actual response to and from an emergency call. We have seen a tremendous increase in surface street traffic along with emergency call volume and the need to be at somebody’s doorstep within a matter of minutes.
This is a delicate balance of procedures, training, and thoughtfulness by the driver’s that we share our roads with. Each year we will respond to over 150,000 emergencies in the city of Phoenix and we’ll actually log nearly a million miles on surface streets with our apparatus. We are constantly evaluating, reviewing and assessing the way this system works. We have a professional grade driver’s training course, and we have a team of instructors who are second to none.
All this is designed to help us respond in the event of an emergency that requires a 44,000 pound fire truck to navigate surface streets that are basically designed for passenger vehicles. We put into play all of the technology that is available from fire trucks that are engineered for safety to intersections that are equipped with preemption devices to help us safely clear those cross streets.
Avoiding collisions is at the very least held at a premium for all of our members. The mantra in the fire service is “you cannot put out a fire if you get in a wreck on the way to the call.” We will continue to be vigilant in reviewing our procedures, energizing our training and communicating the importance of responding to and from our emergencies. We also ask that, as civilians, you keep an eye out and help us do our job as well.
I know the firefighters take their jobs very seriously and will use all of their skills to help you in the event that you are having a very bad day. As for me, 27 years later, I drive a mini-van and have been told that my driving skills could be compared to the pace of pond water.
I guess it takes time to understand the wisdom of good instructors and the messages they share with all of us. Be safe!
Send comments to Bob Khan at firechief.pfd@phoenix.gov or call (602) 26-CHIEF.