I don’t have many pictures of my father but I recently ran across one posted on the website of his fire company “Rescue 3”. Following Vietnam and the Physician Assistant program at Cornell he joined the Fire Department of New York and was soon accepted into the department’s elite company Rescue 3.
These were the “War Years” and the Bronx was burning. He didn’t talk much about the fires so when he did I hung on every word. One day he was discussing the severity of the situation in the Bronx with an out of state firefighter and said “How many massive, fully engulfed fires with multiple casualties have you seen in your career? There were weeks I saw 5 or 6 per night!”.
What does this have to do with Marine Firefighting? I asked him one day if he was ever afraid of dying in a fire, and his answer, “only once”. He left his team behind to check for victims in a smoke-filled room. After entering the door shut behind him and he lost sight of the exit. It only took him seconds to get his bearings but in that short period of time “fear took hold of me”.
After medivacing patients in Vietnam and fighting fires in The Bronx fear was an emotion he long forgotten but within seconds of being disoriented in a fire the emotion returned. We are not professional firefighters so when things go deadly wrong what level of fear will your crew experience? Our best defense is favoring human life over equipment (i.e. close the doors, barrier cool and let it burn out) but when people need to be rescued we must act and our only protection in this circumstance is knowledge.
Today’s tip is the firefighter Mayday and the Evacuation Signal.
Evacuation Signal – a signal to let firefighters know they need to back out of the space.
Do you have an evacuation signal? Is it redundant? Our signal for evacuation of the space is a radio call followed by two tones and instructions over the PA. If your vessel does not have a PA decide on another suitable signal like a portable air horn or megaphone.
Firefighter Mayday – a way for firefighters to signal they are in trouble and can not back out.
Our MAYDAY signal is a radio call to the Chief Mate followed by the sounding of the PASS device. If you do not know what a PASS device is click here then go make a purchase order.
When do you call a MAYDAY? It comes down to six simple words:
Fall – and in need of assistance to get out
Collapse – stairs, roof, floor…
Alarm – any situation where you have to activate your PASS device. Lost SCBA air, rapidly deteriorating conditions, distress. (Call MAYDAY before you activate PASS)
Caught – entangled by equipment or wires
Lost – disoriented, off your line, confused
Trapped – debri, fire smoke, heat
What do you say in the mayday? The correct response is fundamentally the same as a maritime mayday: name & position… wait for a response… confirm position and discuss nature of the distress and resources needed.
The one thing my father loved more than his job was family. He passed away a few years back but we have a new Jack Konrad in the family and if the little guy’s namesake was around today his advice would be: “You don’t know what you don’t know. Take the time to learn firefighting to make sure you get home to see Jack at the end of every hitch.”
Links:
The must-read but about the “War Years” in the bronx; Report From Engine Company 82 (note – one main character is a Fort Schuyler Alumni)
By Yimou Lee TAIPEI, March 7 (Reuters) – China has stepped up grey-zone warfare against Taiwan, aiming to make the areas around the democratic island “saturated” with balloons, drones and civilian boats,...
Austal USA has kicked off plans to construct a new manufacturing facility, marking a significant expansion of its shipyard capacity in Mobile, Alabama in support of U.S. Navy and Coast...
Oldendorff and Norsepower have announced an agreement to install three Norsepower Rotor Sails™ on board a modern bulk carrier to reduce its emissions. The vessel, Dietrich Oldendorff, will be equipped...
February 5, 2024
Total Views: 838
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.