How To Raise Situational Awareness In Urban Settings

Monday, 05 August 2024 13:58

Firefighters and paramedics work every day to keep our communities safe. Every time they respond to a call, whether it be a wildfire raging in a remote mountain range, an apartment complex fire, or a vehicle accident, they can immediately be placed in a dangerous situation.

Some situations are very evident, like rush hour traffic on a major interstate near the scene of a wreck or an approaching wildfire that threatens to overtake the fire engine. However, many more threats are everywhere and at times not readily discernible, such as a rattlesnake near the fireline, a hornet's nest, a downed electric pole, or hazardous chemicals smoking in a back room.

During any incident, the primary priority should always be the safety of the crews and the public, and constant situational awareness of all factors is necessary. Still, this can sometimes be very challenging to maintain in an ever-changing incident.

Fire fighting is a dangerous business with many hazards, especially in an urban environment. This article discusses urban dangers and ways to raise situational awareness.

Increase Situational Awareness In An Urban Setting

Good situational awareness is the cornerstone of good decision-making. Leaders can increase their decision-making space by attaining and maintaining situational awareness. Decision space is when a decision-maker must consider options before reaching a decision point.

Good situational awareness of any incident starts way before the actual call itself. Proper situational awareness is a frame of mind in which emergency responders have to train themselves to be proficient.

However, there are many things that firefighters can do before and during an emergency call to raise their situational awareness in the urban setting and ensure that they can return safely to base when the call is complete.

Common Hazards In An Urban Setting

There are many hazards to mitigate during any emergency call. Here is a short list of the most important dangers that you may face during an urban call.

Carcinogenic Chemical Exposure
Smoke Inhalation And Other Respiratory Hazards
Firefighter Fatigue
Heat Stress
Unstable Structures
Slips, Trips, and Falls
Electric Shocks and Burns
Infectious Disease Exposure
Vehicle Collisions

Common Wildland Urban Interface Hazards

Hazardous materials: Common chemicals used around the home may be a direct hazard to firefighters, from flammability, explosion potential, and/or vapors or off-gassing. Such chemicals include paint, varnish, and other flammable liquids; fertilizer, pesticides, cleaners, aerosol cans; fireworks, batteries, and ammunition.
Illicit activities: Marijuana plantations or drug production labs may be found in wildland-urban interface areas.
Propane tanks Both large (household size) and small (gas grill size) liquefied propane gas (LPG) tanks can present hazards to firefighters, including explosion.
Utility lines Power lines may be located above and below ground and may be cut or damaged by tools or equipment. Don’t spray water on utility lines or boxes.
Septic tanks and fields Below-ground structures may not be readily apparent and may not support the weight of engines or other apparatus.
New construction materials Many new construction materials have comparatively low melting points and may “off-gas” extremely hazardous vapors.
Pets and livestock: Pets and livestock may be left when residents evacuate and will likely be highly stressed, making them more inclined to bite and kick.
Evacuation occurring: Firefighters may be taking structural protection actions while evacuations of residents are occurring. Be very cautious of people driving erratically.
Limited access: Narrow one-lane roads with no turn-around room, inadequate or poorly maintained bridges, and culverts are frequently found in wildland-urban interface areas.

Principles To Raise Situational Awareness In Urban Situations

With all of the many hazards present in any incident at any given time, it is very important that you follow these principles to maintain situational awareness during any call.

1. Ensure That You Have Proper Training

Before a firefighter or paramedic responds to their first incident, the agency and leadership are responsible for ensuring they are correctly and adequately trained. They should know their jobs and be fully aware of the hazards they will likely face.

2. Actively Engage in the Situational Awareness Cycle During The Call

The situational awareness cycle is a system firefighters and paramedics can constantly use while performing their duties. Each individual must take responsibility for continually engaging in the cycle for themselves, and each leader does the same for their crew, from the engine captain to the incident commander for the entire incident.

3. Make Sure That Communication Throughout The Chain Of Command Is Working

Lack of effective communication can cause people to be hurt or killed. Effective two-way communication must be in effect throughout the incident

4. Conduct A Briefing At The Beginning Of The Shift

Ensuring that the crew is ready to perform their tasks for the shift is important. This time can be taken to check up on each crew member and ensure they are physically and mentally ready to do their jobs before a call happens. Then, any problems that affect work during an emergency can be handled before an active call.

5. Do An Inspection Of Equipment At The Start Of A Shift

All equipment must be regularly checked to ensure that it is in proper working order before it is needed in an emergency situation. Maintaining appropriate situational awareness during an emergency is difficult when everything is happening simultaneously. You can make that easier by having equipment that is working properly.

6. Take The Time To Do A Proper Sizeup Of The Scene On Arrival

When you first arrive at a scene, you may succumb to the urge to jump right in to tackle the emergency, whether a brush fire, house fire, or vehicle accident. But by doing so, you will not have adequate situational awareness and will most likely miss something important to everyone’s safety. It only takes a few seconds to review the scene and gather the necessary information.

7. Do Follow Up Analysis Throughout The Incident

You should develop a system where you or someone on the crew step back and size up the entire incident to ensure that the tactics utilized work and everyone’s safety is maintained. This is an essential part of the overall situational awareness cycle, but it is often overlooked due to the excitement and challenges of taking care of an emergency.

8. Implement LCES

LCES is a safety system primarily utilized in the wildland fire community; however, it applies to all firefighting disciples in one form or another. The acronym stands for:

Lookouts: Set proper lookouts or safety personnel to oversee operations
Communications: Make sure everyone has adequate communication with each other
Escape Routes: Make sure everyone has an escape route if something goes wrong
Safety Zones: Designate adequate safety zones that can be reached from the escape routes.

9. Conduct An After Action Review

As soon as it is safe to do so, you should conduct a review of the incident to ensure that you have completed everything that needs to be done. During the review, you can also see what worked and what didn't work. This will help you have better situational awareness on the next similar type of call.

10. Utilize Software Developed By StreetWise®

With an all-in-one system like StreetWise, you can be confident your department’s response will improve. For first responders, you know, every single second matters. You need every advantage to save time. Our software improves life-saving situational awareness that can save the lives of your firefighters and those you are helping.

StreetWise® Provides Software to Improve the Situational Awareness of Your Crews

StreetWise is a public safety information services company in Lake Norman, North Carolina. We are an elite group of progressive, like-minded investors, managers, technical developers, and advisors that form the parent company, Hangar 14 Solutions, LLC.

Our close and ongoing career experience with public safety led to the development of this project concept. Hangar 14 Solutions has identified the gap in getting critical response information to emergency personnel.

Streetwise can assist you with developing pre-incident plans and provide advanced software to improve your crew's situational awareness. If you would like more information on the services offered by StreetWise, check out our website.