The purpose of this research was to identify the composition of soils on firefighter turnout gear from the Philadelphia Fire Department and to determine which soils contain hazardous materials. The objective of the research was to identify the composition of soils remaining on the firefighter turnout gear to enable the industry to design an effective cleaning procedure for removal of soils. A pilot study was conducted on hoods from the Philadelphia fire department to evaluate the test methods that would be used to identify the composition of soils. Soils that had been identified from previous studies were targeted in the analysis of the extraction of the samples removed from the hoods. Samples were removed from areas of the coats and pants where dermal absorption is reported as high areas of skin absorption, including areas in the neck, armpit, crotch and wrist locations.

This thesis provides an interpretation about how wildland firefighters can experience risk by relations of trust. The author shows that the risk taking and wildland firefighting literatures inadequately account for how trust underpins self-construction processes among people who participate in risky activities. To supplement the literatures within these terms, the author uses interview data and personal stories about managing wildland fire to propose a general trajectory of being and becoming a wildland firefighter that details the significance of trust in self-construction processes. The author argues that in the process of being and becoming a wildland firefighter, risk is sometimes increased, decreased, concealed, revealed, and anticipatorily transformed through trust. The author provides a framework for viewing risk that can be used to understand danger to the self. / Graduate

The topic of this master thesis is conceptual design of firefighting robot. The thesis shows alternative approach to designing robot in comparison with other current designs. The final product is quadrupedal robot, which can either walk or move on tracks. Robot is designed for indoor and outdoor firefighting.

Title: Physical fitness verification of the members of FRS Objective: The goal of the thesis was to compare the results of the members of FRS CR in Cooper test with the results of physical fitness verification. Partial goal was to separate the members of HZS ČR into two groups according to the type of verification they choose - running or swimming and to compare these groups with the norm based on the Cooper test. Methods: In the thesis there were used data of the physical tests, which are verifying the physical fitness of the members of the Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic and the statistics of rescue activities. Next the members of FRS CR were subjected to a Cooper test and the data were then standardised and evaluated. Results: Based on the analysis two hypothesis were verified. First hypothesis was confirmed, second declined (disproved). All tested members in the Cooper test achieved physical fitness above the population standard. Better results in the Cooper tests achieved the group, which chose for physical testing. Keywords: training, competence, firefighter, condition, testing

Title: Analysis of the activities of the Fire rescue service in the Moravian - Silesian region (Opava regional department). Objectives: Analysis of the activities of the Fire rescue service in the Moravian - Silesian region (Opava regional department) for the period 1. 1. 2017 - 31. 12. 2019. They are corps of the category JPO I: Hlučín, Opava and Vítkov. Methods: Data collection in cooperation with an internal worker of the Fire brigade of the Moravian - Silesian region - Territorial department Opava and searches of available sources. Analyzes were performed for each unit separately according to the type of events in individual years, followed by a comparison between individual years. Results: The results of the diploma thesis are a description of the Fire and Rescue Service of the Moravian - Silesian Region (Territorial Department of Opava) and an analysis of the activities of free selected unit of the Fire and Rescue Service of the Mioravian - Silesian Region (Territorial Department of Opava) in 2017 - 2019. Keywords: Intervention, activity, firefighter, analysis, fire

The number of active volunteer firefighters has been steadily dropping in the state of Connecticut for several years. At the same time, the number of public service calls for fire departments has been on the rise. This problem impacts fire protection and municipalities that rely on volunteer fire departments. The purpose of this narrative study was to explore why volunteer firefighter numbers have been declining, the extent to which recruitment and retention programs are used in volunteer fire departments, and how these programs contribute to a fire department's ability to recruit members. Perry's public service motivation model provided the theoretical framework for the study. Research questions focused on improving recruitment and retention programs. Data were collected from interviews with 5 current chief officers and 5 former firefighters in Connecticut and from organizational documents in local fire departments. Open, axial, and selective coding were used to identify 5 themes: lack of awareness of state policy on recruitment and retention, lack of recruitment, public service motivation, retention, and time. A key theme emerging from this study were that participating fire departments have limited effective recruitment and retention programs. The positive social change implications stemming from this study include recommendations to fire department leadership to consider a unified recruitment and retention strategy. This determination provides a foundation for volunteer fire departments to make informed decisions on how to increase recruitment and retention in their respective communities.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Background: Firefighters are exposed to carcinogens, toxic agents, and other risks for cancer and cardiovascular disease. Research shows that aero-digestive and genitourinary cancers are in excess among firefighters compared to the general population. Studies examining excess cardiovascular mortality are inconsistent. Limited data exist on chronic disease mortality, risk factor profiles, and barriers to a healthy lifestyle among firefighters at the local level. Purpose: This project examines the relationship between firefighting and chronic disease mortality, determines trajectories of cardiovascular risk factors in a cohort of new firefighters, and studies the relationship between barriers to weight management and firefighter health characteristics. Methods: This study used death certificate data from the Indiana State Department of Health and clinical data from a large occupational medical practice serving firefighters. Regression techniques were used to examine excess mortality among firefighters compared to non-firefighters, evaluate changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors among new firefighters over time, and explore correlates of risk factors and barriers to weight management among overweight and obese firefighters. Results: The odds of death due to malignant cancers were significantly higher among firefighters than non-firefighters (OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.08-1.30). Body mass index, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels increased significantly (p<0.001) while HDL cholesterol levels decreased (p<0.001) from baseline during the first 10 years of the firefighter’s career. Overweight firefighters who were “ready to begin a weight management program” were more likely to identify ‘‘lack of knowledge about weight management,’’ ‘‘lack of access to exercise opportunities,’’ and ‘‘eating helps me cope with stress’’ as barriers, and report a greater number of barriers to weight management. Older firefighters were less likely to identify or report one or more barriers to weight management. Conclusion: These studies suggest the importance of early-career and targeted cardiometabolic health and cancer prevention strategies to reduce chronic disease morbidity and mortality among firefighters. / 2021-06-28

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No description available.

Modern firefighter protective equipment is excellent at protecting firefighters from surrounding heat, but how effective is at deflecting incoming radiant heat, and would the use of more reflective textiles, be able to further increase the equipment’s protective properties? This study aims to understand the different properties that reflective materials, compared to standard firefighter outer layers, have against radiative heat flux. The textiles of firefighter turnout gear and the reflective textiles used in the smelting industry have been examined when exposed to varying levels of radiant heat in a cone calorimeter. The materials were examined before and after a layer of soot was applied to them, to understand their capabilities if used in a soot-rich environment. The change in material emissivity, when soot was applied, could then be calculated for each material. The heat reducing properties of the sooted and non sooted materials emissivities were tested, using computer simulations of a firefighter’s full turnout gear. First the radiative and convective heat fluxes were compared within a computational fluid dynamics software called FDS, second the skin level temperature was calculated using VGP, a finite element software that accounts for heat flow further into the skin and body.  During the experiment it was found that the emissivity of the reflective material even after soot application, performed better than that of the standard firefighter gear. In the simulations, the sooted reflective material emissivity would reduce the total heat flux to the firefighter with an average of 19% compared to the sooted standard turnout gear. Using the temperature of 44 °C as the limit for human skin damage, the use of a reflective emissivity would allow a 19% longer exposure to the same incident heat before possible skin damage would occur. Reducing the emissivity of current turnout gear would prove valuable as a method of reducing heat accumulation in a firefighter, especially at key areas more susceptible to the radiative heat flux from smoke-layers and radiative flames. This would in turn provide safer work environments for structural firefighting by reducing heat stress during active operations.