FDIC Show C – Changes in Building Construction and Fire Behavior
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In this show taped live from the floor at FDIC 2010 on Friday, April 23, we visit with a fire service leader in the field of building construction and fire behavior. Christopher Naum addresses the need to re-visit these core subject areas to bring us up to speed with the many changes facing us today.
The truth is, this ain’t your Daddy’s fire service anymore.
Every line of work is built upon certain basic fundamentals. Master Chefs could not create a seven-course masterpiece meal without first learning how to use a measuring cup. An architect needs to know how to sharpen a pencil before crafting a multi-page blueprint.
Likewise, in the fire service, before we can expect to efficiently and safely fight a “typical” structure fire to the point where lives and property are saved and we all go home to return another day, we must first learn the basics. Two of those fundamentals are fire behavior and building construction.
Unfortunately, the last time many of us have had training to these specific topics was back at the beginning of our career. Exacerbating the issue is one profound point: A large portion of what we learned is completely out of date. This leaves us much less prepared to perform our tasks on the fireground, less prepared to perform a rescue, less prepared to come home after the call.
Building knowledge equates to firefighter safety
Here are some of the links that we refer to as we discuss the dynamic fire service:
National Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System
Christopher J. Naum, SFPE is a 35-year fire service veteran and a former Fire Chief/ Fire & Safety Coordinator at a U.S nuclear power plant and previously served as a commanding company officer for over twenty years in field operations with a volunteer fire department in Central New York. He is presently the Chief of Training for the Command Institute; a Washington, DC based emergency management & training organization with a focus on research, development & policy insights . A nationally recognized authority on building construction, structural collapse and command management, he has traveled throughout the United States, and internationally delivering training programs on building construction, command risk management and firefighter safety. (more info)
Chris runs http://thecompanyofficer.com and http://commandsafety.com
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