Accountability is considered in a broad range of contexts relating to firefighter safety. In this article we are discussing technology systems that provide an understanding of key elements of the incident environment firefighters are attending, and their personal wellbeing. The accountability system’s goal is to further situational awareness and enable accountability for firefighter safety and the effective management of an incident.
Accountability systems have received a heightened focus because of lessons learned following firefighter fatalities. In many cases, the focus has been driven by findings and recommendations from post-incident inquests and inquiries. Throughout history, firefighters have tragically lost their lives in fires through becoming disorientated and having impaired cognition that affects basic decision making. This is often as a result of elevated core body temperatures, and the inability to pinpoint their precise location in the building. Historically, the fact that BA Entry Control Officers, Incident Commanders and Safety Officers were equally unaware of the location and physical condition of firefighters meant that any emergency response to a firefighter in distress was impaired, or too late to be effective.
Post incident reports have also highlighted that a lack of communication and information at handovers and briefings contributed to firefighter deaths. Other factors have included a misinterpretation of instructions, a breakdown in radio communications, unfamiliarity with the internal layout of the building and inadequate fire-risk assessments.
Dräger accountability systems cover how firefighter safety equipment is performing, and the location of firefighters, Entry Control Boards and other resources during an incident. They also automate communication with all firefighters connected to self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and the entry control officer. The tragic truth is that had comprehensive and digital accountability systems been in place, and properly used, some firefighters who have lost their lives might still be alive today.
Historic accountability
Prior to the late 1950s, accountability systems consisted of nothing more than handwritten notes or actions committed to memory. The 1958 Smithfield Market fire, one of London’s worst fires since the Blitz, where two firefighters lost their lives, fundamentally changed the approach to BA entry control. The key learnings led to intervention from the Home Office with guidance that saw the advent of entry control boards and the use of individual wearer tallies. It included BA entry control procedures designed to provide a consistent method for the safe and effective command, control and management of BA operations to ensure improved monitoring and safety of firefighters.
At around the turn of the century, Dräger launched BA telemetry, the technology that allows for remote measurement, reporting and recording of information. It enables BA wearer information to be automatically transmitted between each attending firefighter and the telemetry board located at the entry control point. That took away virtually all manual processes, including recording time of entry, working durations, safety margins and a clear visualisation of any alarm including DSU, ADSU, evacuation, cylinder pressures and breathing rates. This was an important development considering the risk of human error in high-stress environments, often amplified by distressed bystanders.
Automated accountability
The removal of manual processes has driven the development of accountability systems such as Dräger’s Fireground Web Portal and App.
The ability to process digital data and integrate complementary technologies has been a catalyst for change that has led to more detailed and holistic incident overviews to inform firefighters and commanders. For example, the integration of industry-standard mapping and digital building plans with the Dräger Fireground monitoring system, gives a vital ‘bird’s eye’ view to the incident commander, which includes an overview of all data on each entry control board as well as its precise location. The unique ‘auto-log’ feature in Dräger’s PSS AirBoss SCBA, automatically adds the firefighter to the entry control boards as soon as the cylinder valve is turned on. In addition to automatically logging each BA wearer into the incident, this also expanded the suite of information on the firefighter, from air consumption, breathing rates and cylinder pressures to include specific safety and professional qualifications, and even critical medical information such as allergies – all without the firefighter needing to do anything more than turning on his/her BA set.
Providing a macro view for fire services, the fireground web portal enables those with authorisation to view numerous incidents at one time, which helps to determine, as early as possible, where relief crews or additional resources may need to be deployed. This is particularly beneficial in providing real-time information to all levels of the incident, including Gold Command and Mobilising Control.
Removing manual processes not only reduces the likelihood and risk of human error but at a practical level it also means that fireground and main-scheme communication channels are not taken up with communications that are not needed, and firefighters and incident commanders do not have to stop what they are doing to update or assess information manually.
Data challenges
Where there are push-backs and concerns regarding the use of data-led accountability systems, these are unsurprisingly because of issues around data security and personal privacy. Firefighters’ health information, for example, must be protected to ensure their privacy, and only accessed by authorised individuals. The system has therefore been designed to ensure that data is secure and encrypted, and illegal access is prevented.
However overall, while data security is paramount to any system that relies on it, the increased use of data to protect firefighter health, and enhance incident management, receives significant support from all levels in the service. This is for good reason, as the ultimate goal of any accountability system is protecting both public and firefighter health, and preventing deaths or serious injuries that could have been avoided.
Future accountability
The monitoring of core body temperature represents an area of focus emanating from recommendations following firefighter tragedies and is still a piece of the accountability puzzle that Dräger is working hard to solve.
The huge growth in wearables has seen the mass recording of health vitals, but what works in sporting or leisure activities it is not suitable for hostile environments. Dräger is currently utilising its own existing technology, which it developed for astronauts and primary medical care, and focusing on how that technology might be adapted and further developed for the hostile conditions encountered by our firefighting community.
Beyond core body temperature monitoring, the future of Dräger accountability systems will include the further integration of technologies and utilisation of artificial intelligence to provide precise location and tracking of firefighters inside buildings, as well as furthering the holistic view of an incident. Key is also the development of those technologies to provide immediate, real-time and accurate datasets in all situations, which will be archived in a cloud-based solution for use in debriefing or post-incident events.
The hostile, challenging and toxic environments faced by our firefighters all require the harnessing of new technologies to provide the accurate accountability systems our people deserve, and as ever, Dräger is working to ensure this is the case in line with their commitment to developing ‘Technology for Life’.
For more information, go to www.draeger.com
About the Author
Brian Hesler is a Consultant and Specialist Advisor at Draeger Safety UK and former Chief Fire Officer for the Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service.
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