Company Officer Safety

We have to be able to seamlessly move from firefighter rescue to firefighter patient care. And that will entail additional training and practice on the part of both firefighters and the EMS providers — who may not be firefighters. Why? Because in addition to a firefighter who may be in need of life-saving medical intervention, such an event is also a workplace injury site if the firefighter survives, or the site of a line-of-duty death if resuscitation efforts are unsuccessful or the firefighter later succumbs to his injuries.

One of the cornerstones for improving the safety of personnel on the emergency scene is having a personnel accountability system in place that everyone uses. There are several considerations when choosing a firefighter accountability system. There are many PAS options available to fire departments. There are four basic systems to pick from: name tag, passport, bar code and unit identifier; here's a look at what you need to know to find the right one for your department.

Nobody in a fire department’s chain of command should have more influence on the safety performance of its firefighters than the individual company officer. Think about that statement for a moment and see if it doesn’t fit your department.

Nobody can, or should, have more positive influence over the behaviors of a firefighter on the emergency scene than his or her tactical leader.