Mayday/Urgent Radio Guidelines Recent events over the past few years have required fire departments from all over the country to revisit current practices and procedures regarding firefighter safety. In a serious attempt to bring awareness to the increased number of firefighter deaths in 2005, organizations led by the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) formed a “National Firefighter Safety Stand Down” to bring awareness to the concerns. In an attempt to bring recognition to the increased number of firefighter injuries and fatalities, departments were asked to take steps to review, evaluate, and revise procedures and guidelines in an increased attempt to enhance firefighter safety. One such document and procedure that was recently revisited by the Jersey City Fire Department was their MAYDAY and "urgent" radio guideline and operating procedure. Through this review, members of the fire department’s training division decided to update the procedure and implement a training and evaluation process to ensure understanding and use. RESEARCH AND EVALUATION: The review and evaluation process began with the establishment of a Research and Evaluation Team (RET). This is a group of individuals within the department who are solicited from both staff and line positions with two distinct responsibilities. The first is research about the subject from any resources available. Research often includes other fire departments policies and procedures, text from accepted standards and practices, as well as recognized publications and websites, all in an attempt to eliminate “re-inventing the wheel.” The second responsibility is gathering input and analysis from members in the street. Firefighter and fire officers who will be responsible for using and carrying out the specifics of the procedure, must be part of the developmental process. This is a necessary requirement of any new or revised procedure within the JCFD that has proved to a valuable step for a number of reasons. First and foremost, we feel our members have to buy into the procedure from the point of being practical and measurable. If it doesn’t make sense, or if it creates or presents an unrealistic set of goals and objectives, members will never fully absorb it, therefore never really use it. This is a simple fact of life; don’t ignore it. The second reason is the level of experience and knowledge that your members possess. You have to tap into this. We are very big believers in the concept of “experience.” One of your best resources is going to be your people, most notably in the procedure to be described. When we send out a rough draft or proposal for review on a specific subject, we always ask and receive input back from our members. The feedback from your members is invaluable. In the case of our "mayday/"urgent"" guideline, it became an integral part of the completed document. This approach can be further justified from research that shows the continued difficulties with identifying parameters, and the need to eliminate the negative stigma associated with transmitting a "mayday." It is without doubt that these two areas had to be addressed, and why wouldn’t we include street firefighters and fire officers into the decision-making process? The subject demanded that we do. DEFINITION: Is there a difference between a Mayday and an "urgent" message? The answer is, yes, there should be. Research from a number of fire departments around the country on this subject has shown that there are different interpretations of the words "mayday" and ""urgent"." For many, the use of the word "mayday" signifies that a firefighter is specifically in trouble and needs help. In others, we found that the use of the word "mayday" could have multiple meanings. Not only can the word identify that a member is in trouble, it could also identify a potential building collapse, a loss of water in a hoseline, or even the need to bring attention to a change in fire conditions. What quickly became evident from this research was our need to keep the definition and its use simple by establishing ease with procedural knowledge and recognition. More specifically; eliminate multiple definitions, situations, and the need to interpret under the distress. This approach could be further emphasized by reviewing past "mayday" incidents. By studying previous events it quickly becomes evident that "mayday" radio transmissions will often occur at the worst possible time in your incident. An escalating or deteriorating incident, accompanying radio traffic, combined with the anxiety and confusion that could come from hearing either a whole, or partial emergency radio transmission requires that your "mayday" and "urgent" radio transmissions not only have a clear definition and association, it also requires that you have a clear and easily recognizable set of parameters. Lack of procedural knowledge or confusion with procedure design under distress, is a recognized difficulty with when and how to call a "mayday." What follows is a suggested guideline for a "mayday" and "urgent" procedures. "MAYDAY" OPERATING GUIDELINE Definition: Mayday/Urgent radio use:
MAYDAY PARAMETERS: This is a critical part of an operational procedure, most notably for a procedure that outlines how to confront time pressure changing conditions. It is critical when developing a parameter list, that your list stay true to the outlined definition. It is also important in your design to eliminate the documented difficulties and consequences of interpreting time, channeled attention, and loss of situational awareness commonly associated with the "mayday." A firefighter/fire officer will transmit a "mayday" if any of the following conditions exist:
MAYDAY RADIO PROCEDURE:
MAYDAY RADIO ACKNOWLEDGMENT:
MANAGING A MAYDAY: "Mayday" events that involve a lost, trapped or injured firefighter or fire officer will tax the resources and management of any incident. Incident management could be further taxed when multiple "maydays" are transmitted and the incident is still evolving. Incident commanders must maintain control and continuity of the incident by any means available to them. Options that are available to all commanders include but are not limited to are:
URGENT OPERATING GUIDELINE "Urgent" radio guideline defined: To give further clarity to the use of the "urgent" reference, the enclosed guideline has identified its use when a situation at the scene of an emergency incident produces a life-threatening situation. Although situations will vary with each individual incident, some of the more common that may fit this category will include a potential collapse feared from a wall, roof, or total building failure. A loss of water on the fire floor with firefighters working above. Another may include the release of a pressure relief valve on a pressurized tank involved or exposed to fire. In either case, the objective of this identification is to provide early notification to our members in an attempt to prevent an injury or a death. The use of the word "urgent" will be used to identify that a life-threatening situation has developed that could effect fire fighter safety. "URGENT" TRANSMISSION PARAMETERS: A firefighter/fire officer will transmit an "urgent" message if any of the following conditions exist:
"URGENT" RADIO TRANSMISSION PROCEDURE:
URGENT ACKNOWLEDGMENT:
The requesting of other or more specific information will be determined by the amount of information originally transmitted in the "urgent" message. Information requests could include, but are not limited to:
TRAINING AND EDUCATION: This is the final, but critical, component of any new guideline or procedure. In a serious attempt to identify situational awareness and ensure understanding and compliance, a series of practical training exercises must accompany this guideline. All members must be evaluated in their ability to recognize the difference between a "mayday" and "urgent" transmission, demonstrate how to transmit their message and most importantly, identify when to transmit it. The decision to call a "mayday" starts with removing the negative “stigma” associated with being in trouble. Members cannot wait until they are in a life-threatening position to make this decision. History has shown that exposure to smoke and stress will make the decision-making process more difficult, if not impossible. This procedure is designed as an operating guideline that will enhance the safety of an emergency incident, if members understand, accept, and use it. © Copyright Firenuggets.com 2006 • Click here for Terms and Conditions of Use
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