Assignment 5

[jscottCCFD]

My "top left box" moment was shorty after we got the new King View scopes. We had a non-breather during office hours and Capt. Buehler came on the call. He was helping work the Pt and was working on the airway. He asked for the King View, and was given it with the blade attached and tube placed. The problem was the scope's battery was dead. I know for a fact that it worked that morning because I checked it. The battery read 221 minutes of power on the screen, I powered it off and placed it back in the box. What I did not know was that the small button that is pressed to power up the scope is sometimes pressed by accident when you put it back in the box. So after morning checks it sat on, in the box, until it was needed. How did we handle the situation ? We tubed the Pt with a Miller blade.
What did I learn? Always have a back up plane. And now, when I check the king View scope I look twice just to make sure.

I agree Mike.  Even a good plan needs a plan B.  The ability to remain calm and formulate Plan B on the fly is important in emergency services.

[jscottCCFD]

A time that I found myself “playing in the top left box” was when I caught a structure fire in what was thought to be a single family residence, but had actually been turned into a duplex. At the time, I was working for the City of Franklin Fire Department and was riding backstep on E-17. Upon arrival, there was a working structure fire with heavy smoke showing from the Charlie side. My first instinct was to pull the line to the front door as the officer did his 360. I didn’t even consider the possibility that the interior of the home had been modified and turned into a duplex, additionally not considering how this home may be broken up. After the officer’s 360 was complete and a brief conversation with the home-owner, we realized that this home was now a duplex and that the only access to the unit that was on fire was from the Charlie side. The line was then redeployed to the Charlie side and the fire was put out. The repositioning of the line took some time and I realized that there were several things I could have done to prevent the delay. The address had a half in its numerics, such as 105 ½ South Main Street. This should have made me consider the possibility of this residence being modified and think before I automatically pulled the hoseline to the Alpha side when smoke was showing from the Charlie. Other than being more aware of the numerics from the address, I learned that I could have slowed down and recognized additional signs that this residence had been modified, such as multiple A/C units, multiple electrical meters, address indicators and multiple mailboxes. This incident also taught me to slow down and not get sucked into doing the same thing on every fire (automatically pulling a line to the alpha side), because each fire is different and requires different tactics. Knowing your district is also a very important lesson learned in this instance. Had I been out more and studied my district, I may have known that several homes on this particular street had been modified into multi-family units. Overall, my biggest take away is to slow down in order to prevent the tunnel vision effect and know your surroundings, whether that is the scene that you are currently operating in or preplanning and knowing your district.

This has been a learning curve for anyone that each structure fire will be unique in the buildings, strategies, and tactics needed to safely and efficiently put the fire out.  There is no more going to the Alpha side front door every time.  And as Frank Brannigan says, "the building is the enemy; know the enemy."

[jlogsdon]

A time I felt I played in the top left box was on a barn fire in Wayne township. The fire at night and there was no electricity in the barn, so it was pretty dark in the barn. The homeowner told me that his bull was in the field and there were no other animals in the barn. What he forgot to mention was the bull was able to run back into the barn, because there wasn't a door. I'm not a farmer nor do I know alot about how farmers keep their livestock housed. We entered the barn knocked down some hotspots, when someone yelled BULL. I don't think I saw E22 crew move so fast jumpimg over the barn dividers getting out of this very large bulls way. We don't get alot of barn fires in Clearcreek, so dodging farm animals wasn't something I thought about or was used to.  Although it's something I won't ever forget.

The crew was safe from the bull behind the barn dividers. We stayed there until we finished putting out the hotspots the safest way we could. We were able to find another way out of the barn that kept us away from the bull.

I would have asked more questions or at least had him elaborate more on the bull's location. Along with, did the bull have access back into the barn. This was one of those ask 1,000 questions and keep your head on a swivel moment.

I always try get the crew to look at their surroundings and know whats going on around them. Get more information from people on scene, to see if there is anything that can hurt us. Even if that means not being involved in the work that's going on but for the safety of the crew working. I must admit that being chased by a bull was a first for me and hopefully the last.

I remember that night. This would have been good information to pass along by crews already on the scene. That was my takeaway. Remember the crews coming in behind you and relevant information that needs to be passed on.

[nullj.21]

A lot of us like to apply Gordons Risk model to runs, whether Fire or EMS.  For the sake of this thread and discussion, I would like to apply it to public relations/interactions.
A time that I fell into the "top left" was when I had to address/deal with a public complaint. A citizen called the firehouse and wanted to complain that the crew took too long to respond to their request for EMS Service.  This falls into the top left for several reasons. 1. We do our jobs correctly 9 times out of 10. 2. We rarely get complaints because we do our jobs well. 3. When we get complaints, I don't have to deal with them usually. 4. The risk is considerably high because one bad service delivery could affect many people and greatly destroy our public trust and future.
OF course, I apologized, looked into the complaint, apologized, followed up after I investigated, and ensured this was atypical and would not happen again.
I would suggest to others to be able to recognize when you are operating in the top left and seize the moment as a learning experience.  Remember-If its uncomfortable it's unfamiliar, and that is the learning zone.

[nullj.21]

I agree but i would also add that when we operate in this upper left area we are also learning and mentally marking the events in order to recall and use for future decision making.  Whether its negative or positive in the top left, we are going to remember why and what we did while there.   Training to operate in this area ensures positive outcomes more than negative (although negative is still a real possibility)

The above responses make it clear that in our job we have many responsibilities and many opportunities to “play in the top left box”.  It is not feasible to think we would know all aspects of our job, for example; operations, equipment, fire, rescue, EMS, HazMat etc.  The only way we can combat “playing in the top left box” is to train, re-train, and train some more.

[nullj.21]

I'm glad you didn't get hit. You probably would've really damaged the car...
Thanks for sharing. This is very applicable to CCFD as we don't make many calls to the highway.  I was very comfortable making runs to the highway where I worked previously, as was everyone that worked there. Now that I work at CCFD and we don't make many runs on the highway, i view the risk higher because of the low frequency of the crews making these calls.

Describe a time when you were “playing in the top left box” and what was the outcome? Early in my career when I worked for West Carrollton, we were working a extrication on the highway. I was asked to retrieve a tool from the truck. When I walked around to the other side to get it, I was nearly struck by a car.

What did you do to handle the situation? I quickly realized how dangerous the environment was and warned everyone else. I assured it was safe then retrieved the tool.

Is there anything you would have done differently? Knowing what we know now about vehicle placement, we should have had another appratues blocking the scene for us.

What have you learned to assist others to be prepared for things that fit into this category? I have shared this story with several other people and stressed the importance of situational awareness and scene safety.

[twilson21]

A lot of us like to apply Gordons Risk model to runs, whether Fire or EMS.  For the sake of this thread and discussion, I would like to apply it to public relations/interactions.
A time that I fell into the "top left" was when I had to address/deal with a public complaint. A citizen called the firehouse and wanted to complain that the crew took too long to respond to their request for EMS Service.  This falls into the top left for several reasons. 1. We do our jobs correctly 9 times out of 10. 2. We rarely get complaints because we do our jobs well. 3. When we get complaints, I don't have to deal with them usually. 4. The risk is considerably high because one bad service delivery could affect many people and greatly destroy our public trust and future.
OF course, I apologized, looked into the complaint, apologized, followed up after I investigated, and ensured this was atypical and would not happen again.
I would suggest to others to be able to recognize when you are operating in the top left and seize the moment as a learning experience.  Remember-If its uncomfortable it's unfamiliar, and that is the learning zone.

I agree, even if we have 99 great calls and 1 bad it can cut off at the knees.  Sounds like you handled the situation right and i think every call or interaction can be a learning experience. 

[twilson21]

A time I found myself in the top left box was the first time I pumped a structure fire.  I remember driving E48 while working at Miami Township and being more nervous than I had ever been when we pulled off the ramp and saw a large column of black smoke rising in the distance. We had been dispatched to a working apartment fire on the 3rd floor.  We were first on scene.  I could feel myself starting to become overwhelmed with all the tasks before me.  E48's crew pulled a handline and was gone to make an attack on the fire.  I had to make sure and slow myself down mentally to ensure I did everything correctly. 

Slowing down and falling back to my training helped me manage a high stress situation.  I learned that training was vitally important.  It is import to train to the point you cant mess things up.

It's great you were able to slow down and step back to refocus.  I believe someone else mentioned it but I agree that we shouldn't rush new people through our FAO program.

[Kevin Stevens]

A time I found myself in the top left box was the first time I pumped a structure fire.  I remember driving E48 while working at Miami Township and being more nervous than I had ever been when we pulled off the ramp and saw a large column of black smoke rising in the distance. We had been dispatched to a working apartment fire on the 3rd floor.  We were first on scene.  I could feel myself starting to become overwhelmed with all the tasks before me.  E48's crew pulled a handline and was gone to make an attack on the fire.  I had to make sure and slow myself down mentally to ensure I did everything correctly. 

Slowing down and falling back to my training helped me manage a high stress situation.  I learned that training was vitally important.  It is import to train to the point you cant mess things up.

It takes some time to be able to slow yourself down on certain calls, but it really helps make a stressful situation better

[Kevin Stevens]

A time I was playing in the top left box…. it was the first time I was in the back of the medic alone on the way to the hospital on a “heart problems” call.  I gave adenosine and freaked out when the patient fell back and the monitor changed to asystole.  Even though I was trained, knew about the drug, and knew what was going to happen.  Even though it was for just a few seconds, it still freaked me out.

When situations arise like this, taking a deep breath and recalling our training helps.

It's always nerve wracking giving this, anytime you stop someone's heart on purpose is scary stuff

[NBaldridge]

A time that I found myself “playing in the top left box” was when I caught a structure fire in what was thought to be a single family residence, but had actually been turned into a duplex. At the time, I was working for the City of Franklin Fire Department and was riding backstep on E-17. Upon arrival, there was a working structure fire with heavy smoke showing from the Charlie side. My first instinct was to pull the line to the front door as the officer did his 360. I didn’t even consider the possibility that the interior of the home had been modified and turned into a duplex, additionally not considering how this home may be broken up. After the officer’s 360 was complete and a brief conversation with the home-owner, we realized that this home was now a duplex and that the only access to the unit that was on fire was from the Charlie side. The line was then redeployed to the Charlie side and the fire was put out. The repositioning of the line took some time and I realized that there were several things I could have done to prevent the delay. The address had a half in its numerics, such as 105 ½ South Main Street. This should have made me consider the possibility of this residence being modified and think before I automatically pulled the hoseline to the Alpha side when smoke was showing from the Charlie. Other than being more aware of the numerics from the address, I learned that I could have slowed down and recognized additional signs that this residence had been modified, such as multiple A/C units, multiple electrical meters, address indicators and multiple mailboxes. This incident also taught me to slow down and not get sucked into doing the same thing on every fire (automatically pulling a line to the alpha side), because each fire is different and requires different tactics. Knowing your district is also a very important lesson learned in this instance. Had I been out more and studied my district, I may have known that several homes on this particular street had been modified into multi-family units. Overall, my biggest take away is to slow down in order to prevent the tunnel vision effect and know your surroundings, whether that is the scene that you are currently operating in or preplanning and knowing your district.

Its very easy to get drawn in and be that moth to the flame, but just taking a little bit of time to slow down and see the big picture of what you have going on ahead of you does sound counter-productive, however, it saves you time in the long run. 

[NBaldridge]

A time I found myself in the top left box was the first time I pumped a structure fire.  I remember driving E48 while working at Miami Township and being more nervous than I had ever been when we pulled off the ramp and saw a large column of black smoke rising in the distance. We had been dispatched to a working apartment fire on the 3rd floor.  We were first on scene.  I could feel myself starting to become overwhelmed with all the tasks before me.  E48's crew pulled a handline and was gone to make an attack on the fire.  I had to make sure and slow myself down mentally to ensure I did everything correctly. 

Slowing down and falling back to my training helped me manage a high stress situation.  I learned that training was vitally important.  It is import to train to the point you cant mess things up.

Everyone of us has been there.  There once was a time here where newbies were cleared rather quickly to be FAOs out of straight necessity.  However, that necessity sometimes set us up for failure.  We are at a spot in department development that we should be taking the extra time to train the newbies properly and clear them when they have gained enough "seat time" and confidence.  The period of forcing them through to meet a time frame deadline, is just asking for trouble.

[astafford]

Called to gun shots heard on the first floor, apartment A.  Upon arrival, residence were evacuating first floor and second floor.  PD arrived on scene same time.  Medic crew went to the apartment the callers stated the shot were heard from, PD began clearing the rest of the apartments.  The caller did give the correct apartment number.  Found one pt, DOA.  At the time thought we were doing the right thing by going to attempt to help the person. In hind sight we should have staged and waited for PD to clear the entire building before putting ourselves in a scene that was not safe.   

Man you were definitely lucky but i completely understand running in to help and then realizing the risk later in that situation. Glad it worked out for you!

[astafford]

A time I found myself in the top left box was the first time I pumped a structure fire.  I remember driving E48 while working at Miami Township and being more nervous than I had ever been when we pulled off the ramp and saw a large column of black smoke rising in the distance. We had been dispatched to a working apartment fire on the 3rd floor.  We were first on scene.  I could feel myself starting to become overwhelmed with all the tasks before me.  E48's crew pulled a handline and was gone to make an attack on the fire.  I had to make sure and slow myself down mentally to ensure I did everything correctly. 

Slowing down and falling back to my training helped me manage a high stress situation.  I learned that training was vitally important.  It is import to train to the point you cant mess things up.

Like Ross said, not rushing guys through the FOA check off and requiring them to truly learn and earn the right to drive that engine will help when an adverse situation arises.

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