Located in western Arkansas, Fort Smith has a population of about 80,000, which swells to about 150,000 on weekdays when people from outside of the city come in to work. The Fort Smith Fire Department (FSFD) and its 150 uniformed career personnel and 12 stations cover about 52 square miles.
Training is an important part of the department’s hazmat response, according to 20-year department veteran and hazmat instructor Heath Orabanec, and the department has had success implementing technology to help with that training.
In 2016, the FSFD obtained LION’s GasTrainer system on a U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant. Designed to replicate a four-gas meter, the GasTrainer simulates four gases that are most common to first responder emergencies: oxygen, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide and LEL. Orabanec says it has been a game-changer for the department by helping to increase education among firefighters, increasing the longevity of department equipment and, ultimately, saving money.
Several years ago, the FSFD didn’t have gas monitors on apparatus, only on battalion or hazmat trucks. “Our everyday firefighters had limited exposure to four-gas meters, where our hazmat guys had quite a bit of exposure,” Orabanec says. When the department decided to put four-gas meters on all of the apparatus, it was prepared to train the crew. “Instead of taking all these high-dollar meters out and training with them, we could use the GasTrainer,” he says. “It was a close replica of the meters we were using, so it worked out really well for us.” Without the GasTrainer system, Orabanec says the department would be pulling out the real equipment, adding wear and tear, and costing the department more money. “What started as a tool for hazardous materials training ended up benefiting the whole department,” he says.
Train for real scenarios
FSFD uses the GasTrainer about twice per year with a full hazmat training and four to six times per year in other modes of training. It has been beneficial for both the trainees and the trainer. First, it removes the unnecessary risk of exposure to immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH) environments for everyone. Second, when it comes to the trainee, it provides a better, more realistic experience. “Rather than just sticking a regular meter in their hand and then the trainer saying, ‘Okay, it is beeping, what does that mean?,’ the GasTrainer shows numbers that are going up and down, and they can interpret what they’re reading,” Orabanec says. This makes it easier for trainees to not only experience but to also understand different scenarios.
Orabanec says it’s quite easy and convenient on the instructor’s end, too. With the system's capability to be customized, trainers can adjust settings and alarm levels to create many emergency scenarios. “We have the unique ability to make the students understand what they’re seeing, and you can use the GasTrainer to throw them a curveball,” he says. “For example, they didn’t get any readings here or there and all of a sudden it jumps way up on them. So, what are they going to do now? It’s pretty interesting to have that control and give them a different perspective.”
Before this technology, the FSFD wouldn’t be able to train like this, because there would have been concern for the use of the other equipment. “Basically, we used to use the manual style test for stuff, and this has brought us way up in technology for whatever the scenario might be,” Orabanec says. Nevertheless, he still shows trainees the old way of training. “Showing them the old way of training really puts things in perspective for them, because then I can hand them this one piece of equipment, and they can do everything twice as fast. They really like it, and they understand a lot more.”
The experience and benefits for FSFD firefighters has been significant. “The GasTrainer is almost firefighter-proof,” Orabanec concludes. “It’s super durable and virtually indestructible. It’s a great training tool.”
