N.C. Interim Chief Recalls How It Used to Be Done

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Dec. 13--HIGH POINT -- When High Point Fire Department veterans look back on how their work has changed since they first donned firefighter turnout gear, the differences between then and today are stark.

"The fire service constantly evolves. It's never static. So it's always changing and moving the way we do things," said Interim Chief Lee Knight. "The basic concept is always there -- you find a fire and put water on it and put it out. But how you do that becomes much more involved."

One major example Knight cites involves the nature of structure fires and the way homes are constructed these days compared to decades ago. Most house fires involved wooden structures, and the furnishings in them didn't create the volume of toxic smoke they do now.

"You had toxic chemicals and smoke, but nowhere near what we have today. It's all different types of construction, which is very strong when you build it, but it burns very quickly and it can create dangers much more quickly," Knight said. "With all the growth in the plastic industry, everything in the house is plastic now. You get so much more toxic smoke, they burn a lot hotter. So it creates more dangers that we didn't face 20 to 25 years ago."

The majority of fire department responses involves medical calls. From July 1, 2010, to June 30 firefighters responded to 7,640 medical incidents out of 11,229 total incidents.

The department requires EMT certification of its firefighters as these calls can entail everything from a car crash with traumatic injuries to someone having a heart attack.

"Firefighters began doing that because we have more stations better located and can get there faster than an ambulance can, so it was easier to train our personnel in basic patient care and dispatch them," Deputy Chief for Training and Safety Rick George said. "Firefighters have always been somewhat of a catch-all."

Firefighters have yearly continued education requirements for medical response protocols and other topics that cover the constantly evolving base of knowledge for treating injuries.

"It could be any type of trauma, any type of sports injury, cuts, slips, trips, falls -- any way anybody can get injured," George said. "We ride to quite a few vehicle accidents, and typically there's injuries related to that."

While firefighting has always been fraught with danger, it's become a highly skilled profession that requires continuous learning. The department's five specialty teams are an example of this.

Every firefighter is assigned to one of the specialty teams: respiratory protection, public education, technical rescue, hazardous materials or water rescue.

The technical rescue and water rescue teams are broken down into other areas of specialty -- trench, confined space, structural collapse, high and low angle and vehicle machinery extrication are part of technical rescue, while dive team, swift water and surface water rescue are subsumed within the water rescue category.

"There's been greater emphasis on certain things as time has progressed to the point now where we've got so many specialized areas, firefighting almost takes a backseat to them," George said. "Firefighters have increasingly become the rescuer of last resort, responding to all types of natural and man-made disasters and specialized rescues requiring special tools and equipment."

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