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 Dublin
Fire Brigade like many fire brigades, services and departments around
the world has evolved greatly over the years not only in the updated
technology and training but in the range of incidents they respond
to.
Once purely a fire service (and from 1898 an ambulance service)
the D.F.B. now respond to a wide variety of call types such as,
car crashes, chemical spills, water rescues, general rescue, fires!
,flooding and a host of other types, in addition because firefighters
in Dublin are also trained Paramedics and we run an emergency ambulance
service many of our calls are to assist the ambulance crews.
Primarily these would be for cardiac arrests, road traffic accidents,industrial
accidents, lifting of heavy patients and in cases where there will
be a delay in the ambulance the fire appliance can be sent to render
medical care where the case is of a serious nature and they can
arrive much more quickly e.g. child scalded or serious chest pain.
Training as a Firefighter
Drills
 Recruits
train for about 16 weeks in firefighting and rescue techniques. The
course in part will comprise of a batch recruits being divided into
syndicates of about 5 or 6 firefighters each who will work together
as a team to learn the practical side of using equipment in what is
termed as a drill.
A drill is a method of teaching a crew (team) of firefighters to carry
out a task in an efficient manner quickly. e.g. on arrival at a house
fire with a person trapped at a window the Officer in Charge (O.I.C.)
may give the command 13.5M ladder make down to the second floor window.
With each firefighter having been pre-assigned
a number and seating position at the start of duty the command means
that each person has a particular job to do in making down the ladder
and they know that job inside out. They will each go to their position
on the ladder as per the drill and erect the ladder as they have learned
to do. This means that 4 firefighters are not rushing to do the same
job while another is left undone.
About 8 weeks are spent in such drills getting to know how to use
the equipment and operate as a crew at a fire.
Other such drills include:
1. Making down small and large hose to a fire from the fire engine.
2. Making down hose from a hydrant to the fire engine and then to
a fire or up a ladder and into a building.
3. Making down the two main ladders 10.5M (35') and 13.5M (45')
to buildings of various heights and in confined spaces.
4. Making down suction hose to either a portable pump or to the fire
appliance. (Suction hose allows water to be taken from a river, lake
etc. using atmospheric pressure to push the water into the pump)
5. Road traffic accident drills whereby even before the fire appliance
stops work is being done such as donning high visibility clothing,
putting the fire appliance in a fend -off position to protect the
scene.
6. Using the turntable ladder as a watertower, rescue ladder, sling
rescue and cage rescue.
The firefighters handbook published
by the Department of the Environment details these drills. While
they are a standard they may be enhanced slightly by individual
brigades for operational reasons.
Download
the handbook PDF document 2.71
MB and 277 pages long.
Breathing Apparatus Course
 If
there is one core area which is essential to modern firefighting it
is the use of breathing apparatus. It enable firefighters to actually
go into a burning gas (was formerly smoke) filled building to both
rescue persons trapped and to extinguish the blaze before the building
burns down.
The recruits in Dublin do a two week course which as the days go by
puts them into more and more stressful environments and situations
to allow them to learn and get a better understanding of the equipment
and procedures they need to know.
For example one golden rule or procedure is that if going into a fire
wearing breathing apparatus (BA) there must be a minimum of 2 firefighters
who must maintain physical contact at all times with each other and
they must report to a Breathing Apparatus Entry Control Officer prior
to going in and report to them on exit.
The course takes place in a large multistory complex which can simulate
various different environments such as a hotels, houses, sewers, ship,
flats and tunnels etc.
A part of the training for the past few years is the Fire Behaviour
course which teaches valuable skills and information on how to recognize
and deal with flashover and backdraught and similar phenonenom (For
further information on backdraught , flashover, gas-phase cooling
etc check out the fantastic Fire
Tactics Website)
All the breathing apparatus training in Ireland is governed by a set
of procedures laid down by the Department of the Environment. For
more information on these, the training and the equipment visit our
breathing apparatus
pages.
Road Traffic Extrication Course
 A
growing part of every fire services work, this is an area where skills,
equipment and techniques need to be kept up to date to keep in pace
with new car technology. The initial course is one week in duration
where recruits get to use the different types of equipment they will
be handling at an accident.Thewil learn the techniques used in making
safe cuts in vehicles and the technology of new vehicles. Particular
care is needed in modern cars where the danger of cutting in the wrong
place such as into an airbag canister exists and patient awareness
which is the main reason for extrication and can sometimes be forgotten
in the heat of the moment.
The training centre has a steady supply of vehicles to be used in
training and officers delight in putting them in awkward scenarios
for crews to practice their skills.
An excellent site for Road Traffic Extrication information is the
Holmatro
site.
Pump Operators Course
 Most
fire appliances in Dublin carry two pumps on board which supply water
or foam to fight a fire. One of these is a small portable pump (about
120kgs) which can be carried to a water source that the engine cannot
reach and the other is the main pump which is an integral part of
the fire engine.
All firefighters are trained in the operation of both these pumps
and the principles behind them. While on operational duties the driver
is the one who actually operates the main pump. With the introduction
of C.A.F.S. (compressed air foam system) and gas phase cooling principles
the knowledge needed to operate these new pumps continues to increase.The
pump course usually lasts a week.
Hazardous Chemicals Course
 While
most people would think of chemicals as being in big tanks in shiny
factories the truth is that they are everywhere. Consider all the
products in your own home from bleaches to paint strippers. The fire
service is trained to respond to emergencies involving these dangerous
chemicals in situations such as spills and fires. Just look at all
the trucks going past with labels showing there dangerous contents!
Firefighters must be trained and equipped to recognize and cope with
Hazardous Chemical emergencies and the course does just that.
Even with the protective suits firefighters operation are limited
e.g. You cannot do firefighting in a suit as they are made of plastic!
Substances such as acids can eat through the suit in a matter of minutes.
An integral part of the course is decontamination procedures of both
firefighter and any casualties they may rescue.
Other parts of the recruits firefighting
course.
In addition to drills, breathing apparatus, hazardous chemicals
and pumping operations the recruits are taught a variety of other
information including.
Building structure theory,
Electricity,
Physics in particular those areas
dealing with measuring areas, volume etc.
Familiarization of all special appliances from the emergency rescue
tender to the foam tender.
Ship firefighting,
Use of all equipment carried on a fire appliance,
Firefighting theory and practice,
Footdrill (marching) which instills discipline and teamwork,
Operational FireFighting in Dublin Fire
Brigade
Firefighters learn that they have a number
of different priorities in their role as a firefighter the top three
being:
1 Save Life
2 Save Property
3 Render Humanitarian assistance.
Firefighters in Dublin Fire Brigade who are fulltime are assigned
to one the the 12 fulltime stations with retained firefighters being
assigned to one of the other 2 retained stations in North County
Dublin (for more on stations see the stations
page..)
We operate a 4 watch system A, B, C and D watch who work 9 hour
days and 15 hour night based on a 3 on 3 off (almost) system.
At the start of duty firefighters will line up and their badge numbers
will be called out by the station officer assigning them to a particular
fire appliance and a particular position on that fire appliance.
E.g. number one is the driver with number 2 and 4 being the first
breathing apparatus crew.
The crew will then proceed to check off all the equipment
on board the fire appliance and their own breathing apparatus set
which is literally their life support unit in the event of entering
a toxic atmosphere.
The firefighter will then carry out station routines from filling
breathing apparatus cylinders to cleaning the station, preparing
food for dinner, testing equipment etc. In addition inspections
on premises and hydrants will be done from time to time and every
day / night a drill or lecture will take place to keep crews up
to speed on procedures or introduce them to new equipment and practices.
Of course should the bells go off signaling a "turnout"
to an emergency call then everything is dropped to respond as quickly
as possible.
Responding to an emergency
With the bell/s sounding a docket will print out in the station
control room giving incident details e.g.
House on fire,
Persons reported,
15 Jamestown Way,
Dublin 9,
Location Jnc, Blakestown way, Druids chair,
Further details: 2 persons trapped in upstairs bedroom at rear of
house. Road
blocked at Jamestown end by bollards approach via Druids chair
Vehicles responding D21, D72, D74,D25 DO Bravo.
Any other information can be given via the radio as it is known.
Fire crews respond to a vast range of incidents some of which are
listed here.
Fires:
Buildings, skips, cars, rubbish, anything you can thing of!
Road Traffic Accidents:
Involving a person only to persons trapped in cars, lorries on fire
in a crash with chemicals,
General Rescue:
People and animals fallen down cliffs, stuck in lifts, impaled on
railings, crushed by falling objects,
Water Rescue:
From people falling in, jumping in to rivers, rescuing would be
rescuers, flood operations, body retrieval,
Medical Assistance:
Cardiac arrests, building site accidents, road traffic accidents,
serious trauma or medical where the nearness and training / equipment
of a fire crew will make a difference.
Hazardous Chemicals:
Spills, fires in tanks etc.
These are the main categories but the list is
endless.
Each station has it's own list of potential risk from chemical plants
to Airports (3 in Dublin) and therefore while they all have at least
one fire appliance some have specialized vehicles such as the emergency
rescue tenders and boat carrier. For more on this see the stations
page.
Apart from firefighting.
While the recruits do receive a lot of training more specialized
training is also given to those already operational.
Swiftwater Rescue Technician
This is a one week course carried out on the Liffey river which
teaches firefighters about the dynamics of water, hazards, rope
techniques and of course methods of rescue from bank operations
to actually getting into the river/ water source in a safe manner
and rescuing the casualty. Equipment now used in Dublin includes,
drysuits, lifejackets, inflatable walkways, inflatable hose, throwable
floating lines, ropework equipment, boat, boat carrier and launcher
in HQ.
At this stage (Jan 2005) over 200 firefighter are qualified Swiftwater
Rescue Technicians with over 700 firefighters trained in water awareness.
Rope Rescue
Currently under development personnel are training to rescue persons
trapped in cranes, down cliffs on pylons etc.
Fire Behaviour,
A large number of the brigade have already been through the course
which teaches valuable skills in dealing with flashover, backdraught
etc. All the pumps and hose branches in Dublin are now capable of
producing the required droplet size to carry out gas-phase cooling
techniques. (Check out FireTactics.com
for more information)
The principle behind it all is to cool down only the gas using just
enough water. Too much and a jet will hit the walls producing steam
which punishes the firefighter and increases the pressure mixing
the gases with more oxygen.
Marine Emergency Response
 .
Dublin Fire Brigade is responsible for ship firefighting
operations in Irish Waters off the East Coast of Ireland. Firefighters
receive training in a 3 module course culminating in a visit to
the UK for the helicopter sea crash simulation.
Tunnel
Firefighting
Over 200 firefighters were trained in Switzerland in tunnel firefighting.
Since the opening of Dublin 4.5km long dual tunnel primarily for
the port firefighters now have the training and equipment to deal
with most of the incidents which might occur in such a busy large
good vehicle tunnel. They have a dedicated tunnel
response vehicle which is detailed is stationed in North Strand.
Related Pages
D.F.B.
Mainpage | D.F.B.
Control Room | D.F.B. Fire
Operations | D.F.B.
Pipes & Drums
D.F.B. History | D.F.B.
Stations | D.F.B Contacts
| D.F.B Ambulance
.
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Organization Structure
