Mobile Concepts FIRE TRUCKS AND VEHICLES

Want to know an easy way to judge the quality of a fire department? Look at how much they train. Career, volunteer or combination, fire departments become successful through training. Yet all training is not equal. Focus too much on hands-on training (HOT) and you could be missing important legal and compliance updates. Lean heavily on web-based training and you may fail to identify shortcomings in skills proficiencies. Keep students confined to a classroom and you may lose their interest quickly. Not surprisingly, a balance of all three types of training is needed to produce competent, empowered firefighters. For this article, I was challenged to think about what’s missing from our current fire training programs. As I thought about the varied way we approach fire training, three issues jumped out at me. Base training on facts and statistics Take advantage of new technologies Incorporate policy into your training   Your training program should also be strong in the types of calls you respond to most Base Training On Facts And Statistics If your department has a robust training program, outlined by a calendar of various topics and employing a mix of HOT, online and classroom training, you’re ahead of the curve. But even in departments with well-developed training programs, training is often based on preference or habit, not data. Think about the topics in your training program. Do you know why they’re included? Do they match your call make-up? Are they targeting specific skill shortcomings? (And yes, we all have them!)What’s missing from many fire department training programs is a detailed needs assessment What’s missing from many fire department training programs is a detailed needs assessment that in turn establishes a factual basis for the year’s training topics. The needs assessment should include: Surveying the members to determine the types of training they want or feel they need. Measuring firefighter proficiency on basic tasks, such as NFPA 1403 drills, NFPA 1710 drills and EMS patient assessment skills audits, to assess personnel by mandate or by industry best practice. This will identify skills deficiencies to address through training. Incorporating call volume statistics and details. A significant percentage of the calls fire departments respond to are EMS and vehicle extrication But I’d venture to guess the training programs of most departments don’t match those percentages. Yes, you need to train for the high-risk, low-frequency tasks. But your training program should also be strong in the types of calls you respond to most. Incorporating these “facts and stats” into your training program will help you keep it fresh, relevant and interesting. Firefighters can use their phones and tablets to access department training information and complete training assignments Take Advantage Of New Technologies There is something to be said for back-to-the-basics, keep-it-simple firefighter training. But it’s a mistake to ignore technological advances. From teaching safe apparatus backing procedures to practicing hoseline deployment and Vent/Enter/Isolate/Search (VEIS) tactics, instructors have more options than ever before. Some instructors regard simulators as second-rate to “the real thing.” Certainly, simulation and other forms of technology-driven instruction can’t replace the value of hands-on experience. But they can augment it in important ways. Driver simulators, for example, not only save money because apparatus don’t have to be taken out of service or sustain wear and tear; they also provide an environment where firefighters can learn without risk of injury. If sitting behind a computer isn’t your kind of thing, live-burn simulators, vehicle fire simulators and hazmat simulators are available—and they all significantly boost training efficiency.Technology will never replace hands-on instruction, but it can facilitate it But you don’t need fancy simulators to incorporate technology into your fire training program. Learning management systems (LMS) are another important tool that can increase training program efficiency. Although they’ve been around for a long time, LMS continue to improve. The ability to integrate with mobile devices is huge, allowing firefighters to use their phones and tablets to access department training information and complete training assignments. Leveraging this technology can allow you to more efficiently manage information, schedule training and free up valuable time needed for other important tasks. If you’ve attended some of the larger regional or national fire conferences recently, you may have had the opportunity to see audience response technology in action. By capturing the firefighters’ responses to questions in real-time, instructors can adjust the material to reflect students’ knowledge level. Audience response is also simply a great way to keep firefighters engaged. Technology will never replace hands-on instruction, but it can facilitate it. If you’re using training methods that haven’t changed in decades, something’s missing from your training program.   Without incorporating policy into your training, you’re only giving your firefighters half the equation Incorporate Policy Into Your Training I saved the biggest and best for last. When I work with fire departments across the country, I repeatedly discover the failure to incorporate policy into training. Think about it: Training curricula are almost always designed around procedures—the how of doing something. But isn’t the why just as important? And that’s what policy is all about. Without incorporating policy into your training, you’re only giving your firefighters half the equation.Inevitably firefighters will encounter times when following the procedure isn’t possible Inevitably firefighters will encounter times when following the procedure isn’t possible. That’s when policy training kicks in—firefighters understand the fundamental objective, and they can think on their feet about how to achieve it. Training on policy also helps departments address the issues that so often get firefighters into trouble. How many of your firefighters really understand your department’s social media policy? What about the rules surrounding sick time usage? These are things that trip up firefighters time and time again. If you’re not training on policies, it’s unlikely firefighters remember them. How many of your firefighters really understand your department’s social media policy? In addition, normalization of deviance is a risk to every organization. When personnel fail to follow policies and no negative repercussions result, it can quickly establish a new normal. Policy-based training resets the “normal” and makes sure that members of the organization comply with the policy and not what they think the policy says.Most line-of-duty death reports cite failure to comply with policy or lack of adequate policy Fire instructors often avoid training on policy because they regard it as boring or unrelated to what really matters—firefighter safety and survival. Yet most line-of-duty death reports cite failure to comply with policy or lack of adequate policy as contributing factors in the incident. If you’re worried that policy will make your training program dry and uninteresting, link it to real-world events. An online search provides lots of examples of when things went wrong and how adherence to policy might have produced a different outcome. And limit policy training to small chunks. Take out a 10-page policy and go through it line by line, and your students’ eyes will glaze over in seconds. Instead, look for ways to enrich your current training by bringing relevant pieces of policy into it. Your firefighters will be learning the department’s policies without even realizing it! Focus On Continuous Improvement Fire chiefs and fire instructors have a challenging job. Budgets are tight, and training is often one of the first things to be cut. Yet we need firefighters to be proficient in all-hazards response. Every department has a long training wish list. But if we focus on continuous quality improvement, we can get a little better each year. Looking for opportunities to incorporate statistics, technology and policy into our training is a good place to start.

Within traditional commercial and industrial firefighting systems, engineers have primarily focused on permanent installation designs rather than entertaining alternative or supplemental mobile firefighting systems. Permanent installation design is typically better understood, supported, and supplied throughout the fire protection engineering and manufacturing community. However, mobile firefighting systems provide unique solutions and advantages compared to their permanent installation cousins such as flexible deployment, simpler servicing, improved economy, and much higher performance availability. The combination of both systems is frequently the most strategic solution for the facility operator. Limitations of fixed installation systems Permanent installation (fixed) systems include everything from sprinklers, foam systems, primary watermain pumps, and the plethora of piping in between. A large refinery complex will need to address various hazard mitigation and control problems that span both hardware and personnel needs. In the event standard hazard mitigation safety procedures and equipment have failed, the facility immediately initiates a hazard control operation. Passive fixed systems automatically engage the hazard through an array of sensors, mechanical triggers, and control algorithms. A properly designed system with adequate hazard coverage, preplanning, preventative maintenance, and testing will successfully terminate the hazard, while firefighting personnel respond and ensure no further hazards develop. This conceptual approach relies on hardware and personnel all operating as planned…. Combining permanent and mobile apparatus “According to plan” would never have any failures or fires, but history has a different script. In the worst-case petrochemical scenario, fixed systems fail to extinguish a hazard putting the entire response on human and mobile hardware resources. This would include but is not limited to firetrucks, mobile high-flow pumping systems, large mobile monitors, foam proportioning units, and large diameter layflat hose. This type of response escalates into a larger scale operation, sometimes involving agencies beyond the facility operator itself. Although a low probability event, the risk to life and property is significantly substantial. Fixed systems may be rendered inoperable due to the loss of electrical power or actual physical damage Reducing fire-related expenditureMore typical than the worst-case scenario, facilities experience both maintenance-related system downtimes and natural phenomena damage such as extreme weather and seismic events. In this case, fixed systems may be rendered inoperable due to the loss of electrical power or actual physical damage. In any of these situations, mobile fire apparatus may fill the gap requirements of the facility as their flexible storage and deployment would protect them from everything but the worst natural disasters. Their further benefit is that a smaller set of mobile apparatus resources may be used to protect a larger amount of infrastructure, especially while in use in a mutual-aid program between facilities and communities. According to the NFPA’s report “Total Cost of Fire in the United States”, fire-related damages and expenditures from 1980 to 2014 have risen from roughly $200B (adjusted for inflation to 2014) to nearly $330B. The greatest expenditure is in fire safety costs in building construction, amounting to $57.4B. Although the overall losses per year as a ratio to protection expenditures has dropped by roughly 70% over the past 30 years, petrochemical facility losses have continued to rise over the same time. In the worst-case petrochemical scenario, fixed systems fail to extinguish a hazard  Petrochemical facility challenges According to the NFPA, refineries or natural gas plants had reported an average of 228 fires or explosions per year through the 1990s. Furthering this data with Marsh’s “100 Largest Losses, 25th edition”, refinery losses have continually expanded throughout the last two decades with 11 of the top 20 largest losses of the past 40 years happening during or after the year 2000. Two primary drivers of this trend are the advanced age of petrochemical facilities and their staggering complexity. As oil margins fall, upstream operational businesses are detrimentally affected by reduced investment in everything to new equipment, maintenance and passive safety systems. There is an observable correlation between a major oil price drop followed by upstream facility fire losses. Even with reduced investment and oil throughput growth rates, US refinery utilisation at the end 2017 was at 96.7%, the highest since 2005 (Marsh, The Impact of the Price of Oil). The short story is that systems and personnel are being asked to do more with less with each passing year. Cost-effective mobile apparatus systems  Mobile fire apparatus is generally more cost-effective to procure when using standardised designs and application methodology. They can access open water sources by either drafting (when in close proximity to the water) or using floating source pumps (for variable level or difficult access water sources). Mobile fire apparatus is generally more cost-effective to procure when using standardized designs and application methodology With this open water access, they can provide significantly more water (upwards of 10,000 GPM or more per system if necessary) than any typical fixed fire pumping solution. Moreover, as their primary benefit, they are easy to move and deploy. This benefit allows them to be utilised at the point of hazard as needed while being easily accessible for service. While fixed systems are installed at “every known” hazard and must be continually maintained to operate effectively, mobile systems may be used sitewide or across facilities. This flexibility reduces overall capital expenditure requirements and establishes a valuable primary and secondary firefighting system depending on the hazard and facility resources. Combining fixed and mobile systems Permanent installation fire suppression systems are a mainstay of modern day firefighting. They provide immediate passive response with little human intervention. However, as facility utilisation is pushed to maximum capacity while fixed systems continually age out without adequate replacement or maintenance, mobile systems will need to both fill the response gap and provide a final wall to total loss incidents. The reality is that both fixed and mobile systems need to work together to provide the safest possible operation. Service and training requirements need to also be maintained to manage an adequate, or even better, exemplary response to hazard control incidents. Managing major facility uptime requires continuous oversight and to drive hazard mitigation standards throughout the organisation, including executive management. A safe, reliable and fully-functional plant is also a profitable and cost-effective plant much like a healthy worker is a better worker. Protect your people and property and you will protecting your company’s future.

Mobile Concepts' services can effectively save fire departments money Be it an own model or that of another manufacturer: Mobile Concepts by Scotty upfits new and old mobile commands, as well as various other commercial vehicles.Be it upfitting, remanufacturing, retrofitting, upgrading, customisation or re-purposing, Mobile Concepts offers cost-effective options to enhance current motorised vehicles, trailers, shipping containers and tractor trailer.Such has been the case with a 2005 LDV mobile command. By simply taking advantage of Mobile Concepts’ upgrade services, Baltimore County Maryland have extended the life of command, reduced downtime and significantly cut spending. “The turnaround time for interior and exterior refurbishment is drastically faster than a new build project,” says Ray Podvorec, Mobile Concepts manufacturing manager. “Baltimore County’s command upgrade only took a few weeks, and they are now equipped with the latest technology equipment."The addition of new technology and features to older systems boosts vehicle performance, improves safety and increases multi-use capabilities, among other benefits.Examples of available upgrades are improvement of work station functionality and use of space, enhancement of audio/video components, outlets and connections, high-tech communications, battery systems,  satellites and other communication antennas, masts, cameras or scene lighting and updates to graphics, finishes and options.“We also offer upgrades and updates to current mobile command trailers, which meet requirements set forth by the Department of Homeland Security to qualify as a FEMA type III mobile command trailer,” adds Vice President of Sales Chris Simon.Some examples of additions for a type 3 command are radio frequency transceivers, satellite systems, computer assisted dispatch and high-tech computer systems.“Not too long ago, we built a brand new mobile command trailer for March Air Force Base. They chose one of our standard mobile command floor plans (Command35- 4WS) and had us include the features of the FEMA 3 [FEMA Type-III Mobile EOC),” explains Simon. “We can update any new or old model to qualify as a FEMA 3 trailer.”

A Mobile Concepts hazmat trailer is built for the benefit many different types of rescue team Mobile Concepts by Scotty manufactured and delivered to UPMC Passavant Hospital a decontamination trailer that replaces the hospital system’s current less favorable model.UPMC Passavant Hospital, Cranberry Twp., Pennsylvania, located in the Pittsburgh area, took delivery of a 24 foot-, 2-lane-, 3-stall decontamination trailer from Mobile Concepts by Scotty last month. UPMC officials contacted Mobile Concepts earlier this year with plans to replace the hospital’s Nor-E-built decontamination trailer. The Mobile Concepts decontamination trailer, termed MOBDECON 24-2L, is available for purchase on GSA and features a command center work station for 2 located in the isolated maintenance room, with equipment such as 2 gravity-fed detergent mixing systems and an eco-friendly gas-fired water heater among other features.  “The Mobile Concepts model is designed for ease of use and set up,” states Henri Degre, general manager of Mobile Concepts. “It is a self-contained unit that can be deployed and set up by one person.” UPMC’s new decontamination trailer will be dispatched to provide cleansing facilities to hazmat teams assisting contaminated patients at hazardous materials spills, leaks, accidents and incidents. Any solid, liquid or gas that can harm people, living organisms, property or the environment may be present and have the potential to be radioactive, flammable, explosive, toxic, corrosive, bio-hazardous, an oxidizer, asphyxiant, pathogenic or allergenic. Hospitals, industrial facilities, first responders, CBRNe decontamination teams and humanitarian aid organizations can benefit from the purchase of a Mobile Concepts decontamination or hazmat trailer. In December, 2010 Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina, took delivery of its CBRN trailer, which will respond to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive incidents on the base and its surrounding areas. In 2009, the base also purchased a 36 foot length Mobile Concepts Hazmat Cascade trailer, used by the base to respond to and mitigate hazardous material incidents. “With growing concerns regarding chemical and biological warfare, we’re seeing a lot of interest in our hazmat and decontamination related products,” states Anne Degre, president of Mobile Concepts. “But these trailers are not just intended for national security, they help to protect us and our first responders from hazardous contamination and its spread.”

Fire departments sprinkler demonstration trailer Photo by Perry Twp Fire Department Fire fighters witnessed the effectiveness of fire sprinkler system by using Perry, Ohio, Fire Department’s sprinkler demonstration trailer and they were further educated by the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC). As firefighters from various local stations watch, a family has installed the first residential sprinkler system ever in the area, reducing the likelihood of losing their new home to fire. The Bell family watched in horror as their home was completely destroyed by fire a little more than one year ago. Instead of living in fear, the family took steps to eliminate this from ever happening again by having a fire sprinkler system installed- affording local fire fighters the opportunity to learn more about these systems with the assistance of a Mobile Concepts by Scotty sprinkler demonstration trailer.  Using Perry, Ohio, Fire Department’s sprinkler demonstration trailer, fire fighters witnessed the effectiveness of fire sprinkler systems and were further educated by the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC). The combination Sprinkler Demonstration and Fire Safety House trailer was built by Mobile Concepts by Scotty, a Pittsburgh-area specialty trailer and vehicle manufacturer. It is equipped with a burn room that allows operators to show on-lookers how quickly a small fire can escalate and how quickly a sprinkler system can contain and/or extinguish the fire. Large Lexan windows allow spectators to witness the demonstration through the exterior of either side of the vehicle. Classroom and/or fire safety house features are located in the interior to allow for further explanation and educational classes for the public. “As supporters of the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition’s message, we are debunking many of the myths surrounding these systems,” stated Anne Degre, president of Mobile Concepts. The sprinkler education program can be compared to the smoke detector educational programs of the 1970s  "The sprinkler education program can be compared to the smoke detector educational programs of the 1970s. People did not know what they were, and the rumors about them were running rampant. The only way to raise awareness is through public education."  Communications manager Peg Paul of HFSC took time to educate the Cleveland-metro-area family and local fire departments during and after the installation about the importance of having fire sprinkler systems in homes, but her message is one that is applicable to every family, town and fire department across the United States. Visit the website of Mobile Concepts to learn more about their Sprinkler Demonstration Trailers and for links pertaining to the home fire sprinkler initiative.