We go through our everyday lives using all of our five senses- vision, sound, touch, smell, and taste. On the training ground to the fireground we use also use these senses to detect the dangers that are inherent to our craft. We utilize these from seeing smoke and determining if it’s laminar or turbulent; we hear radio traffic that alerts us to where a victim may be located or if we need to place another handline in service; we touch or “sound” the floor to ensure structural integrity and test the door for heat prior to opening; we smell the presence of burned and unburned materials after the fire is extinguished. The only sense we should NOT be using is taste (insert funny comment here).
Conversely, we should be using majority of these senses subconsciously during training evolutions on the training ground and emergency incidents on the fireground. As such, there is another sense that is lesser known and one that we don’t commonly attribute to being one of the most important. That sense is intuition or “feel”. Feel, in this case, is not to be confused with touch. All of these senses are empirical or ones that are observed or experienced physically. In order to effectively remain safe on the training ground and fireground we must incorporate these senses in our actions. The VIPER acronym will allow us to install these factors and actions into our mental circuitry that builds the muscle memory required to perform and carry out our functions.
- Vigilance- maintain situation awareness at all times, promote a safety first culture, cognizance and promote attention to detail
- Intuition- utilizing instincts, instantaneous recognition, and “feel” when actions could become detrimental to yourself, your crew, and the operation
- Preparation- be physically fit to perform the tasks, right mindset to start the day, education to identify inherent dangers, and willingness to learn
- Enthusiasm- have a positive attitude, spirit, pride in what we do, and the WANT TO
- Resilience- overcome adversity, persevere, remain focused on the task, goals, objectives, and grow from failure
The keys to enhanced training ground and fireground safety performance begin with utilizing our conscious senses and subconscious abilities to recognize unsafe practices and conditions. VIPER will allow us to easily recognize and identify our approach to ensure life safety, incident stabilization, property conservation, and customer service.
I will be presenting "From the Training Ground to the Fireground: Keys to Enhanced Safety Performance" at the ISFSI 2018 Fall Instructor Development Conference. Would you join me and other Society members at the conference? Register today: http://www.isfsi.org/p/cm/ld/fid=1253