Fire Stand-by / Firefighter Rehab

[KMAC]

i recently had a class on rehab..ill hunt down the instructor and grab a copy of the powerpoint and post it on here...it was a great PP...

[EMSGeek]

I'll be interested to download that powerpoint when you get it.

[katbemeEMT-B]

We pull the the fire fighters after half an hour, check vitals and keep them for a min. of 20 minutes. They come out as a group and go back as a group. If one guy takes two hours to recoup the entire squad has to wait. Makes it easier on the commander to account for them. Never been more than an hour though.

[NREMT-Basic]

I dont know how common it is, but I do rehab during training, drills, extrication exercises, etc. I always try to let the FFs know that I am there to help keep them healthy and in one piece, but that if they fall outside of the parameters. The Chief says if they wont comply, tell them to turn over their helmets and turn-out coats, so I dont run into trying to enforce that one on my own. I do a full vital check pre and post including pulse ox and am also on standby to assist with first aide, etc. Most of the guys seems to appreciate it, though they might not seem like it at the time.

[dahlio]

So I recently took a class on... Incident Rehab. They say they recommend every two bottles (30 min.), you take them out and make them sit for 5-10 minutes, taking vitals, and what not. In fact, the fire departments in my area have started to make idea cards with what that particular Firefighters normal B/P is, so we have an idea of how it is after they go into the fire. Only problem that I was thinking about this, was how much their normal B/P can change over a three year period (the period our OEM cards are good for). Different medications, and job conditions, and what not can affect them a year and a half after their B/P was taken.

It was pretty funny when a guy in my class said that their service likes to get vitals before the firefighters enter....like thats going to happen. Just thought I'd give a little report on the class. Learned a lot from it, and never realized how active you need to actually be at a fire scene. Thanks again for the comments.

[Richard B the EMT]

Considering how "progressive" the FDNY is, their on the scene "rehab" consists of having a truck much like the Red Cross "donut" trucks available for their crews.

There was one VFD I heard about, actually used to have a portable bathroom on a small trailer to be towed to any calls where they believed they would be on the scene for over some specific time.

[MedicNorth]

Our guidline is two bottles, off to rehab. This changes dependent upon the weather, type of scene, etc, but is pretty cut and dried. We carry a tent, water, blankets, folding chairs, etc. on the engine and the medics set up shop in there if needed. One of the fire crew is designated to keep track of who needs to be there, and accountability tags are used and timed on the board. NOBODY bucks the rehab crew, or is disciplined

[steph1030]

for us we take tags and they get them back AFTER they have had some kind of rehab

[nyemtcc]

my fire dept sets up rehab and we run it ourselves the ambulance is on standby only for transport. the most important thing is to monitor the firefighter. make sure fluids are replaced and not just with water must give eloctrolite replacement as well. make sure they are cooled down/warmed up. set up rehab as far from the hot zone as possible like across the street and only 1 way in and one way outso the firefighter cannot sneak away. also you need good accountability as to who comes in and who goes out. i suggest tagging in and out just like goin in a building.

[StretcherFetcher]

after 2 cylinders hit rehab, fluids, rest, vitals. There is no real set time on how long. Our county EMS system is lazy so getting them to climb out the truck is hard enough let alone take vitals. Most of the time the vitals are taken by other firefighters.