From: Proper use of Scott strap question

[robert benz 344]

I would not say safety police, just point out one thing that I feel is extremely dangers.... I did not point out about the coat, lack of hood, or gloves.... as I don not find that a major issue, and i have fallen to not being perfect either... I was mainly asking about the danger of a hanging waist strap and coming down an aerial ladder...

yes it can be what " if " ed to death, but that one second, could lead to his death...

I am NOT attaching that officer personally in any way shape or form, I do not know him and have no problems with him... I just stated the danger of not wearing the Scott pack's straps while doing any operations above the ground.... If the picture was of him standing in front giving orders, and the straps hung down, I would not of cared.... but he is on an aerial ladder, and maybe by pointing this out to the younger/ newer guys, on the forum, that may think its cool because the more senior guys do it...., may give them the break, or opportunity to see what can really happen if you do not do things as taught and trained... If one guy agrees with this thought and starts always wearing them, then something was gained by this post...

well we should... If a manufacturer, Scott, tells the purchaser to wear the waist belts all the time, if your are trained to use them that way and it is written in the SOP ( or SOG's as some depts. have, do to legal reasons ) how you are to operate with a SCBA, and you fail to do this..... who's fault is it ? Just say he ( or any other firefighter ) were to fall off that aerial ladder, and a lawyer representing the Town ( city or Village ) in a legal suit, gets a hold of the picture, the fire fighter has no leg to stand on, as he was not using the equipment properly, he was not operating according to the SOP, and was not doing the job as he was trained.... the law suit may not favor well in his case....

my point is you knew the answer or the way it is supposed to be worn before you asked it. you already knew what could happen to the question about the straps before you stated it. For that matter every one on here that is involved with wearing a scba has been taught how to wear it and why you should wear it and what could go wrong. So by stating something like that about the pic was not going to change anything those that wear them right are going to continue to wear it the right way, those that arent are not going to change thier minds based on this pic.

Honestly how many veiwing that pic had to ask themselves is he wearing his scba correctly, and I wonder what could happen if one of those staps got stuck in the railing? If you already wear it correctly then you arent going to change a thing, if you CHOOSE to not wear it correctly and your dept or officer doesnt correct you then this pic and the comments are not going to change your behavior.

If you are an interior firefighter and you dont know the answer to those questions prior to seeing it in a pic, then you were not trained properly when you were introduced to wearing an scba.

I am not advocating unsafe practices, all I am saying is "we" are very quick to judge others based on a pic. Nothing happened to that Firefighter to say that the straps were not buckled.

As far as leading by example, I have had the pleasure of working with GREAT firefighters who never buckled their waistbelts but knew their job on the fireground, and less then great FF'S who knew how to get dressed and that was about all. (that is a whole other topic for another day) and yes their are guys who know how to wear their scba/ppe correctly and are great firefighters.

I would have much rather seen something along the lines of Could this pic be of use in a firefighter 1 class to show BRAND NEW RECRUITS (a very select group that is just learning about PPE and SCBA) "DO YOU SEE ANYTHING WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE"

So I brought this up, just to give people a heads up.. NOT TO PUT THIS OFFICER DOWN, OR NIT PICK