Aviation Fire & Rescue Services - Example

Name Tutor Aviation Fire & Rescue Services Course Institution Date Introduction Aviation fire and rescue service offers fire fighting and aviation rescue services. The major roles of a n aviation fire and rescue service is to protect property and rescue people when an aircraft catches fire of crashes during a take-off or landing and to extinguish and control fire as well as protecting property and people on the general airport. As a result of the mass victim probable of the aviation tragedy, the rate at which emergency response personnel and equipment reach at the site of the tragedy is of great importance. The arrival and primary mission to protect an aircraft against hazards, especially fire, raises the survivability of crew and passengers on board. Fire fighting personnel at the airport are adequately trained on the utilization of fire fighting foams, clean agents and chemical utilized to put out fire. This report looks at how an aviation fire and rescue service can be incorporated into the local fire and rescue service, how the international standards and recommendations used by aviation fire and rescue service relate to fire safety and the effectiveness of training and personal development of personnel within the aviation sector. How the international standards and recommendations used by aviation fire and rescue services relate to fire safety The international civil aviation organization is a body responsible for amassing and distributing information concerning recommended practices and standards. It issues global standards and recommended practices for the civil aviation. The principal goal of the Aerodrome rescue and fire fighting service is to save people’s lives while the secondary purpose is to safeguard property from total destruction or damage as a result of fire. The international civil aviation organization (ICAO) describes the requirements of aerodrome rescue and fire fighting service (RFFS) in annex one chapter fourteen of aerodrome design and operations. The annex have recommended practices and standards espoused by the council under stipulations of the Convention. According to stipulations of annex one, nations are needed to offer fire fighting and rescue services and equipments at the airport. The purpose of the standards and Recommended Practices in document 9137 of the International civil aviation organization airport service manual, section one, rescue and fire fighting is to help nations in the implementing the requirements of annex fourteen and therefore assist to ensure their standardized application. The ICAO reviews its standards and recommended practices through its fire fighting working group (ICAO, 1999). The requirements of the United Kingdom civil aviation authority connected to certified aerodrome are enclosed in the civil aviation publication 168 under certification of aerodromes. Particularly, chapter eight describes the United Kingdom rescue and fire fighting services requirements whilst chapter nine describes the requirements of emergency planning based on ICAO standards and recommended practices. Chapter eight establishes the minimum requisites to be achieved in the prerequisite of rescue and fire fighting at the licensed aerodromes of United Kingdom. The facilities needed by chapter nine have been evaluated as being the lowest essential for flight needed by air navigation order to utilize a certified aerodrome. Regulation is also offered on equipment, personnel, extinguishing agents, emergency procedures and training. Condition two in public utilization and ordinary aerodromes certifications makes it compulsory for licence holders to offer a least amount of rescue and fire fighting service suitable to their aerodrome as written in chapter eight civil aviation publication 168 (CAA, 2001). According to CAA (2001), Chapter nine of the United Kingdom civil aviation authority establishes the explicit requirements to make sure that the emergency plan of an aerodrome is set up at an aerodrome, matches with aircraft operations and other aerodrome’s activities. The plan is aimed at offering coordination of actions to be undertaken in a crisis happening at an aerodrome or in vicinity. Competence and training of rescue and fire fighting services staff is a significant aspect of the requirements of the civil aviation authority and in accord to the requirements established in standards for competency of rescue and fire fighting service staff employed at United Kingdom licensed aerodromes, the holder of a license is responsible for original selection and constant evaluation of the competency of workers engaged in the operational rescue and fire fighting service duties. All rescue and fire fighting personnel are required to be trained in order to undertake their work in an efficient and effective way and training facilities need to be proportionate to the size and type of aircraft being used at an aerodrome (CAA, 2001). Effectiveness of training and personal development and personnel within the aviation sector Training and personal development of fire and safety personnel within an aviation organization is very important in rescue and fire fighting service. ICAO annex fourteen directs that every fire fighting and rescue personnel should be appropriately trained to undertake their jobs in an effective way and should take part in live fire drills that matches with the forms of aircraft and form of fire fighting and recue equipment in utilization at the aerodrome. The role of firefighters is ever transforming. Firefighting is solely one crucial portion of the service offered. Firefighters also respond to road traffic collisions, rail and air crashes, animal rescues, chemical accidents and several unique service calls involved with community safety. In addition a greater prominence is placed upon safety and minimization of avoidable damages in local communities. Firefighters are also involved in offering support and advice to the public on safety issues, including communal fire safety initiatives, station routines and training and development (IFSTA, 2008). Fire fighting and rescue services conducts rescues, mitigates fires, handles perilous incidents and materials and responds to other forms of emergencies that threatens property loss, environmental protection and life safety. These tragedy responses are performed by trained workers on specialized rescue or fire fighting apparatus that deliver foam, water, rescue tools or ladders to the scene of the incident. According to IFSTA, (2008), life safety and public fire educational programs are or great importance in personnel within an aviation organization who want to become part of the fire rescue and safety service. Through offering life safety and public fire educational programs to the airport personnel along with training in rescue and evacuation procedures and use of fire extinguishers will make the aviation personnel to be highly effective in fire rescue an improve fire safety. These programs might entail workplace evacuation processes, how to utilize extension cord, ways of reporting a fire and use of fire detection and suppression systems. Fire detection and suppression system such as fire alarm system and fire sprinklers are installed in structures and buildings to ensure early detection of a fire and the activation of fire repression systems to extinguish or control fire. These systems are also useful in notifying residents to evacuate the region. According to IFSTA (2008), training on fire extinguisher can be offered on a regular basis and personnel who work in hazardous regions are trained on identification of extinguisher, appropriate use of the extinguisher as well as fire fighting techniques. Fires in structures, parking lots or buildings within an airport property are examined by trained personnel, who try to identify the cause and origin of a fire. They usually help in identifying whether the fire is arson-related or accidental. Training on emergency medical services is also important to the fire and safety personnel within an aviation organization. Emergency services offer medical services for tenants and visitors of an airport along with the surrounding region. These services entail advanced and basic life support and special operations within mass casualty events, hazardous materials and other technological operations in requirement of medical aid (IFSTA, 2008). The central emphasis in tackling hazardous materials is personal protection and rescue. Proper identification of hazardous products and preparation of personnel in conducting mitigation operations within a suitable level of protective clothing is of great emphasis in training. Since the transport and storage of hazardous products entails both aircraft and structures, a good understanding of aircraft and structures is supreme in handling these forms of emergencies securely. IFSTA (2008) argues that training goals entail ongoing education for re-certification of the fire departmental staff and civic education in basic life support. Mass casualty events are a key concern of the fire department and the airport. Fire department personnel constantly trained to maintain a great level of preparedness to be capable to handle casualties. During emergencies, care is offered where rapid evaluations of patients are performed followed by transport and treatment operations. The fire and rescue service also relies on local people for communal assistance in these incidents. Training is responsible for the development, design and delivery of training entailing every aspect of fire fighting operation such as structural fire fighting, aircraft rescue and hazardous material operations. Before getting into a rescue and fire fighting service, personnel working within an aviation organization are supposed to get training on specialized equipments they require to undertake their jobs. Beginning with protective clothing, fire fighters demonstrate and understand how to use personal protective tools to offer the utmost level of safety. It is of equal importance to learn the way a fire behaves so as to forecast situations that might already be highly risky or have the probability to be threatening to life. Training of fire and safety personnel within an aviation organization to respond to the structural fires involves information on establishment of a water supply, apparatus placement, relay operations, fire pump operations and multi line pumping. Training of fire officer is of great emphasis during this training phase, along with aircraft stage of training , to make sure that both decision making and leadership are tested (IFSTA, 2006). The performance assessment used by the aviation fire and rescue service and how it links into IDPS The United Kingdom civil aviation authority has been reviewing the sufficiency of the present compulsory certification and training requirements enclosed in the civil aviation publication 168. The review has stemmed from recognition in the United Kingdom and globally, via the international civil aviation organization fire fighting and rescue study group, of the advantages that an aviation rescue and fire fighting service have on basing training of fire service on competence. The UK civil aviation authority has established that a scheme more suitable to the requirements of the duty is appropriate , and has created a series of standards for competency of rescue and fire fighting service staff, entailing an effective, structured and flexible schemes of assessment. Aerodrome management must possess a written policy, which recognizes that training for proficiency is a vital portion of its strategy (CAA, 2008). This policy must be compliant with the requirements of the regulator and must concede that the primary goal of training for competency is the development and the utilization of training and evaluation schemes that contribute to effective service delivery whilst reducing or eradicating risk to the fire and rescue service, its equipment and staff, the environment and the community in the territories it serves CAA (2008) notes that training for competency isn’t a replacement of the present training practices but it is a scheme through which training is described on basis of results can be delivered in a supply but firmly regulated quality assured atmosphere. The present method of training are certificated and agreed by the civil aviation authority and aerodrome licenses have to meet the nationally acknowledged standards for training and civil aviation publication 699 that provider more flexibility where its delivered. Shared training facilities will benefit the fire and rescue service staff because training for competency is a fundamental portion of the safe individual notion. When applied by both the aviation fire and rescue service and the parent fire and rescue service will enhance both to display that they can competently and consistently undertake their duties. According to O’Sullivan (2005), training for competency offers a framework that provides a systematic scheme of organizing and managing the delivery, evaluation and development of all training offered by fire and rescue services and an objective evaluation procedure that may be utilized in measuring constantly the acquisition of attitude, skills, understanding and knowledge attained by teams and individuals. Training for competency also offers a framework that provides an objective evaluation procedure that may be utilized to gauge continuously and consistently, the application of the knowledge, attitude, understanding and skills by teams and individuals in workplace. Firefighting staff need training in order to work in an efficient and effective way. Every personnel engaged in rescue and fire fighting service duties should get initial and regular competency based training within their role. A key portion of integrated personal development systems (IDPS) is the way it supports the objective of the fire and rescue service of making local communities safer. Fire and rescue authorities are consistently planning to minimize risks within communities and a part of this is ensuring that the fire fighting personnel posses the latest knowledge and skills to contribute to the safety of the public. The training offered at aviation rescue and fire fighting service is in line with IDPS because it indentifies the particular training and development strategies needed to develop and sustain a competent labor force. It also offers frameworks to support personnel develop the knowledge and skills needed to deliver rescue and fire fighting services. A training requirements analysis identifies the underpinning understanding and knowledge as well as the practical skills needed to undertake the duties required of rescue and fire fighting service personnel in connection to the role (O’Sullivan, 2005). An overview of the storage, use and transport arrangements for fuels within the curtilage of the airport and risks that would be involved if an incident occurred Airport operations include the handling and storage of fuels such as gasoline, jet fuel and diesel mainly connected with aircraft fuelling operations along with the ground support vehicles. Fuels are usually stored in underground or aboveground storage tanks and transported to dispensing sites through underground or aboveground piping system that might be subject to unintentional discharge during leaks or transfer as a result of piping or tank containment failure such as corrosion of the steel constituents or defective installation and construction. Fuelling might also be conducted via the utilization of fuelling tanker motor vehicles. The utilization of fire repression powders and foams and liquid flammable materials within the fire fighting drills might also lead to discharges to water sources and soil (ICAO, 2002). The use, storage and transport of fuels within the cartilage of an airport are a great fire risk. These fuels act as catalysts in a fire incident to speed up the spread of a n accidental fire. ICAO (2002) note that all powered aircraft hold significant amounts of different forms of fuels. The fuels used in aircraft are highly inflammable and burn at very high temperature. They are also poisonous to humans and caustic to equipments. If there is leaking fuel during a fire incident, sparks will be ignited and heat increased resulting to ignition of the fuel and the subsequent increase in the intensity of the fire. If there is no leaking, great care must be taking to prevent the damage of fuel tank sites that could result to ignition or fuel release. Hazardous materials must be managed to avoid accidental discharges, explosions or fires Operators must create spill prevention as well as control plans and emergency response and preparedness plans for the airport that are explicit to the nature of operations. Airport operators should also include ecological impacts, monitoring and mitigation as a portion of contractual deals with third parties like ground service and fuel handling companies. ICAO (2002) notes that fire training must be conducted on impervious surfaces bordered by a preservation dyke so as to prevent powder and foam along with other ecologically perilous fire extinguishing substances from being released into the environment. Majority of fluids that are contained in aircraft are corrosive or toxic in nature and burning of these substances can increase the peril of exposure to the fire fighters. Response personnel are thus required to make themselves familiar with the properties of the common oils, fuels, acids and hydraulic fluids present in a usual aircraft and understand the risks connected with these materials. Conclusion The incorporation of the aviation rescue and fire fighting service into the local fire and rescue service will ensure safety of local communities. The aviation rescue and fire fighting service will use the international standards and recommended practices to offer fire fighting and rescue services and equipments at the airport and in other regions. Training and personal development of personnel in the aviation sector will be useful in equipping the firefighters with the knowledge, skills, understanding and attitude required in the fire fighting procedures and fire safety. Training for competency will ensure that both the aviation fire and rescue service personnel and the parent fire and rescue service personnel will deliver services effectively and reduce fire risks in the local communities. Bibliography ICAO, 2002, Airport Planning Manual, Part2- Land use and environmental control (ICAO Document 9184), ICAO, Montreal. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), 2008, Standards for the competence of rescue and fire fighting service personnel, Civil Aviation Authority, UK. O’Sullivan, J, 2005, The future of airport rescue fire fighting services. Journal of aviation management, 88-109. CAA, 2001, Licensing of Aerodromes. CAP 168, Civil Aviation Authority, London. Braithwaite, G, 2001, Aviation rescue and fire fighting in Australia-Is it protecting the Customer? Journal of air transport management, 7(2), 111-118. ICAO , 1999, Airport services manual, part 1 rescue and fire fighting, 3rd edition , international civil aviation organization, Montreal. International fire service training association (IFSTA), 2006, Aircraft rescue and fire fighting, 4th Edition, Intl Fire Service Training Assn, New York. IFSTA, 2008, Essentials of fire fighting and fire department operations, 5th Edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Read More