Rescue Officers Research Articles

IDENTIFICATION OF K3 HAZARD RISK IN FIREFIGHTERS AT MEDAN CITY FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE

Firefighters are particularly vulnerable to several work-related illnesses and injuries, including toxic gas poisoning, burns, respiratory distress, and bodily injury. Therefore, an important first step in implementing successful prevention tactics is to identify possible K3 hazards precisely and accurately. To prevent industrial accidents that endanger workers due to hazards arising in the Medan City Fire and Rescue Department, the purpose of this study is to identify hazards and evaluate risks using the HIRA method analysis. The research was conducted using qualitative methodology. Three data collection methods were used: documentation, in-depth interviews, and observation. The informants in this study amounted to 4 people consisting of 2 key informants and 2 main informants. Based on the results of hazard identification and risk assessment, there are 19 accident risks spread across 5 activities in the Medan City Fire and Rescue Service. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that 10 potential hazards fall into the meaningful category, 4 potential hazards fall into the medium-risk category, 4 potential hazards fall into the low-risk category, and high-risk categories as many as 1 potential hazard. Based on these conclusions, suggestions were submitted to the Medan City Fire and Rescue Service to increase the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, helmets, heat-resistant shirts, and pants, and SCBA was an anticipation of the proposal submitted to the Medan City Fire and Rescue Service. Medan City Fire and Rescue Officers are also required to always comply with established work rules to reduce risks and avoid work accidents.

Pengaruh Mental Work Load dan Gejala Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Terhadap Kinerja Petugas Rescue di PT Freeport Indonesia

The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between mental workload and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms to the performance of PTFI rescue officers. The analysis includes descriptive analysis, bivariate analysis using Chi Square test, and Structural Equation Model (SEM) analysis using Partial Least Squares (PLS) program. The calculation of the data shows that PTFI rescue officers have a high overall mental workload perception, the prevalence of PTSD symptoms is 10.48%, and the overall average performance is appraised as meet expectations. The results of the SEM-PLS analysis shows that mental workload has a significant effect on performance (p-values 0.045 sig.5%) and PTSD symptoms have no effect on performance (p-values 0.885 sig.5%) but has a significant effect on mental workload (p-values 0.026 sig.5%). The Chi Square test shows a significant correlation between the predictor of assignment location with PTSD symptoms (p-values 0.019 sig.5%) and performance (p-values 0.032 sig.5%). The managerial implications then proposed to obtain healthy mental and optimal productivity of PTFI rescue officers, including handling PTSD symptoms, facilitating coping strategies, analyzing the influence of competence to mental workload, implement structured program to deal with traumatic events exposure, measuring the stress level, and measuring behavioral elements that support employees' perceptions as citizen of the organization. Keywords: mental workload, performance, PTSD symptoms, rescue officer

Risk perception of local stakeholders on natural hazards: implications for theory and practice

Abstract. In Romania, local stakeholders' knowledge plays a role in making decisions for emergencies, supporting rescue officers in natural hazard events, coordinating, and assisting the affected populations physically and psychologically. However, despite the increasing occurrence and severity of natural hazards in the Iași metropolitan area (of north-eastern Romania), there is a lack of knowledge of local stakeholders on how to encourage the population regarding safety actions. For this reason, we interviewed 118 local stakeholders to determine their risk awareness and preparedness capacities over a set of natural hazards, in order to understand where deficiencies in knowledge, action, and trust are greatest. Results reveal substantial distinctions between different threats and among stakeholders based on their cognitive and behavioural roles in the communities. The roles of responsibility and trust are important driving factors shaping their perception and preparedness. Preparedness levels are low, and, for many, learning and preparatory actions are needed to build resilience to the negative occurrences of natural hazards. As the stakeholders' role is to direct interventions in affected areas by managing communication initiatives with the entire population of the community, there is a need to create stakeholders' networks, empowering local actors and serving as a bridge between authorities' decisions and local people, making effective risk management plans, and securing more lives and economies.

Reliability and validity of a post-traumatic checklist-5 (PCL-5) among fire and rescue officers in Selangor, Malaysia

PurposeThis study is to establish the validity and reliability of Malay version of Post-traumatic Check List-5 (MPCL-5) among the fire and rescue officers in the state of Selangor, Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional study was conducted, which involved 100 firefighters from the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Construct validity, internal consistency, and concurrent validity were performed and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Concurrent validity was tested with validated Malay version of Trauma Screen Questionnaire (TSQ-M).FindingsOverall internal consistency reliability was a 0.960 and individual construct Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.827 to 0.926. The model, which consists of four constructs with 20 items, demonstrated the presence of acceptable loading factors. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) are 0.81, 0.65, 0.31 and 0.95 respectively at an optimum cut-off score of 35.Research limitations/implicationsThe Post Traumatic Check List 5 (PCL-5) is the latest tool based on DSM-5 developed recently and still having limited studies on the psychometric properties of the tool in local population and the findings produced are comparable with the results from validation from previous studies. The study limitations are population samples used are considering the minimum numbers of sample for each item for factor analysis and the concurrent validation was tested with the TSQ-M instead of the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5).Practical implicationsThe study suggested that MPCL-5 is acceptable to be used to measure post-traumatic stress disorder in local populations.Originality/valueThere are limited known validation studies for PCL-5 in local populations and this is the first study done among fire and rescue officers in Malaysia. The results are comparable with findings from previous studies and therefore MPCL-5 are valid and reliable for PTSD screening.

Penerima Sinyal Emergency Locator Transmitter dengan Metode Direct Receiver pada Frekuensi 121,5 MHz

To find out the location of an aircraft accident from an ELT signal beam of 121.5 MHz, search and rescue (SAR) officers or civil aviation authorities need an ELT signal receiver device that works at the same frequency, which is 121.5 MHz. The purpose of this research is to produce an ELT signal receiver with direct receiver method at a frequency of 121.5 MHz which is simpler, requires fewer RF devices, and is according to specifications for civil aviation. In this research, the design and realization of ELT signal receivers are carried out using the direct receiver method, including: a BPF and a RF amplifier as a direct receiver circuit, an AM demodulator, and an audio amplifier. Based on the results of measurements and tests that have been done, the direct receiver circuit can receive an ELT signal at a frequency of 121.5 MHz in the range of 121.330 to 121.617 MHz with -40.35 dB sensitivity, the AM demodulator can demodulate the audio signal at a frequency of 346.6 Hz, and the audio signal at a frequency of 337.6 Hz as a pointer to an ELT signal can be heard through the loudspeaker. The results of this study are ELT signal receivers with direct receiver method at a frequency of 121.5 MHz which are according to specifications for civil aviation.

Identifying values and preferences around the choice of analgesia for patients with acute trauma pain in emergency and prehospital settings: using group concept mapping methodology

ObjectivesThe main study aim was to examine the applicability of a novel method to assess the criterion of values and preferences within the Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation...

Design and Development of Forest Fire Detecting Drone

The proposed research work describes a novel fire detecting drone for forest fires. The fire detecting drone helps the fire rescue officers to detect the fire and navigate it. The normal drone is in general high cost and complicated to operate. The proposed drone designed and developed in this work is economical and simple in operation. The weight of the novel drone is also comparatively less than the normal drone. Thermal imaging camera detects the fire and transmits the data to the rescue officer. GPS module sent the exact location of the fired place to the officer. The viewing angle of normal drone camera is about 50°. But the proposed drone provides up to 170° wide angle. When the drone fly’s over the fired area, the camera streams the live situation of the fired to the smart phone through Wi-Fi. Then the location of the affected area is transmitted to the smart phone through GPS module. Then the drone drop CO2 bomb on the fire, which reduce the fire spreading. Then the rescue squad takes charge for the final fire extinguishing.

Unbalancing Pairing-Free Identity-Based Authenticated Key Exchange Protocols for Disaster Scenarios

In disaster scenarios, such as an area after a terrorist attack, security is a significant problem since communications involve information for the rescue officers, such as polices, militaries, emergency medical technicians, and the survivors. Such information is critically important for the rescue organizations; and protecting the privacy of the survivors is required. Normally, authenticated key exchange (AKE) is an underlying approach for security. However, available AKE protocols are either inconvenient or infeasible in disaster areas due to the very nature of disasters. To address the security problem in disaster scenarios, we propose two pairing-free identity-based AKE (ID-AKE) protocols that have unbalanced computational requirements on the two parties. Compared with existing AKE protocols, the proposed protocols have a number of advantages in disaster scenarios: 1) they are more convenient than symmetric cryptography-based AKE protocols since they do not require any preshared secret between the parties; 2) they are more feasible than asymmetric cryptography-based AKE protocols since they do not require any online server; and 3) they are more friendly to battery-powered and computationally limited devices than pairing-based and pairing-free ID-AKE protocols since they do not involve any bilinear pairing (a time-consuming operation), and have lower computational requirement on the limited party. Security of the proposed protocols are analyzed in detail; and prototypes of them are implemented to evaluate the performance. We also illustrate the application of the protocols through a vivid use case in a terrorist attack scenario.

The Role of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Optimizing Injury Management in Air Force Pararescuemen, Combat Rescue Officers, and Survival Specialists.

Operators perform physically demanding jobs associated with a variety of overuse and acute musculoskeletal injuries. The current management of musculoskeletal complaints in the Air Force includes plane radiographs and 6 weeks of physical therapy (PT) before consideration of orthopedic consultation and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); however, MRI shows a clear advantage compared with plane radiographs. We conducted a performance improvement project and conclude that (1) MRI allowed for definitive diagnosis as well as definitive triage for care in a timely manner, (2) guidelines for ordering lumbosacral MRIs should be followed and not ordered for pain that is not progressive and severe or not associated with a neurological finding, and (3) because of the risk of X-ray exposure in patients in their 20 and 30s, X-rays should be avoided in this setting unless definitely indicated.

Особенности взаимосвязи готовности к риску и психологического благополучия у будущих офицеров-спасателей

Рассмотрены качества и свойства личности, оказывающие влияние на готовность и склонность к риску, а также психологические особенности будущего офицера-спасателя, с которыми связаны готовность и склонность к риску. Приводится описание различия понятий «готовность к риску» и «склонность к риску» относительно их применения к профессиональной деятельности спасателя. Описываются результаты изучения взаимосвязи готовности к риску и психологического благополучия у курсантов-спасателей, которые показали наличие положительной взаимосвязи между большинством факторов психологического благополучия и готовностью к риску. Описаны особенности взаимосвязи готовности к риску и показателей психологического благополучия у будущих офицеров-спасателей.

Depression as a Predictor of Pain and Physical Role Limitation in Military Personnel

ABSTRACTMilitary personnel frequently report various physical and psychological complaints including somatic symptoms, bodily pain, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and physical role limitation. This study aimed to identify how psychological symptoms, somatic complaints, and physical role limitations are associated with each other in a sample of 207 male Air Force pararescue personnel and combat rescue officers. Results of a moderated mediation model indicated that the interaction of depression and somatic symptoms was associated with significantly more severe pain, which was, in turn, associated with greater physical role limitations. Pathways from posttraumatic stress disorder and the depression-by-somatic symptoms interaction to physical role limitation were both fully mediated by bodily pain. These findings (a) highlight the importance of assessing physical and psychological symptoms when individuals report impaired physical role limitation and (b) help to clarify the complex interplay of emotional and physical health conditions among elite military personnel.

Ensuring Reliable Communication in Disaster Recovery Operations with Reliable Routing Technique

The purpose of this research paper is to ensure reliable and continuous communication between the rescue officers and other people during disaster recovery and reconstruction operations. Most of the communication infrastructure gets damaged during the disaster and proper communication cannot be established in the area which leads to longer delays in emergency operations and increased damage to life and property. Various methods proposed to enable communication between the people using wireless ad hoc networks do not guarantee reliable delivery of data with fast moving devices. This paper presents a Reliable Routing Technique (RRT) that ensures reliable data delivery at the destination device even when the people with the mobile devices are moving in the network. We make use of the broadcasting property of the wireless network and create a priority list of probable forwarding candidates at each device. With this technique, RRT ensures that if a forwarder device is unable to forward the data packet due to movement of mobile devices, the next priority candidate forwards the data packet to the destination device, thus ensuring reliability of data delivery in the network. Simulation results show that RRT achieves significant performance improvement with better data delivery in ad hoc networks.

Associations Among Back and Extremity Pain With Alcohol, Tobacco, and Caffeine Use Among US Air Force Pararescuemen.

Caffeine, tobacco, and alcohol are the most widely used substances globally, but the majority of research on the associations among legal substance use and physical health has focused on the general population, not elite military personnel. The purpose of the current study was to describe patterns of tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine use and to examine the relationship of legal substance use with self-reported physical health complaints among US Air Force Pararescuemen (PJs) and Combat Rescue Officers (CROs). Participants were 196 US PJs and CROs. Participants completed self-report measures of legal drug use and somatic symptoms. Generalized linear modeling with robust maximum likelihood estimation was used for multivariate regression analyses. Chi-square analyses were conducted for univariate comparisons of categorical variables. Reported rates of tobacco use (28.2%), alcohol consumption (83.2%), and regular caffeine consumption (88.8%) were similar to the general population. Daily caffeine intake was significantly higher among participants reporting they were bothered a lot by back pain [Wald χ2(2)=11.39; ρ=.003] and extremity pain [Wald χ2(2)=11.39; ρ=.003], even when controlling for age and deployment history. Participants with severe extremity pain also reported drinking approximately twice as many alcoholic beverages per week (mean, 5.46; standard error [SE], 0.91) than participants who were bothered a little (mean, 2.88; SE, 0.54) or not bothered at all (mean, 2.88; SE, 0.52) by extremity pain. Back and extremity pain is associated with greater caffeine and alcohol consumption among PJs.

A Method for Estimating the Efficiency of Commanding in the State Fire Service of Poland

A rough method for estimating commanding efficiency of Fire&Rescue officers is presented in the article. The idea is to evaluate the officers in charge and their actions based on the information collected in the incident data reporting system. The criteria for the commanding evaluation is the distribution of durations of the actions conducted by consecutive commanders.

A motion-aware approach for efficient evaluation of continuous queries on 3D object databases

With recent advances in mobile computing technologies, mobile devices can render 3D objects realistically. Users of these devices such as tourists, mixed-reality gamers, and rescue officers, often need real-time retrieval of 3D objects over wireless networks. Due to bandwidth and latency restrictions in mobile settings, efficient continuous retrieval of 3D objects is a major challenge. In this paper, we present a motion-aware approach to this problem in a client-server model. Specifically, we propose: (i) representing 3D objects in multiple resolutions through wavelets to facilitate motion-aware incremental retrieval, (ii) motion-aware buffer management schemes for both client and server, (iii) an efficient index structure for 3D objects represented by wavelets, and (iv) techniques for processing group queries exploiting group motion behavior of clients. The results of our extensive experimental study demonstrate the effectiveness of our solution.

Governing the sea rescue service in Sweden: communicating in networks

This paper discusses how various actors communicate about and coordinate sea rescue activities in networks. We combine a network approach with theories of inter‐organization communication to understand how communication can facilitate or limit coordination in networks. Search and rescue officers retain the overall authority to direct rescue missions, and coordination with several other professions is central to this. When coordinating different professional actors in a network it is important to develop trust, legitimacy, and a shared and uniform understanding of the situation and of how to act. Communication deficiencies often result from the fact that involved actors belong to different organizations with different cultures or representing different professions. The greatest gap we found was between those working and not working at sea, and between those habitually or seldom involved in rescue activities. Communication comprises more than simply exchanging information; it also entails the forging of relationships, to facilitate future coordination and cooperation and to develop mutual trust and understanding. In any rescue operation it is important that the actors interpret communication in the same way and act according to a shared pattern. Joint training and follow‐up are important conditions for continuous learning and development in this regard.

Practical training as a means of reflecting on practice: an evaluation of a vocational and education and training programme for rescue officers

AbstractIn a revision of a vocational and education and training (VET) programme for rescue officers, practical training in the rescue company was supplemented with periods of training in hospital wards. The purposes of this were to teach the rescue officers basic nursing and to qualify them to inform the patients in the ambulances about the procedures at the hospital. An evaluation of the revised programme showed that these two purposes were fulfilled. However, the trainees also described another kind of outcome, which could be called awareness of own practice. The practical training in the hospital seems to provide a profitable space for reflection. In this article, the trainees’ learning from their practical training in the hospitals is investigated in order to explain why the hospital succeeds as a space for reflection.