- AED:Automatic External Defibrillator. Used to "jump start" someone's heart when they do not have a pulse. A patient's best chance of survival if used quickly in the event of sudden cardiac arrest outside of the hospital.
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- Advanced Life Support (ALS): The highest level of pre-hospital emergency medical care provided on an ambulance. Paramedics are trained to provide life-saving drugs and therapy to victims of overdoses, cardiac, respiratory, and trauma emergencies.
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- Ambulance: The ambulance brings emergency medical care directly to someone who is sick or injured in the field. Paramedics and EMS personel are trained to provide treatment and stabilize the patient until they can be delievered to the hospital.
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- Basic Life Support (BLS): The most basic level of Emergency Medical Technician. Anyone who wishes to work on an ambulance must be certified at this level or higher.
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- Boots: Boots keep a firefighter's feet dry as well as protect them from other dangers. The boots have steel reinforced toes and soles to protect the firefighter if something were to fall on their feet or if they step on something sharp.
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- Box Alarm: Any building fire or report of building fire. A Box Alarm will re-call all off duty personell as well as our call force.
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- Emergency Medical Services (EMS): Pre-hospital medical care provided by our ambulances. This can also reffer to care provided by one of our fire engines while waiting for an ambulance to arrive on scene.
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- Emergency Medical Technician (EMT): EMTs are certified by the Commonwealth to provide emergency medical care to the sick or injured in the hout-of-hospital setting. There are three separate levels of EMT, each requiring specific training and continuing education.
- EMT-Basic: These EMTs provide basic first aid to the sick an injured. They are trained in monitoring vital signs, splinting and bandaging wounds, CPR, and recognizing the need for more advanced care. The education for this level generally consists of one semester.
- EMT-Intermediate: "Intermediates" for short, these EMTs are able to provide IV (intravenous) fluid therapy to patients who are dehydrated or have suffered significant fluid loss through trauma. They are also trained in the placement and maintenance of advanced airways (such as intubation) for patients who are no longer able to breath on their own. These skills are in addition to the skills of a Basic and include an additional semester of schooling. Hundreds of hours are also spent practicing their skills in the Emergency Room and Operating Room before being allowed to work in the field.
- EMT-Paramedic: Often referred to as "Medics," these EMTs receive the highest level of pre-hospital education. Aside from providing the care of both Basics and Intermediates, Medics are able to perform cardiac monitoring and 12-Lead EKG interpretation. They practice Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) that is identical to the care provided in the Emergency Room. In fact, they take the same classes as doctors and carry an arsenal of medications that resembles that of an emergency room.
Medics also focus on advanced airways such as Intubation, Tracheotomy, and Needle Cricothyrotomy which can be used to secure an airway on a hopelessly blocked airway. Advanced Trauma Life Support, Advanced Pediatric Life Support, and Recognition and Correction of Tension Pneumothorax are among the other things that Paramedics are trained in.
Paramedics generally spend an additional two years in training as well as fulfilling annual continuing education requirements throughout their career. During their schooling, hundreds of hours are spent in almost every department of the hospital. The Operating Room, Emergency Room, ICU, Psychiatric Ward, Pediatric Ward, and O.B. Floor are some of the places they spend time in. Numerous skills are required while in the hospital, including taking part in at least three deliveries on the O.B. floor. They take many of the same classes as Emergency Room doctors and can oten be found teaching those classes to doctors.
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- Entrapment: Entrapment refers to someone who is physically stuck in a car, piece of machinery, building collapse, etc. Use of the word entrapment generally means that heavy equipment, such as the "Jaws of Life," is needed to free the victim.
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- Extrication: The process of freeing a victim who is entrapped.
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- Facepiece: The mask that connects to the S.C.B.A. (air tank) that a firefighter wears on thier back.
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- GPM: Gallons per minute. Used to express how much water a pump can move in one minute.
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- Halligan: This is a very versatile multi-purpose tool used for forcible entry. It has different parts that dan be used to pry, pierce, bend, break, etc. It can also be used with a variety of other hand tools for different purposes.
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- Helmet: Protects our heads from falling debris, water, heat, and other dangers. The helmet has been developed over years of experience to protect from the specific dangers faced by firefighters.
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- Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT): Chemicals, gasses, or other material that pose an immediate threat to the public or environment. Generally, these materials require specialized training and equipment to control. These types of emergencies often arise after an industrial accident, vehicle accident, or other accidental release of a chemical.
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- Jaws of Life: The "Jaws of Life" are really made up of two different tools used to free an entrapped victim from whatever they are tangled in (usually a car after an accident).
- Cutters are used like a large pair of scissors to cut away at the metal or heavy plastic around the victim.
- Spreaders are used to force pieces of metal away from each other, pinch the metal, force open doors, and a variety of other things.
Some brands are capable of doing both jobs while others require two separate tools. There are advantages and dissadvangates to both.
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- MCI: Mass Casualty Incident. Any incident that produces more patients than our EMS system is able to handle. Examples might include an accident involving a bus or a fire in a crowded building.
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- MDA: Muscular Distrophy Association.
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- Mutual Aid: Response to another town at the request of their Fire Department due to a large event or the need for specialized rescue, containment, etc.
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- MVA: Motor Vehicle Accident.
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- Nozzle: The nozzle on the end of the hose helps to regulate what type of pattern the water is sprayed in (wide fog pattern or narrow straight stream). Different patters or combinations are used in different conditions. The nozzle also helps to regulate the amount of water being used. Some of our nozzles can automatically adjust themselves based on the amount of water and pressure available.
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- Personal Alert Safety System (PASS Device): A PASS device is worn whenever we enter into a dangerous environment. It monitors our movement and will sound an audible alarm if we stop moving. It can also be activated by the firefighter if they are in trouble. There are different models. Ours works directly with our SCBA and also keeps track of how much air we have used and how much time we have left.
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- SCBA: Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus. This is the air tank and mask that a firefighter wears when they are entering a fire or a situation where the air is not safe to breath.
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- Station Coverage: There are two types of station coverage.
- 1: If there there are many calls at the same time, people who are off duty might be called to return to work in case there are any more calls.
- 2: In the event of a large fire, when we send all of our on-duty firefighters and all of our off-duty firefighters to the scene, other towns may then be called in to staff our stations and protect the town from any further emergencies. We may return the favor in the event of a fire in their town.
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- Still Alarm: A still alarm is the term used for a "routine" fire call. Still alarms can generally be handled by the crew that is on duty (unlike a box alarm which calls back everyone who is off duty). Still alarms include a smoke detector going off, an illegal outside fire, a car fire, or a carbon monoxide alarm, car accidents, etc.
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- Task Force: "A temporary grouping of ... units or forces ... for the performance of a specific operation or assignment. (Dictionary.com)" Pre-determined towns and equipment are arranged by county for quick activation in the event of an event that is too large for one town and its immediate neighbors to handle.
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- Thermal Imager: Infrared camera used to detect people who are hidden by smoke or debris. The thermal imager is also able to detect hidden heat sources such as fire that might be hidden behind a wall.
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- Widget: According to (Dictionary.com), a widget is "an unnamed or hypothetical manufactured article."
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