NIH Fire Dept.

[jab16]

I was crusing the internet and i found out about the NIH or the NATIONAL INSTUTE OF HEALTH fire department. They are basically the goverments first responders i just find it really intresting never heard of them until now. I would like to hear what others think

http://www.powerhouse51.com/index.php

[MCERT1]

I like the NIH department but I prefer the NIST apparatus. Essential they're a run of the mill industrial or private fire brigade. And at the NIH complex in Bethesda and the complex for the NIST you have a lot of labs and chemicals...Very important to keep equipment and trained staff close at hand, note all the hazmat equipment they have.

There are other federal complexes that keep similar departments, even some military (USCG and Navy), but those aren't linked to specific agencies instead they are generalized as federal fire companies. I think they all are technically under the Department of Transportation though.

For example:

USCG Cape May, NJ

and if you search on flickr there are photos of NIST and other federal fire rigs along with military ones.

[jab16]

yeah but there station seems kind of small with what 6 units a 300 something campus seems kind of understaffed espically when they do traning execrises and so on. Personally i think they need another smaller station

[MCERT1]

The thing is a private fire brigade really only needs to begin suppression of a fire, to buy time for other departments to arrive. For example Defense Supply Center Columbus has one engine, a tower, a command unit, a medic, and a decon trailer. The facility is a major hub for all military supplies, vehicles, and ordinance. They wouldn't be able to fight a large fire by themselves, only buy time till local departments can provide them with assistance.

[jab16]

oh ok that makes sense so i assume you have to have either firefigting experence and go throught advanced traning to work there due to the risk of cearton types of events.

Also so basically the dept is like Shell Gas Companys oil refinery fire dept.

also look at this

Mar 165 88 34

165 fire calls 88 ems calls and 34 hazmat calls

[MCERT1]

The department as a full paid staff assigned only to the fire department unlike most refineries and power plants I know. They're also responsible for building inspections and education classes for the other workers.

As for that call number, they will also respond to accidents in the outside community, and are worked into mutual aid plans. Also they basically protect a giant lab filled with tons of flammable and toxic things, so I figure that also helps generate that call number. Remember too that false alarms, are also in that tally.

[res4cue]

http://www.thebattalion.tv/webisodes/eastcoast/nihfd

Pretty interesting, but not a place id like to work .

[MCERT1]

http://www.thebattalion.tv/webisodes/eastcoast/nihfd

Pretty interesting, but not a place id like to work .

Intresting disaster drill, a little half hearted though. The Navy crew getting blasted when they pulled up was interesting, and a good lesson too. It's interesting to see how federal centered the incident was, only the Mass Casualty Bus and Command post were non-federal units.

[Xplorer4x4]

In the drill i noticed the BC SUV had some big thing that slid out of the rear. It was on rails, kind of like how a coffin slides into a hearse. What was that?

[MCERT1]

Can't tell for sure, probably just communication equipment.

[Xplorer4x4]

They already have hand helds and cb radios in there vehicles, why the need for more communication? Espicaly something that big.

[jab16]

well since they deal with biological things i assume it is special weather stuff as well as air, water, testing materials, and info that they would only need case of somthing biological

[MikesPhotos]

In the drill i noticed the BC SUV had some big thing that slid out of the rear. It was on rails, kind of like how a coffin slides into a hearse. What was that?

They already have hand helds and cb radios in there vehicles, why the need for more communication? Espicaly something that big.

All Fire Chief SUV's have custom built cabinetry in the back that includes maps, radios, white boards, forms, and a whole mess of gear, books, equipment, and yes, even telephones and fax machines for some of them! Everything you need to run an incident, plus the chiefs own personal protective gear is shoved in the back of that suv. Having watched the film, the NIH dept has chosen to go with a custom built slide out cabinet that is pretty popular. That allows you to access gear from all three sides, and more room for more members of the incident to function in a single spot. Remember, at a large incident you'll have the Incident Commander, Operations Chief, medical unit leader, law enforcement agency rep, and usually reps from other agencies as well.

And it's handheld and MOBILE radios, cb radios are citizens band, i think we've had that discussion before.. ah yes, here it is.

CB is a very specific name for a very specific thing. Citizens Band radio used to be a big thing in the 60's and 70's long before the advent of portable cell phones and roadside call boxes in many states. It was a low power (when used legally) non-licensed radio system that any one could use without having to take any tests or licensing procedures with minimal rules by the FCC. It's frequencies were in the 27mhz range and required a long whip antenna. Police, Fire and EMS agencies utilize completely different, and much more advanced, radio systems. Utilizing such technology as repeaters, trunking, digital systems, cross band patches, and other technology, they can be found in the VHF-Lo band (42mhz), VHF-Hi (150mhz), UHF-T band (470-507mhz), or 800mhz regions. Soon the FCC will be consolidating all Public Safety radio systems into the new digital 700mhz spectrum, but that is still pretty far off.

With many departments, you'll have multiple radios in multiple bands so they can communicate with other agencies (for example LACoFD is on 470mhz for Command channels, and 154mhz for tactical/fireground channels, and LAFD is on 800mhz for their traffic, and Burbank, Glendale and others are on a special trunked system) as well as monitor the incident traffic going on. A major structure fire in LA will be assigned a Command frequency, one or more tactical frequencies, and additional frequencies as needed for staging, RIC (rapid intervention company), and medical unit. So many radios, so many chiefs, so many people trying to keep everything straight and figure out who goes where and does what and when.

Thats why you get many scenes like this:

With a pull out, it allows people to gather around on all 3 sides instead of bunching up.