Incident Report
Subject: Fire-fighter Competence - Snake Charmer!!! Date of Email report: Wed 23/07/2008 Report Detail: Here is a very interesting and quite different angle on determining what competence levels are required by fire-fighters. In some regions of the world the diversity of a fire-fighters duties make hose handling seem quite tame!!! Have you risk assessed all your fire-fighter duties and activities? Are your fire-fighters in possession of the right skills and attributes to conduct these operations safely? Additional Documentation: SNAKE COURSES General info sheet RESPONSE: As the Asst. Chief of Training for Changpuak Fire Dept. in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I would like to thank you for passing along the information on snake handling. As the only Fareng (Thai for foreigner) in the Thai Fire Service I was dismayed by the actions of my firefighters at the first brush fire I attend with them. I told them that they were using the Brush Beaters improperly. I said, "No, you are suppose to use them to beat out the flames, not beat the brush where there is no fire." They looked at me funny and then my Chief (Thai) explained to me that was the proper procedure for them. "They are beating the brush to chase the Cobras out of their path that are fleeing the fire towards them." Know the hazards of your location!
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