SCBA Potential Solutions

It is evident from the given situation that there were a number of grave problems. For example, the main problem was that a SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus) cylinder exploded, severely injuring the firefighter. Because of this, there was a chance that additional firefighters could suffer severe injuries or even pass away as a result of a mishap of this nature. The SCBA cylinder’s improper marking made it difficult to tell whether it was a 2216-psi or 3000-psi cylinder, which was the other significant problem. As a consequence; SCBA cylinder was overblown in excess of its capacity. In addition to this, another issue was that the firefighter who had filled the SCBA cylinder earlier was not aware that the spurt disc had burst after blowing up the cylinder.

Potential Solutions:

There are numerous potential solutions that the department can use to reduce the chances of these types of incidents. For case, the division must have SOPs (Standard Operation Procedures) or SOGs (Standard Operating Guidelines) in place in order to put off incidents from going on again. For case, SOPs refers as a procedure that is useful to describe the events those are needed to complete tasks in reference to industry protocols, provincial regulations or standards to run businesses in a proper way (Zimmerman, 2013). Moreover, SOGs refers as guidelines those are essential to follow these procedures in an effective way. On the other hand, the department must follow a proper labeling of SCBA cylinders; so they can identify SCBA cylinders in proper way. In addition, the department must give strict guidelines to the firefighters that if they know that there is some problem in a cylinder then they should place the cylinder out of service until it is repaired or replaced through a qualified contractor.

Recommendations:

There are numerous recommendations those may be helpful for the department. For case, first of all, the department should have standard operation procedures or standard operating guidelines to reduce these incidents. Moreover, there should be proper labeling of the SCBA cylinders to make sure that 2216 psi cylinders as well as 3000 psi cylinder do not look identical (Zimmerman, 2013). In addition to this, the damaged cylinder should be out of the premises to protect and to prevent these incidents. In this way, the department can reduce the chances of these types of occurrences.

References

Zimmerman, D. (2013). Fire Fighter Safety and Survival. USA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.