In this new era of IRMP, all Fire authorities have the best opportunity yet of making huge steps to ensure the safety of crews and enhance our reputation as a professional service in relation to guidelines than we have ever had since their inception.
ANDERSON is right in his points about the problems with guidelines, but we have the chance to overcome these problems with solutions that will make it easier for the OIC to decide whether to use them or not.
A very senior officer within my brigade once told me of an incident he attended which involved a ship which was converted to a night club.
When he arrived the ship was heavily smoke-logged, and BA teams were already commited to the ship to find the fire.
He asked the initial OIC if he considered using Guidelines on the ship, and the OIC said that, in hindsight, he probably should have, but he had no faith in the guidelines, and that is why he never used them.
I confess that given the same circumstances, I would probably have made the same decision as the OIC, but more importantly, the Senior Officer, who had more knowledge of procedure than any one I know, agreed with his decision, although I am certain that he was aware of the bigger picture.
The point I am making is that we are all aware of the problems with guidelines, and that is why we should try and overcome these problems, and why people like ANDERSON, MSHAW, FIREFRTM and others should be applauded for giving open and honest opinions.
This posting has been of great benefit to myself, and hopefully will be of benefit to others, and I thank every one who has participated in this discussion.