All Hull Fire Department members are trained as Paramedics or Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT). During a medical emergency minutes, in fact seconds count! The response of the closest fire engine to your emergency brings trained firefighter/EMT's to your home or office within minutes. Emergency life saving equipment such as oxygen, semi-automatic defibrillator, and other medical equipment are carried on the fire engine for use by these trained firefighters.
Additional staff on a fire engine also provides supervision and it is necessary to have additional trained personnel to assist in moving stretchers through buildings, carrying patients down stairways or when slippery conditions are encountered. This helps to reduce back injuries to personnel handling unwieldy stretchers and heavy patients. It is also necessary to have more than two people perform certain treatments such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation while moving a patient.
Four minutes is a critical time frame for someone who has experienced a heart attack, injury or other illness that make him or her stop breathing. The heart and brain have a better chance of full recovery if they receive oxygen in four minutes or less. After that, a person can suffer brain damage or worse. Firefighters and paramedics can use lifesaving techniques and medications to help prevent death or permanent injury much more effectively if they can get to a patient within the first four minutes.
At traffic accidents the fire engine personnel keep the area safe if there are fuel spills, fire and extricating the person from the wreckage.
When I call for an ambulance, why do I sometimes see an ambulance from another town?
During the course of the day it is not unusual for two or three calls for the ambulance to come in at the same time. If all of our ambulances are busy, we will dispatch an ambulance from the next available town. The Mutual Aid Agreement works both ways; therefore, Hull ambulances are commonly dispatched to the other municipalities. You may see ambulances and equipment from Hingham, Cohasset and Scituate.
Why do I see fire engines or medic units go through intersections with their red lights flashing, and then turn them off? Are they just in a hurry to go somewhere?
Emergency lights and siren are used only when responding to a call. Apparatus responding to calls are frequently cancelled, or the first arriving unit determines that the call is not an emergency and tells the units to respond in a non-emergency mode, or to return to their station .
Why does the Fire Department bring the fire engine just for a simple inspection?
Two reasons: First, these inspections are conducted by on-duty engine companies that must be ready to respond to an emergency call from the field. This is why you almost always see the personnel together as a crew and have the fire engine with them when they are out of the fire station. Second, an important part of the value of the public safety inspection is to familiarize your local firefighters with the buildings and business in Hull. While they check for hazards and consult with business owners on how best to eliminate or minimize the likelihood of a fire, they also familiarize themselves with access points and the layout of the facility.
I called the Fire Department and asked if they would send someone out because my smoke detector/carbon monoxide detector, etc. was going off. I just wanted them to take a look at it, and they sent numerous fire trucks to my house, with lights and sirens blaring. Why did they do that?
The Fire Department is required to send a certain number of trucks to the scene of any structure-related incident, based on the type of incident. Since we have no way of knowing the exact situation when we are dispatched , we have to assume that there is a fire or other emergency situation until we determine otherwise.
Why is the Maltese Cross the Symbol For The Fire Service?
The insignia of the fire service is the Cross Pattee-Nowy, otherwise known as the Maltese Cross. The cross represents the fire service ideals of saving lives and extinguishing fires.
The fire service borrows the emblem of the cross from the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem (Knights Hospitailers), a charitable, non-military organization that existed during the 11th and 12th centuries that helped the sick and poor in setting up hospices and hospitals. Later, they assisted the Knights of the Crusades through their goodwill and also through military assistance in an effort to the island of Malta, the island for which the Maltese Cross was named.
The need for an identifiable emblem for the knights had become crucial. Because of the extensive armor which covered their entire bodies and faces, the knights were unable to distinguish friend from foe in battle. They chose the cross of Calvary as their symbol, since they fought their battles as a holy cause. The cross was later called the "Maltese Cross" and represented the principles of charity, loyalty, chivalry, gallantry, generosity to friend and foe, protection of the weak, and dexterity in service.
During the Crusades, many knights became fire fighters out of necessity. Their enemies had resorted to throwing glass bombs containing naptha and sailing their war vessels containing naptha, rosin, sulfur, and flaming oil into the vessels of the knights. Many knights were called to perform heroic deeds by recruiting fellow knights and extinguishing fires. In acknowledgement of these feats, the cross worn by these knights was decorated and inscribed. This was considered a most honorable acclaim.
Why are Dalmatians considered firehouse dogs?
Dalmatians have shared the barns and the hunt courses with horses for centuries, so when fire apparatus was horse-drawn, nearly every firehouse had its resident Dalmatian to help direct the horses. Keep the horses company, and guard the firehouse.
The horses are gone from the fire stations today, but the Dalmatians are not?
Why do fire engines respond to car accidents, even when they did not look serious?
The Hull Fire Department responds to all accidents where there is suspected injury to occupants of the vehicle. When a call is received at the Public Safety Communications Center, quite often the caller does not know if any injuries have occurred as a result of the accident. Even minor accidents cause "whiplash" or other injuries. Sometimes, the reason for the accident is a medical condition that caused the operator to lose control of their vehicle. To that end, all accidents are considered serious and require a response of medical personnel.
The Fire Department also has a stake in the protection of the environment. The department supervises the clear up of fuels, oils and coolants that may affect our natural resources.
Frequently Asked Firsts
First Volunteer Fire Company in America
In 1736 in Philadelphia, PA, Benjamin Franklin formed the first volunteer fire company, called the Union Fire Company. Franklin served on it as America's first volunteer fire chief.
First Paid Fire Department in America
A large fire in Boston in 1679, led to the organization of the first paid fire department in North America, if not the world. Boston selectman imported a fire engine from England and employed a fire chief. Thomas Atkins, and 12 fire fighters to operate it.
First Firehouse Pole
David B. Kenyon, Captain of Engine Company No. 21 of the Chicago Fire Department , was the inventor of the siding pole in 1878.
First Fire Alarm Telegraph
The fire alarm telegraph was invented by Wiliam F. Channing of Boston, MA and Moses G. Farmer of Salem, MA, in 1847. After many attempts, Channing was successful in getting the city of Boston to agree to test the device. Channing, working with Farmer, tested the system, solved the problems, and installed the first municipal fire alarm system using a telegraph in Boston, MA in 1882.
|
