What's News?

By Second Assistant Chief Jordan Roblee

Tuesday April 1, 2025

Yesterday, the fire company completed one session of its annual Public Employee Safety and Health (PESH) Refresher Training.  Each year, firefighters across New York State are required to take part in safety training related to the duties of their position.  The Chaffee-Sardinia Fire Company strives to exceed the requirements of this annual safety training.  Last night's session consisted of three "safety skills" stations.  

The first station was an overview of MAYDAY situations, which is when a firefighter is down.  In a firefighter injury or line of duty death, communication failures are almost always found to be part of the cause.  In a stressful situation, firefighters need to stay calm and communicate the MAYDAY to incident command.  Great discussions were held regarding the procedure and what happens after the MAYDAY is called.

The second station was a thorough review of fire service injuries that occur off the fire scene.  Our members worked on identifying hazards in fire station and possible solutions.  Training settings were also discussed, including the high number of nationwide soft tissue injuries (strains, sprains, muscle pain) resulting from training.  As individuals, we need to take time to be situationally aware to prevent or mitigate hazards on and off the fireground.

The final station was highway hazardous materials identification.  This skill is refreshed every year due to the high risk and low frequency associated with a hazardous materials incident on our highways.  Members were given scenarios and asked to identify the hazardous material being carried by using the 2024 DOT Emergency Response Guidebook.  Once the material was identified, members consulted the guidebook for evacuation distances and first aid procedures based on the hazards.

The Chaffee-Sardinia Fire Company will host two more sessions as part of the annual Refresher Training, which will focus on cancer prevention, bloodborne pathogens and workplace violence awareness.