Breathing Apparatus Training Guidance
Ceri Darrell | Friday, January 27, 2012
Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) personnel operate in dynamic and
often hazardous environments, for example incidents involving fire,
chemicals, biological hazards, radiation and acts of
terrorism. The wearing of breathing apparatus (BA) by
personnel is one of the risk control measures likely to be employed
within the overall operational plan for incidents of this type. BA
enables the wearer to breathe safely in an otherwise irrespirable
and/or toxic atmosphere.
Currently there are a number of guidance documents that relate
to BA training, some of which date back over 40 years. To
address this, the Chief Fire and Rescue Advisor (CFRA) has
commissioned the Fire Service College (FSC) to act as the Project
Manager for the production of BA Training Guidance (BATG) through
active stakeholder engagement. It is envisaged that, when
published, the BATG will wherever possible, encompass, subsume and
therefore supersede historical and existing guidance in whatever
form.
The BATG will present a framework for the acquisition,
application and maintenance of the knowledge and skills for BA
wearers, the managers responsible for the command and control of BA
at operational incidents and those personnel with the
responsibility for developing and assessing BA competence. It
will therefore provide for a consistent approach across FRSs and
form the basis for common operational practices, supporting
interoperability across FRSs, other emergency services, and where
appropriate, industry and other groups. The drive toward common
principles, practices and procedures supports the development of
safe systems of work on the incident ground and enhances national
resilience.
Development of the BATG has begun with stakeholders and an
initial draft will be released this month to FRSs to review and
make comments on. This will further enhance the BATG before
formal consultation takes place later this year. In the next
edition of FSC.news there will be an update on the progress of the
project, however in the interim if you wish to find out more about
the BATG you can contact Gavin Roberts, Project Manager, at groberts@fireservicecollege.ac.uk
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