Thermal Imaging: Top Thermal Imaging Tips
Deployment
Firefighters should practice removing the TI from their apparatus or directly from their apparatus charger while wearing the gear they would have on when departing the apparatus. Then, they can practice attaching the TI to their gear. Further, operating a TI with gloved hands sounds easy, but can be challenging during an emergency operation. Firefighters must become familiar with where the power button is located and practice finding it with a gloved hand in the dark while wearing an SCBA facepiece.
Interpreting the display
Whatever the cost, brand, resolution or complexity of operation, you cannot overcome the strengths or weaknesses of the firefighter’s individual capability to quickly recognize a heat signature as normal or abnormal. As such, it comes back to training. Training develops a knowledge base of what is normal so you can immediately recognize that which is abnormal. Use your TI on calls that will help you develop greater familiarity with your imager, such as car accidents and medical calls, as well as routine inspections of heaters, ballasts, freezers, stoves, furnaces, plumbing, lighting and electrical panels.
Training outside of burning buildings
Expand your training environment to areas such as the kitchen, sitting room, closet, bathroom and bunkroom, which all closely mirror what you may encounter in a fire. Try building a house plan by setting up tables, chairs, couches and other household items. Your team can begin navigating around and become comfortable moving from room to room.
Size-up
Your team can practice size-up skills without access to a live-fire facility by just looking at the exterior of the firehouse with the TI. This will reveal shades of grayscale imagery that will appear in different locations at different times of the day or night (due to heat from the sun or heating/cooling units, for example). This gives you an idea of what you may or may not see when you arrive at a house fire with no fire showing.
Extrication training
Vehicle accidents, including motorcycles, provide another practice opportunity. Have a few firefighters sit in vehicles, varying the number of occupants in each vehicle. Have them exit, and then have the other team members scan the vehicle seats with the TI to see if they can determine how many people were in the vehicle. This can be beneficial when at a vehicle accident to determine whether there have been occupant ejections.
Container training
Many fire departments have containers of all types around the firehouse. Propane, diesel fuel and gasoline are a few of the common liquids found at the station. Have your team look at the different containers and practice determining liquid levels. Verify your findings by opening each container or simply looking at the gauge.
Ladder placement
Positioning and placement of ground and aerial ladders can be aided by the use of TIs. Let’s say you arrive on the scene of a fire involving a three-story multiple dwelling in the early hours of the morning. Between the darkness and smoke conditions, it is difficult to see the upper windows and roofline, hampering correct placement of your ladders. Use your TI to scan the building to locate potential problems, such as electrical service wires, window-mounted air conditioners and other hazards you need to avoid. The imager could also detect victims who may be at windows, but obscured by smoke from a fire below them.
Ventilation
You can scan the roof area to determine the warmest area for starting your cuts. It will be tougher to see these warm spots during the day, or just after sunset, as the solar loading on the roof could also create warm spots easily mistaken for higher temperatures under the roofing material. In addition, the TI can scan the overall structure to monitor the effectiveness of vent operations.
Salvage and overhaul
After the fire is knocked down, everything in the room will be very warm or hot. Generally speaking, TIs will display such scenes as mostly white or light gray on the display. Still, an area or object may show as white on the TI display because it is relatively hot compared to other objects, but not because it is absolutely hot. By using a known point of comparison, such as a firefighter’s hand, the TI user can see if the hot spot in question is warm enough to deserve extra consideration.
John Hays
JOHN HAYS is the Product Line Manager for Emergency Responders at Bullard. He has spent more than 13 years developing emergency responder products for the fire, rescue and police markets. Hays’ technical expertise in developing emergency responder products has been instrumental in advancing the use of thermal imagers in the fire service. If you have questions about thermal imaging, you can email him at [email protected].
