Search and Rescue in Residential Fire Structures Research Paper

Search and Rescue in Residential Fire Structures - Re assay Paper ExampleIt is vital to the safety of our rescript that researchers continue to enhance the technologies that allow release fighters to do their jobs in the safest and most effective fashion possible, especially those working in residential structure fires and residential search and rescue. Residential structure fires are responsible for approximately two to three thousand civilian deaths per year since 1997, but these numbers have been displace due to improved fire prevention education, early fire detection, and fire suppression technologies being utilize, and also the improved technologies and equipment available for search and rescue efforts (USFA, 2008). These search and rescue technologies fall into two major categories those devices that make it easier for fire fighters to find and save those victims trapped within a vehement building and those technologies that protect the fire fighters own lives, which indir ectly will save even more lives than the direct equipment. Technologies that allow fire fighters to rescue those victims who have been trapped within a burning building mainly include those which allow the rescue workers to find those individuals more quickly. The primary and most impressive piece of equipment in this category is the thermal visualize camera. A thermal imaging camera helps the fire fighters to see people more easily through dense smoke or haze, by analyzing the emblem of a trapped figure and converting the thermal signature to a visible image (Marlow Industries Inc, 2008). These cameras are able to convert the most minute differences in the temperature of objects into a visible demoralize image for the fire fighter using the camera to view, and they work even in complete darkness as they do not require every ambient visible miniature to resolve the images (FLIR Commercial Vision Systems, n.d.). This combination of processes means that a thermal imaging camera ca n be used by a fire fighter to look into a dark or smoke-filled room and determine immediately if there are some(prenominal) people within the room who need to be evacuated from the building. The image will also show the fire fighter if there are any flames or ignition sources within that room (FLIR Commercial Vision Systems, n.d.) Such cameras work by visualizing an image using infrared radiation instead of visible light sources. They are able to produce images at high resolution through heavy smoke due to the fact that the infrared radiation used has a longer wavelength, reducing scattering off of particulate matter in the air. (FLIR Commercial Visions Systems, n.d.). Some cameras are even able to transmit these images to a commanding officer outside the building, allowing him or her to better control the situation within the building based on the real-time data being received (Santa Clara County Fire Department, hi-tech and Specialized Equipment, n.d.). These cameras are also sometimes of adjustable sensitivity, to allow for varying temperature ranges in the space being viewed. They can be more sensitive for qualify temperature ranges, such as looking into a hot room, and less sensitive cameras for situations where temperatures vary more widely, such as trying to locate an individual in a smoky but relatively cool room (Amon, Bryner, & Hamins, 2005).