2018 Fire Department Annual Report

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2018 Annual Report • Fire Department • St. Anthony Village, Minnesota 34 | P a g e You return to the station after the fire and try to rest up a bit, when you get another call for someone who had been involved in a traffic accident. You get back into your gear and head down the road to a find a minivan that struck a stop light, which is now lying on the ground under the van. The airbags have deployed and the driver of the vehicle is shaken up, but not injured. The patient is still in the van when you and your partner arrive on scene. What’s blocked from the patient’s view is the exposed wires from the ground to the base of the stop light. They aren’t sparking or arcing like they do in the movies, but is the driver safe to exit the vehicle? Prior to walking up to vehicle, your partner grabs the TAC Stick and you direct the patient to remain in the vehicle. Your partner identifies the exposed wires as “hot” or still powered, and your local electrical company is called to cut the power so the driver can safely exit, and firefighters, paramedics, and police can safely move around the vehicle. The TAC stick is a high sensitivity voltage detector. It may as well be referred to as a magic wand, due to its appearance and ability to identify high voltage threats from up to 200 feet away. It’s first used from a distance, where its high sensitivity setting can pick up readings that direct the user towards the threat, beeping as the signal gets stronger just like a metal detector. Then as the user gets closers, it can be shifted to low sensitivity, which helps isolate the highest threats by ignoring low voltage signals. Once an area of concern is identified, the most accurate frontal setting is used, which is precise enough to identify a single charged wire within a bundle of wires. The TAC stick is vital in any operation involving even the slightest possibility of electrocution. Figure 2 TAC Stick