In the past decades, lightweight building construction methods plus the use of manmade materials in construction and furnishings have become more and more common so the time to structural failure has been reduced. Fires are also burning hotter and generating higher levels of deadly gasses yet ventilation methods have not kept pace. Positive pressure was first used in the fire service to ventilate a structure after the fire was knocked down.
Authors Kriss Garcia, Reinhard Kauffmann, and Ray Schelble have taken positive pressure a step further to achieve effective ventilation in coordination with aggressive fire attack, called positive pressure attack (PPA). Properly used PPA allows firefighters great control over the interior environment of a fire building, and starts at the earliest stages of the operation when ventilation can provide the greatest benefit for victims, firefighters, and the structure. With a small investment in equipment and a commitment to training, any fire department can implement PPA at the company level.
Subjects covered in this book include:
- basics of positive pressure and how to maximize its effectiveness
- how effective ventilation can be coordinated to support an aggressive fire attack
- safety considerations and limitations of PPA and positive pressure
- other ways positive pressure blowers can be used to help victims and firefighters in a variety of situations
- implementing PPA on a department, and how to train each engine company
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