Mayday? Name It!
A new mnemonic for effectively calling maydays
By William Burns

Recently, the fire department I work for mandated that all company officers review with their companies reports from the Fire Fighter Near-Miss Reporting System (www.firefighternearmiss.com). Report #09-0000990 described a fire operation where the engine officer lost contact with a member. Later in the incident, there was an explosive fire condition, and the officer escaped through a side window; at this point he issued a mayday for the missing firefighter.

As I reviewed the report with my crew, it became apparent that there was some uncertainty of when to issue a mayday, as well as what constitutes a mayday condition.

The Problem with Maydays
“Mayday, mayday, mayday!” These are words we never want to hear on the fireground, much less have to say over the pack-set radio. But the notification of an emergency condition, real or perceived, with a call to action must be second nature for every firefighter operating on the fireground if we truly want to improve our odds for survival.

Instructing firefighter survival and rescue classes and being unfortunate enough to be on scene during a mayday, I’ve observed and contemplated the behavior and reaction of distressed firefighters, the crews assigned to perform rescue and my own actions and thoughts during these incidents.

After careful deliberation, I’ve narrowed and defined the “mayday problem” to three contributing influences:
1. Failure or delay in issuing a mayday;
2. Confusion regarding what events constitute a mayday; and
3. Difficulty physically transmitting the mayday.

The critical element for survival during a mayday condition is to start efforts for mitigation of the event immediately. Failure to declare or delay in declaring a mayday is often attributed to firefighters’ self-imposed image of toughness and self-reliance. Couple this with an abundance of type A personalities and the strong fraternal bond of the fire service, and it becomes apparent why many firefighters have issues with initiating a mayday.

Increase Your Survivability Quotient
If we identify the behavior, consciously acknowledge it creates a problem and work to eliminate the mind-trap this behavior creates, our survival potential increases.

The reasons I’ve identified that prevent firefighters from recognizing and declaring a mayday, then taking appropriate steps to remove themselves from the situation, include but are not limited to:

· Perception of events may either speed up or slow down. This time disorientation is a normal reaction when dealing with stressful situations. Tip: Pay close attention to benchmarks and PARS to retain a reasonable estimation of time passage.
· Firefighters are problem solvers; we are “take charge” kind of people unwilling to relinquish control. The mental switch from savior to victim is unpalatable to most and often leads to a dogged determination to fix the problem themselves. With your crew, you must stress the need to eliminate pride and denial that there’s a problem. Tip: Discuss situations to help firefighters recognize when there’s a problem and when they should summon help.
· Reality is perception. Stress will cause your focus to narrow down to the task immediately in front of you. This tunnel vision has been acknowledged as one reason why the true story of a battle can only be told once all the participants have been queried and stories collaborated. On the fireground, narrowed focus can lead to the failure to recognize a life-threatening situation.
· Fear, which can paralyze action, may result as a reaction to the unknown (fireground conditions you’ve never experienced), or from the belief that you’ll be punished by a command officer should the mayday turn out to be “unnecessary” or “cowardly.” Tip: The more you develop knowledge, skills and abilities in the firefighting craft, the more you limit the realm of the unknown.
· Lack of understanding of mayday procedures. When the emergency happens, you must know what to do without hesitation. Tip: Review mayday procedures repeatedly with your crew. Test them to evaluate their effectiveness and revise as needed. Train all personnel methodically and precisely on the proper procedure.
· Confusion regarding the longevity of an issued mayday. Simply put, a mayday is valid until the mayday condition is corrected. Remember: A mayday can be withdrawn; you are allowed to do a “take back.” For example, if you were disoriented when you declared the mayday because you got separated from the hose line while searching for victims, then through your own effort, you find the line and regain spatial orientation, there’s no valid reason to continue the mayday, so cancel it. No harm, no foul.

When to Call the Mayday
Once the mental wall is breached and we allow ourselves the ability to request help, we must consider the conditions that truly require immediate assistance. All firefighters should be trained to identify mayday and emergency conditions.

There are many acronyms and mnemonics available to choose from to assist the firefighter in “chunking” information for easy retrieval under stressful situations. If the memory aide isn’t relevant to the subject, isn’t sequential or requires too much information, then the firefighter is unlikely to utilize the aide.

The following acronym hopefully addresses many of these concerns and will allow easier recollection during stressful periods. The acronym addresses the conditions under which you should issue a mayday and the information that should be relayed to command regarding the mayday.

Note: Another essential tool in understanding when and how to call maydays is the new NFPA 1407: Standard for Training Fire Service Rapid Intervention Crews, 2010 Edition. Be sure to review this standard repeatedly with your crews and to use it as a training tool for rapid intervention and mayday training.

MAYDAY? NAME IT
Missing personnel. If a company member is unaccounted for—for any length of time—you have a problem with accountability. Don’t delay the process of identifying the location of the missing personnel on the fireground; call a mayday.

Air pack problems. Low air, a malfunctioning air pack or traveling too deep into the structure to be able to exit are all potential problems. I strongly recommend the implementation of ROAM (Rules Of Air Management) at all levels of the organization. This concept is extensively covered by the Seattle Guys in Air Management for the Fire Service (http://manageyourair.com/).

You are trapped. Entrapments can range from physical entrapment from debris, entanglement by wires and cords, exits blocked by collapse or changing fire conditions. NFPA 1407 indicates that you should call a mayday if you’re tangled, pinned or stuck and cannot extricate within 60 seconds. Note: Flashover is one such condition that can trap firefighters. Current data supports the belief that flashovers are occurring at a greater rate and sooner on the fireground, so this condition must be identified as early as possible. Incident Safety Officer advocate David Dodson stated during a seminar, “Firefighters are taught to identify flashover with reactive warning signs. With the current protective ensemble we use, sensing rapid heat rise is are already too late.” The most reliable indicators of imminent flashover, according to Dodson, are turbulent smoke, rollover and auto ignition outside.

Disorientation. Davey Crockett may never have gotten lost, but I’ve sure been turned around a time or two. NFPA 1407 indicates that you should call a mayday when you’re in an area with zero visibility, have no contact with hoseline/tagline, and do not know direction of an exit. You should also call a mayday anytime you can’t locate an exit within 60 seconds.

Accident. Injuries of minor nature can become deadly under fire conditions. Example: You fall through a floor, sustaining injuries such as broken or dislocated lower extremities. This type injury under non-fire conditions, although painful, would not likely have an increased risk to life. But in fire conditions, it can prevent self-extrication from the IDLH area and put your life in imminent danger. In addition, NFPA 1407 indicates that any time a member falls through the roof or the floor, it constitutes a mayday.

You fear a collapse (or one has already occurred). Indicators of structural collapse include, but are not limited to: age of the building, floors or stock materials holding large quantities of water, movement of floor or roof, bulging or cracked walls, and vertical structural members which are out of plumb. A lightweight roof will collapse with no indication other than the gravity effect of material pinning you to the floor. The construction method may be lightweight, but the material is still heavy. NFPA 1407 indicates that a mayday should be called whenever your exit is blocked by fire or collapse and cannot locate secondary exit within 30 seconds.

If you identify any of the above conditions, call a mayday. When you call it, you use the “NAME IT” portion of the acronym:

Name. Clearly state your rank and name. This is crucial information when crews are searching. You may not be the only member with problems.

Apparatus. Identify the apparatus you’re assigned to. A riding list will allow personnel accountability reports (PAR) for the remaining crew and helps while differentiating firefighters with the same name but assignment to different companies.

Mission. What task and location were you assigned prior to the event? This can drastically limit the search area, particularly in larger structures.

Emergency. Be specific about the issue. Remember the MAYDAY section of the mnemonic?

Intentions. What can you do for self-help? What external resources are needed to assist you? It may be simple as “I will be attempting to locate a secondary means of egress on the Charlie wall” or as complex as “I need additional air and a handline to hold the fire in check.”

Time. Estimate how long rescue crews have to assist you. Air supply, fire and heat conditions or physical entrapment at lower levels with water accumulation are all factors that affect the time you have left.

Here’s an example of how the MAYDAY? NAME IT mnemonic works in practice:
“MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY. This is firefighter Smith, Ladder 6, Division 2 search, I have fire blocking my primary egress, I need a ground ladder to the Bravo window for escape. I need the ladder soon; I only have a bedroom door for protection.”

Note: After calling a mayday, in most cases you’ll want to activate your PASS alarm.

Summary
During times of extreme stress, our minds and bodies fall back on tasks that have been committed to mental and muscle memory. For this reason, you must master the issuance of a mayday through regular and deliberate practice. Don’t make the fireground your practice ground. Train, be competent and retire to relive the “good old days.”

William Burns has been in the fire service since 1990, having worked for career departments in New Hampshire, North Carolina and Florida, as well as for a volunteer fire department in New Hampshire. Burns currently works as a lieutenant in the Special Operations Division of Brevard County Fire Rescue in east-central Florida. His special operations work began in 1994 and, since then, he has worked for rescue and hazmat companies as well as the Florida Task Force-4 USAR team. Burns has an associate’s degree in fire science, an Instructor II certification and a Fire Officer II certification. He has developed compliant certificate programs for rope, confined space, trench, vehicle and machinery rescue as well as firefighter survival. Burns has instructor privileges in Florida for technical rescue, hazmat, firefighter survival and shipboard firefighting.


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