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"waist" not, want not…

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backviewI received an email from a Chief for whom Traditions Training had done some work with in the past.  He was having problem and wondered if we could help. They, the “old school”  firemen, and some of his “new school” firefighters, were having a disagreement as to the importance of and perhaps even the relevance of the SCBA waist strap.  He asked me my opinion on the SCBA waist strap and its importance in relation to the safety of his members…..

We have all seen hundreds of photos of the unbuckled waist strap, it is found nearly monthly in each trade magazine.  Whether they are photo’s of the FDNY, DCFD, PFD, NO-NAME-FD…it really doesn’t matter; the pictures don’t lie… it happens.  Excuses can always be made they are easy….we aren’t focusing on those here.  There are many advantages to having that strap fastened, some of which may just save your life.

The waist strap/belt on SCBA’s are just like the waist strap/belt on any “backpack” type framed device.  The frame of a conventional hiking backpack carries the load “clothes, hiking gear…etc” to the shoulders and hips.  The SCBA frame, carries the load “cylinder” to the same parts, your shoulders and hips.  

The shoulders can carry the load alone when you have smaller weights (if you look at most smaller sized utility type day backbacks there is no waist strap/belt).  However, when you get into the larger size backpacks (such as those for real hiking) you will usually find the waistband.  The weight of our SCBA cylinders make the waistband a necessity when worn.
 
The SCBA waistband is designed to lessen the work load on our shoulders, as stated above sharing the load onto the hips (the muscles in our legs are stronger than our shoulder muscles).  I find that I am able to do much more work with less exhaustion when I have the waistband on snug, and the shoulder straps left a bit looser.  Shoulder movement (moving arms up and down like pulling ceilings) is often much harder when you have the shouder straps pulled tight.
 
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While we all know that we can do the job either way (buckled or unbuckled) these SCBA frames are designed to be worn buckled.  Crawling on our bellies and down low with the waist strap unbuckled can lead to things getting caught on the loose ends of the waist straps and may get us hung up.  
Also, the waist strap provides some lateral stabillity when crawling especailly if we wind up awkwardly heading down a set of stairs or something….It will be better suited to stay on our backs when it is secure with the waistband.forward-slide
To sum it up in a few short points:
WEAR YOUR BELT
1.  Provides less chances of entanglement hazard when secured properly
2.  Reduces fatigue on shoulders by transferring weight to hips
3.  Provides stability from the mask moving laterally (left to right)  especially when searching on hands and knees
4.  Provides stability  from the mask moving horizontally (up into back of helmet)
5.  Provides stability when doing reduced profile and other tight quarter maneuvers
6.  Members can quickly locate belt buckle to convert to harness if necessary

Also on TraditionsTraining…

Posted by Doug Mitchell on February 17, 2009 • Filed under: Combat Ready, Tips & Skills • Tagged: ,
  • http://TraditionsTraining.com/ Danny Doyle

    Great post about one of my pet peeves! A popular concept that we preach here at Traditions is that of the COMBAT READY mindset. That includes a wide varity of things. Most of all, being ready for war. If there is anything about the way you show up to do your job, that might slow you down or make you a liability to yourself or others. It needs to be corrected! I believe that a large part is lazyness and complacency. On the other end of the spectrum, Fatigue causes injuries. Those injuries are usally associated with muscles and joints! Shoulders being one of our most common. Doug mentioned how the S.C.B.A. pack is engineered for performance. I would have to say it doesn’t always feel like that but its true! Work smarter not harder! They say a picture can speak a thousand words. Those pics above would be enough for me.

    Be Safe…
    Dan

  • http://TraditionsTraining.com Danny Doyle

    Great post about one of my pet peeves! A popular concept that we preach here at Traditions is that of the COMBAT READY mindset. That includes a wide varity of things. Most of all, being ready for war. If there is anything about the way you show up to do your job, that might slow you down or make you a liability to yourself or others. It needs to be corrected! I believe that a large part is lazyness and complacency. On the other end of the spectrum, Fatigue causes injuries. Those injuries are usally associated with muscles and joints! Shoulders being one of our most common. Doug mentioned how the S.C.B.A. pack is engineered for performance. I would have to say it doesn’t always feel like that but its true! Work smarter not harder! They say a picture can speak a thousand words. Those pics above would be enough for me.

    Be Safe…
    Dan

  • Mike

    Great post. Very important information. As Doug mentioned, when the waist strap is worn, members can quickly locate belt buckle to convert to harness if necessary. To take that statement one step further, train your Firefighters to tighten their waist strap so the buckle is in line with the center of their body (your belly button). That way the Brothers coming to get you out can easily locate the buckle every time. They don’t have to find it because it’ll be in the same place for every Firefighter. Seconds count!

  • Mike

    Great post. Very important information. As Doug mentioned, when the waist strap is worn, members can quickly locate belt buckle to convert to harness if necessary. To take that statement one step further, train your Firefighters to tighten their waist strap so the buckle is in line with the center of their body (your belly button). That way the Brothers coming to get you out can easily locate the buckle every time. They don’t have to find it because it’ll be in the same place for every Firefighter. Seconds count!

  • B.Rayner

    Good point. I know I’m as guilty as the next person by not using the waist strap…whether it be forgetting to click or just wanting easier access to my pockets. I remember hearing a story last year@ a Traditions Training about the strap hooking a knob on an oven turning the gas on. OOOPS! I always try to remember this when I put my PPE on.

  • B.Rayner

    Good point. I know I’m as guilty as the next person by not using the waist strap…whether it be forgetting to click or just wanting easier access to my pockets. I remember hearing a story last year@ a Traditions Training about the strap hooking a knob on an oven turning the gas on. OOOPS! I always try to remember this when I put my PPE on.

  • http://www.mountvillefire.com/ Adam Weitzel

    Very good post Doug, all to often we see people doing the non combat ready way of things, and one day they will get caught with there pants down and really have be screwed. This as was stated before is a huge safety vilolation in my book. If your doing a search in a colliers manison conditions with your waist belt undone your just asking for entanglement and to get caught up. remember it”s the little that can be improved on first. Again very good post!

    Be safe, Adam

  • http://www.mountvillefire.com Adam Weitzel

    Very good post Doug, all to often we see people doing the non combat ready way of things, and one day they will get caught with there pants down and really have be screwed. This as was stated before is a huge safety vilolation in my book. If your doing a search in a colliers manison conditions with your waist belt undone your just asking for entanglement and to get caught up. remember it”s the little that can be improved on first. Again very good post!

    Be safe, Adam

  • B.Rayner

    It’s so weird cause last night we had a top floor bedroom off& as much as I tried to hook that belt& pull those earflaps down, it was just instinct that took over.

  • B.Rayner

    It’s so weird cause last night we had a top floor bedroom off& as much as I tried to hook that belt& pull those earflaps down, it was just instinct that took over.

  • http://traditionstraining.com/ Doug Mitchell

    While I absolutely know what you are saying here B, I do not think of being a fireman or firefighting as instinctive. Instinctively, our bodies and minds are tuned to run away from smoke and fire. This is why in probie school we are “Trained” to be firemen, we are trained to dull those natural born tendencies to run away in the face of danger.

    However, back to your point…..
    I think you may be referring to habits and/or engrained training, who cares…call it whatever you want. Habit or as you put it “Instinct” can be associated as a product of repetition and repetition comes from training. Start today, it is not to late. Practice it every time and it will become the way you operate… You can change bad habits, you can change what is YOUR norm, your reference point. it will become almost “instinctive” to you….be Combat Ready every time. Thanks for the comment, Stay Safe

  • http://traditionstraining.com Doug Mitchell

    While I absolutely know what you are saying here B, I do not think of being a fireman or firefighting as instinctive. Instinctively, our bodies and minds are tuned to run away from smoke and fire. This is why in probie school we are “Trained” to be firemen, we are trained to dull those natural born tendencies to run away in the face of danger.

    However, back to your point…..
    I think you may be referring to habits and/or engrained training, who cares…call it whatever you want. Habit or as you put it “Instinct” can be associated as a product of repetition and repetition comes from training. Start today, it is not to late. Practice it every time and it will become the way you operate… You can change bad habits, you can change what is YOUR norm, your reference point. it will become almost “instinctive” to you….be Combat Ready every time. Thanks for the comment, Stay Safe

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