A Firefighter’s Guide to Articulating “Risk”:
What does the word risk mean to you?
Typically when firefighters talk about “risk,” we think of people in harm’s way.
“Risk a lot to save a lot” is the common mantra of the fire service.
But the term risk has additional factors that may help the fire service articulate its form of Risk Management. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security defines risk as an equation with three variables — Threat, Vulnerability, and Consequence which is commonly expressed as:
R= T x V x C
And, although this approach may seem foreign to us in the fire service, we can use it as a framework to both articulate and justify our actions.
T — Threat
Threats are the hazards we talk about on a fire: flash over, collapse, backdrafts, thermal burns, etc.
We are constantly identifying hazards and putting controls in place to mitigate those hazards.
For example, in collapse hazards we may avoid entering the building or working on the roof. To control thermal burns we wear turnouts, gloves, hoods, and SCBA’s.
And the controls, or lack of thereof, are directly related the next variable, “vulnerability.”
V — Vulnerability
Vulnerability represents the lack of controls in place to defend from the threats or hazards.
For example, when a fire crew is operating on the second story of a structure while a fire burns on the first floor, they are 100 percent vulnerable to being trapped if the fire spreads to the stairs.
As a result, we staff a hose line at the base of stairs to reduce the vulnerability of the crew becoming trapped in upper levels.
C — Consequence
The variable of consequence tends to represent what we think of when we think of risk; the name and the face of the actual person that we send into a burning building.
“Consequence” is the most important element of our equation, and is directly affected by the other variables of “threats” and “vulnerability.”
The Relevance of Risk
We use these elements, and the concept of risk, intuitively every day when we use things like Incident Command, Two-In/Two-Out procedures, and Rapid Intervention Teams.
In fact, the nature of fire fighting using high-consequence assets (e.g. firefighters) to confront threats (i.e. hazards) while putting controls in place to reduce their vulnerability.
By understanding the definition of “risk,” we are ultimately in a better position to articulate and justify our actions to both intra and extra-organizational stakeholders when questions arise.
Lastly, this understanding can help ensure that everyone goes home and we survive another “day in the life of a firefighter.”
Eric Saylors is a third generation firefighter and has 20 years the fire service
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