Imprinting/Imprinted/Work Imprinting/Imprinted Work Behavior:
Ergonomic and body movement training that is performance specific (performance based ergonomics) and work demand specific. The work behavior ergonomics become an imprinted and ongoing experience of how the work experience feels kinesthetically when performed correctly. This experience continues to mature with minimum follow-up as it does in a skilled athlete.

Psychological and physical experiences become incorporate in a professional's muscle memory
actions. This occurs in all professionals whether athletes or high risk personnel. The imprinting of physical behavior is focused on specific performance demands from routine to extreme including specialized emergency procedures.

unit body/unit body work behavior/unit body response/whole body response:
Ergonomically correct work movement and effort which utilizes the entire body unit in a sequenced and correct series of physiologic triggering mechanisms beginning with breath control, neutral intra truncal pressure directed initially through the largest muscle groups and then with all the related joints moving into neutral safe placement with optimum stability and leverage.

Work behavior safety training/work behavior modification:
Correct work performance training to prevent injury and the modifying of work function to reflect the actual physical, physiological and psychological needs of the occupational demands.

Critical body response/Critical response:
Job specific techniques and correct critical body movement for emergency response such as medical extrications and individual Firefighter or mass evacuation rescues.

Autonomic/Autonomic work behavior/Autonomic work reflex/Reflexive work behavior:
Body responses through muscle sensory training into the diaphragmatic muscle processes, such as in controlling intra truncal pressure through breath controls. This muscle system (the diaphragm) is both a voluntary and involuntary muscle action (i.e. it can be trained but also occurs involuntarily) and it represents the autonomic reflex nervous system. It is programmed through training in varied human actions that need to occur reflexively, such as singing and boxing. This developmental training for work behavior is then sequenced into to the correct larger muscle groups, and then in an optimal system of neutral joints and levers through the entire body and maintained as a whole unit working as one.

one-on-one rescue:
Individual firefighter or civilian rescue by another firefighter or emergency responder.

firefighter performance demand:
The job specific work performance necessary based on the ongoing circumstances and the physical and psychological demands in this occupation i.e. incident mitigation, life saving etc.

job specific performance demand:
Specialized job specific work performance ergonomics.

firefighter injury prevention:
Body response safety; musculoskeletal injury prevention specific to firefighter job performance demand and its ever changing, dynamic work function.

RIT/RIC :
Rapid Intervention Team, Rapid Intervention Crew is a functional assignment given to a fire company for the purpose of reacting to unexpected situations that may arise on the emergency scene. The most important response would be to a fire fighter down request. The crew given this assignment stage resources and wait in the ready for a request to deploy. They are usually located close to the Operations Chief

NFPA 1583:
Outlines a complete health related fitness program designed for fire departments. It includes roles and responsibilities for the position of health fitness coordinator, a rehabilitation focus for return-to-duty status, and an overall wellness and nutrition program. This document is a key component of any fire department occupational safety and health program, and is a companion to NFPA 1582: Medical Requirements for Firefighters and Information for Fire Department Physicians .

IAFF/IAFC:
Acronyms for, the International Association of Fire Fighters and the International Association of Fire Chiefs. These are professional organizations for the representation of their respective groups.

RMP:
Acronym for, Risk Management Plan. It relates to injury prevention and Worker's compensation loss control for Firefighters and Public Safety personnel.

Reflexive:
Refers to a behavior that is done automatically. A reflexive behavior is one that is a reaction to a stimulus and is created by repeated conditioning to that stimulus. The repeated conditioning is called imprinting.

Firefighter Injury Prevention Program :
A primary component of safety, wellness and fitness programs which recognizes that the best way to keep fire fighters fit for duty is to prevent injuries from occurring in the first place. This is done through training that focuses on use of PPE, proper techniques and utilization of a correct unit body response during critical performance demand situations.

One-On-One Rescue:
A rescue of a single individual performed by a single rescuer. This type of rescue is very challenging, especially when the person being rescued is a fire fighter in full protective clothing including self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).

Work Imprinting:
The process of learning and then performing the same type of work (repeated conditioning). If the imprinting is done with correctly performed techniques it is a positive work imprint created. If the imprinting is done with incorrect techniques, then a negative work imprint has been created. Work imprinting creates reflexive behaviors.

Autonomic Work Behavior:
When a worker performing a task is doing so utilizing reflexive work behaviors that have been developed through positive work imprinting. The autonomic work behaviors tend to be self reinforcing.

Work Behavior:
The ergonomics (or lack of), body leveraging (or lack of), and physical exertion utilized in and during the performance of a job. Work behaviors become work habits and can be good habits or bad ones. Bad work behavior leads to injuries.

Work Behavior Modification:
The process of changing the work behavior of an individual. Work behavior modification is usually performed on an individual in an attempt to correct poor work habits. Often, when a person has become injured, they will modify their own work behaviors as a compensatory measure. Often this modification (compensatory) ends up being a negative work behavior modification.

Performance Demand:
The quality and amount of work exerted in completing a task. The amount of exertion is expressed in units of MET (metabolic equivalent). A common number recognized in the fire service is between 12 and 16 METs for the work performance demand of a fire fighter fighting a single story structure fire. The performance demand of most emergency scene tasks has not yet been calculated. Most importantly for the emergency services; the quality of the demand includes the psychophysical stresses of the work such as crisis management, incident mitigation, and life saving.

Firefighter Performance:
The performance demand of firefighters engaged in the activities of emergency response. See performance demand.

Autonomic Work Behavior Modification:
The process of modifying work behaviors that fall into the classification of autonomic work. See Autonomic and Work Behavior Modification. Work behaviors that fall into this category can be modified, but require special instruction.

MET:
Is an acronym for metabolic equivalent. A unit of metabolic equivalent , or MET , is defined as the number of calories consumed by an organism per minute in an activity relative to the Basal metabolic rate. A single unit (1 MET) is the caloric consumption of that organism, or individual, while at complete rest.

IAFF/IAFC Joint Labor Management Wellness Initiative:
One of three programs arising out of the IAFF/IAFC Joint Labor Management Wellness Task Force. This program is designed for incumbent fire service personnel. It requires a commitment by labor and management to a positive, individualized wellness-fitness program. The manual includes information on these topics:

• Fitness evaluation
• Medical evaluation
• Rehabilitation
• Behavioral health
• Data

Specifically, a commitment has been made to injury prevention within the fire service with this initiative.

Denver Prop :
A training prop designed after the actual dimensions of the confined area that claimed 16 year veteran fire fighter Mark Langvardt's life in 1992. Specifically, it is a "hallway" 28" wide, 8' long with a window at one end that is 20"wide by 28" in height and the sill is 42" from the floor. The prop is used for the Denver Drill.

Denver Drill:
A drill that essentially re-creates the rescue of Denver firefighter Mark Langvardt. It incorperates the use of a leveraged body and an inclined plane (bio-mechanics) to get a victim up and out of a narrow window in a narrow hallway (the Denver Prop).

Imprinted Work :
Is work that has become imprinted. See "Work Imprinting"

Professional Safeguard Rresponse :
A manner of working with the body's behavioral actions and movements in which the type of work being done incorporates the safe and proper use of bio-mechanics as an autonomic function - see below.

Professional Safeguard Response®
A manner of working with the body's behaviors and movements in which the type of work being done incorporates the safe and proper actions in the changing and unpredictable nature of emergency incidents. It is based on innovative orthopedic practices and has been developed from oriental sciences of leverage such as the martial arts. PSR® incorporates the kinesthetic experience which professional athletes train in. It also refers to PSR® Corporation. , a specialized corporate agency dedicated to training emergency responders and public sector employees in high risk (to injury) work arenas.

 

 

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