May 2011 - Page 2 of 3

Firefighter Joe Collins: Bunker Gear

I’m a twelve-year veteran firefighter/paramedic in the busiest volunteer fire department in our county. I hold numerous fire and EMS certifications—many of the same as professional firefighters. My day job is as a Critical Care Paramedic in the highest call volume EMS service in Iowa.

Bunker Gear

Crawling into a burning building isn’t for everyone. But with the protection offered by modern bunker gear, also known as turnout gear or structural firefighting gear it just a bit safer. The picture above shows me in some of my old gear.

Modern bunker gear is constructed of space age materials—some of the same used in space suits. It must meet the requirement of not melting, igniting, dripping or separating when exposed to a heat of 500°F for five-minutes. Considering that in structure fires ceiling temperatures as much as 1000 F have been recorded, it doesn’t provide as much protection as you would think. Those temperatures are also why we do most of our work crawling along the floor.

The outer shell is constructed of various combinations of Kevlar and Nomex. Constructed of rip stop weave, it is treated with a water repellent finish. It also has a great deal of reflective material—the yellow and gray strips you see in the picture. Standard colors are black, khaki, rust, yellow.

outside coat

The inner shell has two components, a moisture barrier and a thermal barrier. The moisture barrier could be made of several different materials including Nomex/Kevlar, and Aramid or similar materials. In the picture, the white layer is the moisture barrier.

inside coat

The quilted layer is the thermal layer and is also made of several different materials much like the moisture barrier in various combinations as specified by government standards.

Between the inner shell and the outer shell, which are snapped or zipped together are air pockets, “dead zones,” to help to further insulate the wearer from the extreme environments of fires.

Bunker boots are made out of leather or rubber and are slipped inside the bunker pants to provide more protection. There is a steel plate along the bottom of the boot as well as a steel toe. While it does look like these boots are insulated, when standing around in the winter, they can get very cold—I always kept a thick pair of cotton socks with my gear to keep from getting frozen feet.

old boot

Our new boots provide a great deal more comfort and insulation with the same or more protection.

new boot

The helmet is designed to protect firefighters from falling debris and it also protects against electrical, heat, and steam burns. The traditional helmet is constructed of leather, but they are also constructed of other materials including carbon fiber and plastic combinations for a lightweight design for comfort. A Kevlar lining adds strength and protection. You can see my helmet has a visor, and extrication goggles. Some firefighters put a band around their helmet which can hold a flashlight, door props, etc or otherwise personalize it.

helmet

Although the helmet does provide some protection for the ears, neck and part of the face, most firefighters wear a smoke hood constructed of Nomex and other materials to provide protection for ears, neck and parts of the face not covered by a SCBA mask. Smoke hoods are also handy for keeping your ears warm while working a winter car wreck.

smoke hood

Firefighting gloves are designed to protect from extreme heat, sharp objects while still allowing some dexterity. They aren’t waterproof and can get cold during a winter structure fire.

bunker gloves

Below is some of the stuff I carry in my pockets, including a traffic vest, radio, various wrenches, shears, door stops and strapping that can be used to bail out of a building or secure various things, and firefighting and extrication gloves. What you bring with you is entirely is an individual choice and is sometimes dictated by the area where you work—I don’t carry elevator tools because we don’t have very many in this area. You can also see my SCBA mask which when not being used, I carry in a bag on a loop on my gear.

carry stuff

There are other types of firefighting gear including woodland, Haz-Mat, proximity gear which has is turnout gear with an outer layer of heat-reflecting metallic materials and is used in extreme firefighting environments such as aircraft fires.

Considering the things that firefighters are exposed to, many of them cancer causing, you need a special washing machine to clean the gear.

washing machine

Bunker gear has a life expectancy and should be replaced at least every five-years. Considering that it costs upwards of $1,700 for just basic bunker gear, smoke hood, helmet, gloves and bunker boots, outfitting a firefighter is very expensive and you can imagine how much it would cost for a large department.

old gear

No matter, modern bunker gear has made great strides since the times of plastic helmets, rubber jackets and thigh high boots.

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Want to learn more about firefighters and the equipment used by them? We have an on-site, working fire station on the Writers’ Police Academy grounds, and we’re offering workshops on arson and much more! Did I mention the firefighters and EMS workers who’ll be on hand to answer your questions? Real action demos throughout the event.

Have you registered?

http://www.writerspoliceacademy.com/

Big announcement coming soon!!

May 18, 2011/by Lee Lofland

Castle Reviews

Castle: Knockout – A Review of the Season Finale

Heart wrenching pain. Betrayal. Forgiveness. Second Chances. Love… So much emotion packed into one fantastic episode. So much so, I don’t even know where to begin. With Rick’s desperate attempts to protect Kate? Roy’s betrayal, or Kate’s forgiveness? I’m simply stunned.

Melanie Atkins

The parts that took my breath away:

• Rick’s deep concern for Kate when she falls back down the rabbit hole of her mom’s case.

• Kate throws herself on top of Rick to protect him when Lockwood’s accomplices throw the flash bangs in the courtroom.

• Jim Beckett goes to see Rick to find out who’s after Kate and asks him to talk her down. Fabulous scene.

• Rick confronts Kate in her apartment, mentions the kiss and the freezer. Emotionally charged incidents they never talked about. He asks her to walk away, to drop the case and stand down. And Kate refuses. She pushes him away again… even though she really doesn’t want him to go. She’s so caught up in the case, so focused, she won’t let anyone stop her crusade to find justice for her mother. Not even Rick.

• Rick’s heart-to-heart talk about his fear for Kate with his mother Martha. He’s a wordsmith, a writer, and he can’t get the words out to say that he loves Kate. But Martha knows. She tells him, “Don’t waste another minute of it.” That scene brought tears to my eyes. I absolutely couldn’t breathe — even when I watched it twice more.

• Kate goes to Captain Montgomery to ask him to kick Rick out of the precinct — and Roy agrees! She’s flummoxed. She really doesn’t want Rick to go… a fact made obvious by the look on her face and her bumbling attempt to question him about it. The thought of working without Rick by her side is a daunting prospect, but she’s so used to pushing people away she doesn’t know how to accept help. Or true love.

• Ryan and Esposito discover the identity of the third cop: Roy Montgomery, their captain. The ultimate betrayal. They’re so stunned, they come to blows over it… and must forgive each other in order to go on.

• Roy’s act of love at the hanger to protect Kate. He has Castle meet him there and orders him to take Kate away before shots ring out. Before Roy gives his life to save her.

• Rick hauls Kate bodily out of the hanger and holding her while she wails. They both know Roy is going to die, and they are powerless to stop it. So heart wrenching.

• Kate’s decision to keep Roy’s betrayal a secret. Only she, Esposito, Ryan, and Castle know the truth. Her eulogy for Roy makes him out a hero, so his family will never know what really happened… so touching.

• Rick’s attempt to save Kate at the cemetery. He’s good, but he’s not fast enough to stop a bullet. He begs her to stay with him, then finally says those three precious words: “I love you. I love you!”

Is he too late? I think not… but we won’t know for sure until the first episode of season four. From what I’ve been able to gather from Twitter, that one will pick up where this one leaves off. My question is: Was Kate wearing a vest? Hmmm…

I love this show. Four months without a new episode. Will I survive it? How many times will I watch the finale over the summer? How many times will I wish for September to hurry up?

Thank you, Will Beall. Thank you, Andrew Marlowe, Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic, Seamus Dever, Jon Huertes, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Susan Sullivan, and Molly Quinn. What a fantastic finale!!

Okay, enough of the mushy stuff. Lets get to the cop stuff.

Lee Lofland

But, before I do, I feel as if I have to say this…again. We write this part of the review (about the police procedure) merely to point out things that aren’t exactly correct so writers (and others) won’t make the mistake of thinking that’s how things are in real-life. Again, I know the show is fiction. I know it’s not supposed to be realistic. And I know you love the characters. But YOU (writers) asked me to do this! So please, no emails telling me how dumb I am for not realizing this show is fiction and that it’s not a police procedural. I know this. And yes, I like the show. Especially this episode. I must say this was one of the best yet. Maybe it was so good because Lanie only had two lines to deliver, and they were believable. Amazing!

– Beckett goes to the prison (a state prison not under the control of NYPD) and totally takes control of an emergency response team who’s mission is to raid Lockwood’s cell. She even gives the team the command to GO! Ridiculous. Those teams practice together as a team on a very regular basis. Each person has a specific duty and they operate as a unit. They would not allow an outsider to join them, especially as their leader. Besides, she has no authority inside a prison.

A bit of explanation regarding the prison part of the episode:

Ad Seg, where Lockwood was housed, is Administrative Segregation. That’s where they keep inmates who either need protection or they pose a threat to others. There are a few other reason prisoners are housed in ad seg, but these two are the major ones.

General Population – Where the majority of prisoners are housed and are allowed to mingle with other prisoners.

Collect Calls from prisoners – I believe it was Ryan who said Lockwood was making collect calls to a number that wouldn’t accept the calls. Most prisons require prisoners to submit a list of names—a phone list—and numbers of the people they’ll be calling during their incarceration. Authorities check the numbers to make sure they don’t belong to co-conspirators or victims, police officers, judges, etc., and those are the only numbers the inmates are allowed to call. The system does not allow random calls or calls to unapproved numbers. The calls are also monitored (randomly, or if officials have reason to monitor a specific inmate).

– Ryan and Esposito hand Castle a beer they’d been keeping cold in the evidence room refrigerator. Castle grimaces at the thought of what else is kept there, on ice. Sure, it happens. I’ve seen it in morgues as well – a six pack of Diet Coke sitting next to John Doe’s body. Or a box of warm doughnuts beside a brain bucket in the autopsy room.

– There was a bit of a problem with how things progressed when Montgomery “took the bullet” for Beckett. As tough as she is and she simply stood by while her captain was murdered? No way. And, this whole thing was so out of character for Montgomery. But, when you’ve got to get out of your contract, you take a bullet, right?

As for Beckett getting shot…you bet she had on a vest (remember, they were gunning for her). And you can take it to the bank that she conveniently won’t remember Castle’s words.

Montgomery’s funeral was nicely done, including the riderless horse. I remember the days of working plainclothes for years and years and then trying to squeeze into the old uniform for a special occasion. Well, let’s just say that Beckett and crew seemed to fit into theirs a little better than I did. I’m just saying…

* * *

This season of Castle is over, but we can always have a Castle chat session at the Writers’ Police Academy. Melanie and I will both be there. Will you?

http://www.writerspoliceacademy.com/

May 17, 2011/by Lee Lofland

Guest columns

15 Fascinating Scientific Facts About Siblings

While we have spent a lifetime with our siblings, getting to know every quirk, trait and annoying habit that they have, we often don’t stop to think of the real impact that our sisters and brothers have on who we are and how we act. Whether it’s the order you were born in or all that good-natured (or bad-natured as the case may be) ribbing to which you subjected each other, our siblings can have an intense and long lasting effect on our lives, influencing everything from our health to how we interact with others. To learn more about how your relationship with your brothers and/or sisters has shaped who you are, here are some facts drawn from scientific research on the subject that helping illuminate the true depth of relationships between siblings.

1. Children spend more time with their siblings than with friends, parents, teachers or even alone. While siblings may not always get along, they do choose to pass a great deal of their free time with one another — more than anyone else in their life, in fact. By the time children reach age 11, they’re spending about 33% of their free time with siblings. Even as they grow into adolescence and get busy with their own lives, a Penn State University study found that they still spend about 11 hours a week with one another. In big families, these numbers can be even higher, with kids passing 17 hours with one another.

2. Siblings fight. A lot. Sometimes with a conflict every 10 minutes. Any parent of more than one child knows that they sometimes just don’t get along. Whether it’s a power struggle, competitive personalities or just plain irritation from being around one another, siblings spend a lot of time battling it out. One researcher found that brothers and sisters between 3 and 7 years old engage in conflict 3.5 times an hour. Younger kids fight even more, with a fight happening every 10 minutes.

3. Sixty-five percent of mothers and 70% of fathers exhibit a preference for one sibling over another. Talk to most siblings and they’ll tell you in a heartbeat who they believe their parents prefer. While most parents outwardly deny having a favorite child, studies have proven time and time again that this simply isn’t the case. Many, if not most parents have a favorite and kids are well aware of it. Research has shown that many non-favored siblings use this situation to their own advantage, but that it can be damaging in the long run to their self-esteem and confidence.

4. Having a sibling of the opposite sex makes boys and girls more likely to adhere to gender norms. Siblings can often try to mimic one another and follow in each other’s footsteps, but another phenomenon known as de-identification can also come into play. This is when siblings make a purposeful attempt to be different from each other and stake out their own role in the family dynamics. It can come into play in strange ways with families who have one child of each sex. Studies have suggested that this may intensify gender identification, with girls seeking out more traditionally feminine activities and friends and boys playing up the rough and tumble traits more readily attributed to their gender.

5. Having a sibling of the opposite sex may help you pick up dates more easily. Having a sibling of the opposite sex can have some other effects as well. Those with an opposite sex sibling were found in studies to have an easier time initiating and maintaining a conversation with a member of that demographic. The study revealed that those with older siblings of the opposite sex were seen as more likeable and were likely to strike up a conversation and smile, giving them a marked advantage on the dating scene.

6. Firstborns are generally smarter than the younger siblings, having on average, a three-point IQ advantage over the second sibling. As unfair as it may be, siblings who are born first tend to have a substantial academic advantage. They outperform their younger siblings by the equivalent of having had an extra year of schooling and are more likely to score higher on an IQ test. There are several theories on why this is the case, the strongest being that older siblings spend time teaching their younger siblings, thereby reinforcing their own understanding of concepts and ideas. Oddly enough, other studies have shown that younger siblings are generally born with a higher IQ, but this disparity reverses by the time children reach age 12.

7. Younger siblings tend to be more extroverted than older siblings in large families. Some believe that this is because they are so used to dealing with a large number of siblings, they are forced to speak up to get attention. It can also occur in smaller families for similar reasons. This extraversion can have long lasting effects, with surveys of siblings showing that younger siblings often have an easier time being funny and having lighthearted interactions with others. Younger siblings in the study were also found to be more creative, unconventional and rebellious than their older siblings, who were often much more serious.

8. In general, siblings interact significantly less with each other if they are not fully related. As odd as it may be, siblings’ interactions and relationships with one another may be partially determined by blood relatedness. While some step- and half- siblings may grow close over time, relationships are much more intense and warm between those who are fully related. Oddly enough, the same rules don’t necessarily apply to adopted children as step-siblings and half-siblings. Studies done by the University of Minnesota have shown that these relationships aren’t significantly affected by adoption.

9. Your sibling’s bad habits may rub off. For instance, a girl with a teenage sister who becomes pregnant is four to six times as likely to become a teen mom herself. If you have an older sibling who drinks, you’re twice as likely to drink. With smoking the numbers are four times as likely. Yet it isn’t a given that siblings will follow in each other’s less-than-stellar footsteps. The closer siblings are in age, the less likely a younger sibling is to emulate the older. Researchers think this may be because the siblings are already so alike because of their closeness in age that each one may seek ways to differentiate themselves.

10. A big part of individual personality develops in relation to interaction with siblings. All those fights with siblings may just change who you are as a person. Skills children learn in conflict resolution with siblings can carry over into other areas of life, making us better or worse at forming romantic relationships, working with others or having lasting friendships. Some other studies have suggested that birth order with siblings may also play a role in personality development, with older siblings being more nurturing and middle siblings being peacemakers, though many dispute these findings.

11. Siblings can make you shorter. A study of 14,000 British children found that those with three siblings were, on average, about one inch shorter. Having an older sibling can literally stunt your growth, because by the time younger siblings arrive on the scene there are simply fewer resources to go around. With less time, money and attention, younger siblings may come up short.

12. Have more older brothers may have an impact on sexual preference. It sounds strange, but having a few older brothers may make you more likely to be gay. According to new research, for every son a woman produces, the chance that her next son will be gay increases by 28-48 percent. It’s called the Fraternal Birth-Order Effect and researchers estimate it plays a role in the sexual preferences of up to one in seven gay men. No similar effect is found with women.

13. The number of siblings you have and your birth order can influence your health. Younger siblings are less likely to develop allergies and eczema than their older siblings, perhaps because by the time they arrive their home is already awash with germs brought in by other siblings helping to build a stronger, better immune system. Of course, all that health early on might not matter, as older siblings are much more likely to live past the age of 100. Researchers think it has more to do with the age of the mother when she gives birth than anything else, with the idea that younger eggs and wombs means healthier babies.

14. Birth order does not affect personality. The effects of birth order on personality have been the subject of research for decades now. Many believe that older children, middle children and younger children develop traits based on where they are in the birth order and the role they play in the family. New research shows that might be true– to a point. These effects are only limited to familial interactions and do not extend to those that take place outside of the family unit. So while the oldest child may be sober and serious while at home, he or she may be quite different in the role he or she plays in the outside world.

15. Siblings tend to resemble each other in looks and intelligence but are quite different in personality. Researcher Robert Plomin discovered that when it comes to home we look and how our brains work, we’re usually pretty similar to our siblings. Yet when it comes to personality, even though we share similar genetic material and upbringings, brothers and sisters often can’t be more different. Tests done on siblings to measure personality demonstrated that siblings might as well be strangers. Similar studies revealed something else as well. Even if you and your sibling are vastly different, those who didn’t grow up as only children are generally happier than their counterparts.

Today’s article courtesy of http://www.nursingschools.net/

May 16, 2011/by Lee Lofland

Weekend Road Trip

You’ve Got To See This!

Life passes much too quickly, so stop for a moment and see what it has to offer. Take a drive out into the country, park the car, get out, and take a few steps in any direction. You just might see something like this…

* * *

Exciting News! Attention All Writers’ Police Academy Attendees!

Bill Lanning

Police academy instructor and crime scene expert, Professor Bill Lanning, will be conducting a workshop on outdoor crime scenes. WPA recruits will experience a rare opportunity…to see and photograph all of the aspects of a shallow grave burial of a murder victim. Yes, you’ll actually find the evidence, see the insects, and smell death. So don’t forget to bring your digital cameras! We will also have a session on working the crime scene as a forensic photographer. We’re looking forward to seeing you in September!

Have you registered yet?

www.writerspoliceacademy.com

May 14, 2011/by Lee Lofland

Friday's Heroes

Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen

The Graveyard Shift extends our condolences to the families of these brave officers.

Trooper Andy Wall, 36

Tennessee Highway Patrol

May 7, 2011 – Trooper Andy Wall was killed when a vehicle struck his police motorcycle. Wall and another trooper (also struck by the vehicle) were escorting the Air Force’s Thunderbirds to an air show when the crash occurred. Trooper Wall leaves behind his sister, parents, and his girlfriend.

Sergeant Brian Dulle, 36

Warren County Ohio Sheriff’s Office

May 10, 2011 – Sgt. Brian Dulle was struck and killed while deploying stop-sticks in an effort to stop a suspect who was involved in a high-speed pursuit with police. After striking Sgt. Dulle, the suspect fled on foot, but was later apprehended. Sgt. Dulle is survived by his wife, three children, parents, and two siblings.

Eduardo Rojas, Jr., 35

U.S. Border Patrol Agent

Hector R. Clark, 39

U.S. Border Patrol Agent

May 12, 2011 – Agents Hector Clark and Eduardo Rojas were killed when their vehicle was struck by a train. The two agents were part of a team that was tracking a group of illegal immigrants when the crash occurred.

Agent Clark is survived by his wife and two children.

* 69 officers have died in the line of duty so far this year.

May 13, 2011/by Lee Lofland

Fire Fighting

Firefighter Joe Collins: Vehicle Extrication – Getting The Victims Out Safely

Vehicle Extrication

At our department we have two sets of tools, one completely portable and the other built into the Rescue Squad.

This is the portable set of tools. To get it running, you need to take the generator from a compartment, hook up the hoses and tools and then power up the generator. This tool is handy when you have a car wreck a long ways away from the street, road or highway. Below are the tools in the engine as they are stowed.

power unit

You can see that the power unit is accessible, but sort of crammed into the engine along with a number of other things including wooden cribbing, ventilation fans, and hotel packs of hose.

The tools built into the squad are powered by a generator in the vehicle which is handy–pull up close to the car wreck, hit a switch, grab the tools and go to work. They can also have more hose added to them for car wrecks that are further away than can normally reached with the fifty-foot reel of hose hooked into the tools.

tools

Before a vehicle is worked on, it must be properly secured as the tools are so powerful that they can lift a vehicle from the ground. Most departments use various forms of cribbing. Ours are made of constructed of a high strength polymer. We still have wooden cribbing on some of our apparatus. At a complex car wreck, you sometimes can’t have enough cribbing.

cribbing storage

Above, you can see our cribbing storage in our Rescue Squad.

cribbing

rollover

You can see cribbing being used on the right-hand side of the vehicle.

jacks

We also use rescue jacks to stabilize vehicles. Above you can see where they are stowed and below you can see them employed.

struts

We also use a wide variety of hand tools to extricate victims from vehicles.

hand tools

The most important tool used for extrication is a long-blade saw. While one part of the crew is using a cutter to pull a roof, another can be sawing on the other side.

Air powered lift bags are also an important tool. The smallest one in the picture below can lift a fully loaded fire engine. This is another tool that needs to be used with cribbing.

liftbags

With the amount of force that these tools can generate, they are often quite dangerous for the operator and require constant training to use safely.

Many of the action pictures you see above are from training and we try to cut apart a number of cars during training exercises throughout the year. The firefighters wearing yellow helmets are probationary members so everyone will learn to properly use them in controlled circumstances. There are also experts in the field who travel throughout the country teaching classes and always new information in the trade journals about extrication from newer vehicles.

Extrication tools and the techniques to use them have changed a great deal throughout the years. The first set of tools that I learned to use were Hurst tools and it took two strong men to properly operate safely as they were so heavy.

Patient safety is also a consideration due to the number of air-bags and explosive seat belt tensioners now in vehicles—it’s never a good idea to cut through one of these as they can deploy, injuring responders inside the vehicle doing patient care and furthering injuring patients.

Hybrid cars are also another very dangerous vehicle to cut apart. You aren’t supposed to cut certain colored wires, but in the dark, at 2 a.m., under the lights we use to illuminate a scene it’s sometimes makes it difficult to find them. The batteries, conventional and the ones in hybrid vehicles are all dangerous to responders.

What you have seen above isn’t necessarily all the tools used by all departments, but should give you an idea of what the tools and accessories are and how they are used.

If you want to see some very interesting techniques behind vehicle extrication, I encourage you to to to <http://www.fireengineering.com/index/extrication_zone.html> The videos and photos are what we use to train our members in the increasingly complex skills required to safely do vehicle extrication.

May 12, 2011/by Lee Lofland

Fire Fighting

Firefighter Joe Collins: Jaws Of Life

Jaws Of Life

The “Jaws of Life” while sounding only like one tool are actually a series of tools including cutters, spreaders, spreader-cutters, and rams. The jaws were originally designed and trademarked by Hurst Performance Tools in 1963 as tools to cut entrapped race car drivers from their vehicles after a crash.

The philosophy behind the use of these tools is to remove the vehicle from around the patient, not the other way around. It can take over twenty-minutes to properly do this during a difficult extrication, such as a rollover or a vehicle on its side in a ditch. Often, when news pictures or videos are shown after a car wreck it’s after the tools have been used to extricate the victims from the vehicle so the wreck looks worse than it did when the fire department rolled up.

Above, you can see a door that we had to pop off–”Door Pop,” to get the patient from the vehicle.

Powered by a gasoline, diesel, self-contained generators, or even hand or foot pumps all use hydraulics at pressures up to or over 10,000 psi.

The above power unit is gas-powered. Notice the two valves on the left side of the generator. Both tools can be used simultaneously and one firefighter always stays by the unit to control those valves.

The tools used at our department are TNT Rescue Tools (http://www.tntrescue.com/), but there are other manufacturers. Since I’m more familiar with TNT Rescue Tools, I’ll be quoting numbers from their specifications.

A cutter is tool that cuts through metal with as much as 320,000 pounds of cutting force using metal blades and is often called a crab cutter due to the shape of the blades. When we cut off a roof–”Roof Pull,” to get a patient, this tool can cut through all the pillars holding the roof on a vehicle in a matter of minutes.

The cutter, like most tools is controlled by twisting the handle on the left side, one direction spreads the tool, the other closes it.

A spreader has two arms that come together in a narrow tip. It is often inserted between two panels to create space between the panels when it spreads—usually to remove a door from the hinges with 56,000 pounds of force. Many can spread as far as several-feet.

This tool can also be used to crush parts of the vehicle, like over the front tire to gain space between panels so the door can be popped. With 25,000 pounds of crush force, it can easily smash parts of the vehicle.

The spreader-cutter is a combination of both tools and is quite popular with many fire departments as it is two tools in one smaller package. Since our department doesn’t use this tool, I’ve posted a picture from the company website.

dash roll spreader

The ram is being used less and less in automobile extrication. They come in multiple sizes and configurations and are often used to push the dashboards off an entrapped patient. They come in a wide variety of sizes depending on the required use. “Rolling a Dash” is often now often done with spreaders after performing strategic cuts on the frame of the vehicle as you can see above.

ram

Above, the ram is being used to support the vehicle after we pulled the doors, and cut the frame. It’s important that if you remove structural elements from a vehicle that you support it some other way be it a ram or cribbing. Though, power tools can fail, so the best bet is to using cribbing whenever you can.

In the next segment, we’ll talk about how extrication tools are powered, some of the hand tools we use and how we stabilize a vehicle before doing an extrication.

If you want to see some very interesting techniques behind vehicle extrication, I encourage you to go to <http://www.fireengineering.com/index/extrication_zone.html> The videos and photos are what we use to train our members in the increasingly complex skills required to safely do vehicle extrication.

* * *

*Remember, we have an onsite, working fire station at the Writers’ Police Academy. We’re featuring workshops on firefighting, including one on arson investigation. And, yes, the WPA comes with firefighters…

Romance author Samantha Kane trying on the gear at the 2010 WPA.

http://www.writerspoliceacademy.com/

May 11, 2011/by Lee Lofland

Castle Reviews

Castle: Pretty Dead – A Review

Miss Illinois is dead? Murdered? Strangled with her own sash? Say it ain’t so! Yes, the beauty queen’s premature demise was the case Beckett and crew were charged with solving this week.

Normally, I like a case with lots of twists and turns, especially when the twist comes at the end. But this episode had us worming around and through so many winding roads that I was almost dizzy before the final scene. Actually, there were too many twists. And, those twists, unfortunately, were without substance. I hate to say it, but they were simply weak (poorly written?) attempts to throw the viewer off base. I knew the killer’s identity from the beginning. Anyone else?

Okay, on to the cop stuff and this will be easy because there wasn’t much of it. And something else was missing from this episode, but it was a welcome absence…NO LANIE! Hang on while I dance on the ceiling for a minute…

Okay, I’m done celebrating. Now, for the forensics set-up we were treated to another visit by Perlmutter, who, by the way, says the same goofy stuff as Lanie, but he delivers it in a believable manner. His character is much more realistic. And he’s likeable. Don’t get me wrong, Jones (Lanie) is a fine actor, she’s just playing the wrong part. She’s, so, so wrong for the M.E. role. But, lets move on.

– Perlmutter shows Beckett a black sequin found in the victim’s hair. Well, they make a big deal out of the clue and learn that it came from the dinner jacket worn by the emcee of the pageant. And Beckett makes an even bigger deal of it when she questions the emcee. “Explain how this sequin got in the victim’s hair.” Well, I could explain it for him. After all, they’d just watched a video where he and the victim were talking and he leaned over to whisper in her ear. AND, when he did her hair was against the jacket. Duh…

– Why was the victim’s father (and scores of other people) allowed to walk freely through the crime scene while the body was still there? And wouldn’t it be in better taste to interview the father in a location where he couldn’t see the body of his dead daughter being tended to and wheeled away by folks from the morgue?

The investigation was weak and a bit ho-hum, but this episode was all about Castle’s relationship with Alexis, which I’ll leave to Melanie. But I do want to mention two more things before I go.

First, my favorite line from the show came from Beckett. “He’s dropped more pills than a three-fingered pharmacist.”

Finally, I’d pay close attention to next week’s episode. Might be shocking.

Okay, Melanie. Take it away…

Melanie Atkins

I really didn’t think too much about PRETTY DEAD before tonight, because I’ve been so caught up in reading the flood of speculation about next week’s finale. And I doubt I’ll think much about it now, either, even though Perlmutter was the ME rather than Lanie, and I’m sure that made Lee happy. I found the episode to be funny, yet unremarkable… except for a few relationship tidbits:

• Alexis broke up with Ashley so he would pursue his dream of going to Stanford rather than going to school in NYC… and limiting himself just to stay close to her.

• Rick told Kate about the Alexis-Ashley breakup, and she sided with Alexis, telling him the girl was simply being practical. Then Rick said, “But what happens when she meets her soulmate but she doesn’t risk it because it’s not practical?” Kate just stared at him.

• All the relationship banter with Captain Montgomery as he tried to come up with a present for his wife for their 30th anniversary. Rick has lots of ideas, and Kate is amused. Even Roy gets in on the action by making a remark about Rick’s failed marriages. Nice.

• Ashley comes to the precinct to ask Rick to act as an advocate for him with Alexis; to convince her to take him back and try a long distance relationship in the fall when he goes to Stanford rather than to a school in NYC. The line that jumped out at me was when Ashley asked Rick, “Have you ever been crazy about someone who’s determined to push you away?” And Rick was speechless, because yes, he’s crazy about Kate, and she won’t let him get close. She keeps pushing him away.

• Rick’s talk with Alexis on Ashley’s behalf was very sweet. He tells her, “Life is a journey, and we can’t predict its outcome. Don’t be so focused on what’s right in front of you that you miss the whole picture.” This analogy turned out to be more case related rather than having to do with Rick and Kate’s relationship, but the father-daughter moment was nice.

• The looks Kate gave Rick toward the end of the show. Wow. Makes me wonder if she and Josh have already broken up. Speculation was that they might break up in this episode if they hadn’t, but I saw no sign of Dr. Motorcycle Boy tonight. He hasn’t been mentioned for a while. So who knows?

• Kate asked Rick if Alexis had made decision about Ashley, and he says, “She decided that it’s worth the risk, and she’s going to just keep showing up.” Kate smiles and says, “Good choice.” And they just stare at each other, knowing they’re actually talking about their own relationship instead. I think Kate has already ditched DMB, and she’s taking Royce’s letter (the one she read on the plane last week) to heart. What do you think?

I’m curious about Montgomery’s decision to retire and Ryan’s question about what they’ll do without him at the precinct. Would that be a little foreshadowing about what might happen next week? Just sayin’… I have a feeling that episode will be tough to watch. Where this one was light, that one is said to be dark and angsty.

Only one more new episode to go!

* * *

Don’t miss your opportunity to learn from the pros at a real police academy!

http://www.writerspoliceacademy.com/

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May 10, 2011/by Lee Lofland

DNA

The Timeline of Osama bin Laden’s DNA Testing

The experts preach that DNA testing take weeks, sometimes months, before the results are known. So how was it possible for the U.S. government to use DNA to confirm bin Laden’s identity so quickly? Easy. The DNA testing process has never been slow. In fact, the entire procedure can be completed in a just a few hours. The problem with DNA testing in criminal cases is the enormous backlog of cases waiting for their turn in the lab (imagine the line at the DMV and then multiply it by a hundred). Even back in the old days of gel testing it only took about two days to learn the results of the test, but due to the backlog, law enforcement officials sometimes didn’t receive test results for months. So, as a safety net it was best, if necessary, to have other evidence available, such as a confession, fingerprints, and tool marks. In fact, it’s still best to collect all evidence, relying on DNA evidence as the “icing on the cake.”

Loading DNA into the gel.

In all cases, there must be a known sample for comparison to the DNA that’s undergoing testing. If not, results wait in limbo until matching DNA is entered into the system (a suspect is arrested and tested, etc.). In the bin Laden case, officials most likely used a DNA sample obtained from his sister when she died of cancer in a Boston hospital. If so, officials were able to determine that the body in question was indeed bin Laden’s. And they were 99.9% sure of that fact.

So exactly what are the steps to complete an entire DNA test using today’s procedures?

1. Extract and purify DNA, a fairly simple chemical process that can be completed in between 30 minutes and a couple of hours.

2. PCR amplification of the recovered template DNA using commercially available kits (looking at either nine, 13 or 15 polymorphic loci depending upon which kit was used — no doubt the same kits used for forensic casework in the US) in a process that takes 1.5 to 2 hours (sort of a DNA copy machine).

Genetic analyzer

3. Size fractionation of the PCR amplified DNA by capillary electrophoresis (30 minutes per sample) using a genetic analyzer.

4. Interpretation of the results which can be accomplished in a matter of minutes — essentially the amount of time it would take to enter between 18 and 30 numbers into a spread sheet.

According to world renowned DNA expert Dr. Dan Krane, the most time-consuming step in the entire procedure is…Well, why don’t I use Dr. Krane’s words.

Dr. Dan Krane

“I do not have any inside knowledge of the tests that were performed to identify bin Laden and I have not seen the test results. However, I would expect that the government generated and compared conventional, automated STR DNA profiles. Those types of comparisons are done fairly routinely in the case of missing person identifications.

The largest and most expensive instrument involved would be the genetic analyzer used for the capillary electrophoresis step — they weigh a few hundred pounds and are about the size of a typical desk but are found in crime labs and molecular biology research labs (they are used for DNA sequencing) around the world.

Getting the sample to a place that had a genetic analyzer may well have been the rate limiting step. In the case of the DC sniper shootings several years ago DNA profiles were generated by the FBI within five or six hours of each shooting and the time that it took to get the samples to the lab was often the rate limiting step. Generating profiles in so short a time frame is a clear indication that the work was very high priority — in typical crime investigations samples can take months to be processed due to wide spread backlogs.

Humans are diploid organisms meaning that we have two copies of all our genetic instructions. We get half of that material from each of our parents. As a result, siblings share on average half of all their DNA which is substantially more than pairs of unrelated individuals. In essence, it is a very rare pair of siblings that might be confused as being a pair of unrelated individuals (and vice versa).

I have heard that there is a 99.9% certainty that the tested DNA was from a sibling of bin Laden’s sister (whose tissue was genotyped approximately six years ago when she died of a brain tumor). I think that a more appropriate way to phrase that statistic would be “it is approximately 1,000 times more likely that the tested DNA came from a sibling of bin Laden’s sister than from a randomly chosen, unrelated individual.” That phrasing is more consistent with how paternity and sibling tests are typically described.

It might be worth pointing out that the type of DNA profile that was generated can say nothing about the age of the individual tested. The same applies to things like the birth order of siblings and the age of the sample being tested.”

Lab on a Chip

“There has been a substantial investment in the development of methodology that would allow DNA testing to be done in the field in a very short period of time (an hour or less — using “labs on a chip”) but that methodology is still at least several years from being ready for use to my knowledge.”

Lab on a Chip

May 9, 2011/by Lee Lofland

Weekend Road Trip

Paul Beecroft: Enjoying Royal Wedding Day In England

Not everyone received an invitation to the Royal Wedding. But our friend, Coroner’s Investigator Paul Beecroft, and a group of his neighborhood friends found a way to celebrate the day anyway—a street party in Twyford, Berkshire, England!