June 2014, Salt Lake City, Utah—Retired New York Fire Department (FDNY) firefighter Jeff Cool presented at the new Petzl Technical Institute training center on the importance of personal escape systems for firefighters. More than 75 people attended the talk, including nearly 50 firefighters and fire chiefs from five different Salt Lake Valley fire departments.
Cool retired from the FDNY in 2006 due to massive injuries sustained on January 23, 2005, a day the media dubbed “Black Sunday.” It was on that day that six firefighters—Curt Meyran, John Bellew, Gene Stolowski, Brendan Cawley, Joe DiBernardo, and Jeff Cool—were forced to jump from the fourth floor of a Bronx apartment building after being trapped by a fire in a maze of illegally subdivided apartments. Meyran and Bellew died from the injuries, while DiBernardo passed away several years later as a result of complications from the injuries he sustained on Black Sunday.
Cool’s presentation focused on the need for personal safety ropes for all firefighters across the country. Such rope-based systems allow firefighters the option of escaping a burning structure when conventional exits are blocked or otherwise inaccessible. Cool also spoke on the importance of donating blood; he himself received 72 products of blood while being treated for injuries sustained in his fall.
The tragic events of that day spurred the development, in conjunction with the FDNY, of the Petzl EXO personal escape system for firefighters. In 2006, Time Magazine named the EXO one of the best safety inventions of the year. The device is now carried by over 40,000 firefighters around the world and has been effectively deployed in multiple fireground situations. Despite the success of the EXO personal escape system and other bailout kits, Cool feels there’s a need for every firefighter to have access to such systems and continues to travel and lecture on the topic across the United States.
Cool also presented to a group of instructors from the International Association of Firefighters, who were visiting Salt Lake City to participate in the Petzl Technical Institute’s EXO Train-the-Trainer course.
Additional Info:
- More about the Petzl EXO Personal Escape System for firefighters
- More about the EXO Personal Escape System Trainer course
Video:
EXO [EN] Personal Escape System for firefighters from Petzl professional on Vimeo.
