Citation

Vidal-Gomel C, Delgoulet C, Gébaï D. Work 2012; 41: 5177-5183.

Affiliation

Dep. des sciences de l'éducation, CREN-Université de Nante. BP 81227, Chemin de la Cencive du Tertre; 44312 Nantes Cedex 3, France.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, IOS Press)

DOI

10.3233/WOR-2012-0806-5177

PMID

22317522

Abstract

This work was undertaken in France at the request of a local fire and rescue school in order to conduct an analysis of driving two types of heavy rescue vehicle with a view to improving training. This study took place in a context of specialisation: the drivers of these vehicles will henceforth only perform this type of task. Consequently, specific training has been designed in advance. Our study concerns the improvement of this training, taking account of the particularities of driving these vehicles in emergency situations typical to the profession of fire-fighters. The results stress first that driving of rescue vehicles in emergency situations is a multidimensional collective activity. Driving strategies identified share certain common objectives: "optimising trajectories", warn other road users, anticipate their behaviour and leave room for manoeuvre to counter and react to any unexpected behaviour. They include risks management for the potential victims of the incident and the risk of accidents during the journey. These initial results help identify certain recommendations for the training courses dealing with driving vehicles in emergency situations. They also provide a warning concerning the possible consequences of driver specialisation.

Language: en