Firefighting Course: The Dangers of Smoke Inhalation During a Fire

Smoke inhalation from a fire can result in severe internal damage, long-term side effects, and may potentially result in death. Understand the dangers of smoke inhalation with our guide to the effects that occur when you inhale smoke during a fire. Pick up the signals of smoke inhalation with our list of symptoms and effectively assist someone suffering from smoke inhalation with our recommended steps. A firefighting course is the best way to be prepared against the dangerous effects of smoke inhalation when faced with a fire. EMCARE offers a firefighting course that will equip you to reduce smoke inhalation and safely assist others.

Dangers of Smoke Inhalation:

A household or workplace fire is a life-threatening situation. Not only can the fire result in burn-related injuries, entrapment in a collapsed building, or death, but also the inhalation of smoke caused by the fire can be extremely hazardous to your health and life. We have highlighted the 5 main dangers of smoke inhalation and how they can be hazardous to you.

1) Difficulty Breathing:

The most prevalent danger to your health with smoke inhalation is difficulty breathing. Fires require oxygen as one of the components of the fire tetrahedron to keep burning. If you find yourself in a closed space with a fire in your home or workplace, the fire will start using up the oxygen in the space leaving less for you and will thus make breathing difficult.

Not only will you have less oxygen to breathe, but you will also start inhaling the smoke from the fire. Smoke is a simple asphyxiant, or a minimally toxic gas that reduces the quantity of oxygen in the air that you are breathing. The combination of less oxygen in the air paired with inhaling oxygen-depleted smoke will start depriving your body of oxygen and make it difficult to breathe.

2) Irritant Compounds:

Smoke inhalation is dangerous as it contains thermal and chemical irritants that can make breathing difficult. When you inhale smoke, you are inhaling a heated vapour composed of particles and gases. These particles and gases are determined by the fuel that the fire is burning, and thus different smokes will have different irritating effects.

The heat of the smoke will make breathing difficult. The high temperature of the inhaled smoke will burn your entire respiratory system and inflame your airway and lungs. As your airways and lungs become inflamed from the hot smoke, they will begin to swell which will block your oxygen supply and make breathing difficult.

The smoke you inhale may also contain chemical irritants, such as ammonia, chlorine, hydrogen chloride, or sulphur dioxide, depending on the fuels that the fire is burning. These chemical irritants will also lead to your airways and lungs becoming swollen and irritated. The swelling of your respiratory tract will make it difficult to breathe.

3) Chemical Asphyxiation:

Smoke inhalation can make breathing difficult due to being a simple asphyxiant and potentially containing thermal and chemical irritants, but it can also lead to suffocation from chemical asphyxiation. The gases in smoke can be hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulphide, and carbon monoxide. These chemicals all affect the supply of oxygen to your cells, which causes your cells to start degrading. The inhalation of carbon monoxide present in smoke is one of the major causes of death.

4) Loss of Consciousness:

Smoke inhalation will quickly start leading to suffocation. As your body is deprived of oxygen, you will begin to lose consciousness. You will initially feel confused and drowsy and then lose consciousness entirely. Loss of consciousness places you in extreme danger in a fire.

5) Death:

The extreme danger of smoke inhalation is the risk of death. If you have lost consciousness due to smoke inhalation, you may become trapped in the burning home or workplace. The total deprivation of oxygen to your body caused by smoke inhalation will lead to the failure of your major organs and ultimately result in death.

Symptoms of Smoke Inhalation:

To avoid the dangers of smoke inhalation, it is important to understand the physiological symptoms that occur when you are exposed to smoke. If you start experiencing any of these symptoms, your life is at risk and you need to immediately get away from the smoke to reduce the life-threatening dangers of smoke inhalation. We have highlighted 4 of the common symptoms of smoke inhalation so that you can quickly pick up the signals and get to safety.

1) Coughing:

Coughing is a common symptom of smoke inhalation. When the heat, chemical irritants, and other particles in the smoke cause your airways to become inflamed, your body naturally responds by the membranes in your respiratory tract creating mucus. The increase in mucus creates a coughing reflex in your body to remove the irritants in your respiratory tract.

The coughing will usually last for extended periods and you will be coughing up the mucus in your respiratory tract. The mucus may be a grey or black colour from the soot particles in the inhaled smoke. There may also be blood present in the mucus if there are burn injuries on your respiratory tract.

2) Changes to Breathing:

The lack of supply of oxygen paired with your inflamed respiratory tract will result in changes to your breathing. Your breathing will become short and rapid as your body struggles to get a sufficient oxygen supply. Your breathing may also be noisy due to the increase of mucus in your respiratory tract and fluids in your lungs.

3) Headache, Chest Pain, and Vomiting:

The carbon monoxide present in the inhaled smoke will cause several symptoms. Headaches, chest pain, and vomiting are all signals of acute exposure to carbon monoxide. Any of these three symptoms demonstrate a dangerous level of smoke inhalation and that you are at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning which will lead to death.

4) Blue Skin:

The depleted oxygen supply to your body during smoke inhalation will result in changes to your skin colour. Your skin will start developing a blue tint that is a clear demonstration that you are at risk of losing consciousness due to asphyxiation. The skin on your toes and fingers will most likely go blue first.

How to Assist Someone Who has Inhaled Smoke:

You may be passing a workplace or home that is on fire, and see people who are demonstrating the symptoms of smoke inhalation. If you want to assist smoke inhalation victims, you need to take the correct steps to help the people who have inhaled smoke and also keep yourself safe. We have highlighted the three steps to take to assist someone who is suffering from smoke inhalation.

1) Remove From Smoke Area:

The first thing you need to do is remove the person from the smoke. The asphyxiants and irritants in the smoke will be depriving the person of oxygen, which means they need to get to fresh air as soon as possible. This is dangerous, and you should only remove someone from a smoke-filled space if you are equipped with training from a firefighting course to act correctly and safely around smoke and fire.

2) Call for Emergency Medical Assistance:

Once you and the affected person are safely away from the smoke and fire, the second thing you need to do is call for emergency medical assistance. The dangers of smoke inhalation mean that the person’s life is at risk. By calling emergency medical services, the person can be assisted by professionals immediately to reduce the risks of long-term effects of smoke inhalation.

3) Perform First Aid:

You may be required to perform first aid on the person suffering from smoke inhalation. If the person is unconscious and not breathing, you will need to check their airways and potentially perform CPR or rescue breathing. The person may also go into shock due to the trauma on their body from the smoke inhalation and the stress of the situation, and you will need to perform first aid for shock. You should also check their bodies for any burns or other injuries and address them accordingly whilst you wait for professional medical assistance.

Be Prepared with a Firefighting Course:

Being prepared for a fire emergency is essential. A firefighting course will provide you with firefighting training that will enable you to prevent fires in your home or workplace, use firefighting equipment, and get yourself to safety during an emergency fire. Amongst the many important fire safety skills you will learn in a firefighting course, you will also learn about how to reduce your risks of smoke inhalation.

A firefighting course will enable you to keep yourself and those around you safe from the dangers of smoke inhalation and fire. In your firefighting course, you will learn about the dangers of smoke inhalation, steps to take around smoke to reduce your smoke inhalation, and how to get out of the smoke-filled space quickly. The practical and theoretical training in a firefighting course will reduce your risks of respiratory damage, loss of consciousness, and death when faced with smoke inhalation from a fire emergency.

EMCARE Firefighting Course:

EMCARE offers high-quality firefighting courses that will equip you to handle the dangers of fire and smoke inhalation. We are dedicated to providing highly practical training in our firefighting course so that you will be safe against the dangers of a fire emergency. When lives are at stake, you can trust that you will be fully equipped to handle the situation with EMCARE’s firefighting course.

In every EMCARE firefighting course, you will learn how to get out alive from a fire emergency. This includes covering all the relevant skills to avoid the dangers of smoke inhalation. We cover the theoretical aspects of smoke and demonstrate steps that you can take to protect yourself from excessive smoke inhalation.

Every EMCARE firefighting course is offered by trained professionals. We strive to provide you with the highest standard of firefighting training in our firefighting course, which is why all of our trainers are fully qualified and experienced. With EMCARE, you will experience a firefighting course that is professional and orientated to boost your confidence to safely handle a fire emergency.

To be fully prepared for a fire emergency, you can pair our firefighting course with our first aid training courses. This will ensure that if you are ever faced with someone who is suffering from smoke inhalation, you can get them to safety quickly and perform the necessary first aid to ensure their survival. Our first aid training and firefighting course will prepare you fully for any fire emergency.

About EMCARE:

EMCARE is your total solution to all your health and safety training needs. Alongside our firefighting course and first aid training courses, we offer health and safety training courses, hand tool operator training courses, and working at heights training courses. Tackle any health and safety career with confidence or gain invaluable skills to keep yourself and your loved ones safe from hazards with EMCARE.

Avoid the dangers of smoke inhalation by enrolling in the practical EMCARE firefighting course.