Airfield and aircraft familiarization are two critical factors that must be understood by rescue/response personnel. Judging by successful attempts to contain and minimize losses, it is readily apparent that crash fire crew knowledge of airfield and aircraft design are interracial parts of perpetual training. Being part of initial response can be an awe-inspiring experience; the initial shock of the situation will hamper normal response behavior. With continued education and unconditional situational awareness we can program our response posture to enable us to approach the scene without delay and armed with a plan. Many aircraft maintainers' experience differing aircraft and airfields daily; situational awareness coupled with learned behaviors allows us to tackle this challenge head on. As an aerospace ground equipment mechanic, I feel my actions of querying aircraft personnel helps me in understanding basic blueprints for aircraft function and design. Airfields on the other hand are almost of cookie cutter design; I spend more time trying to understand traffic flow patterns than any other facet of an airfield/flightline. A more specific explanation will now follow.
             Airfields consist of runways, taxiways, marshalling areas, parking spots, terminals, maintenance hangers and structures. Of those items, most if not all service ground vehicle and aerospace vehicle traffic flow on a daily basis. By understanding specific traffic flow patterns, we can almost anticipate suitable response and exiting routes to and from the incident/accident scene. Differing airfields host general aviation, military aviation as well as commercial aviation platforms. During any response scenario you will be concerned with common airfield parking patterns, any hazardous or explosives materials and also oxygen rich environments. Any potential hazard that is defined as routine should be imbedded in your defensive posture. Perpetual training ef...