Style Sheet Additions

NFPA Fire Style Sheet

July 23, 2009

Refresher-specific info:

Key Concepts: Ok to leave in original order; do not delete “the” before organization names. They get no special treatment in chapter text.

Figure and Table callouts:Table 2-1, Figure 2-1. OK to appear wherever in the sentence. Use title caps for table titles and figure titles that are not full sentences; use sentence case for full-sentence figure and photo captions.

Footnotes: Use superscript numbers for callouts; use superscript numbers as table notes too

Ordinal numbers: OK with superscript suffixes

Terms at end of chapters: Initial cap is OK

References: Unnumbered list in ABC order; note specific citations in chapter is OK

General

Use Chicago Manual of Style for anything not outlined below.

Vocabulary

All vocab terms should follow NFPA glossary, if possible. The glossary is available online: www.nfpa.org/assets/files/PDF/definitions.pdf

Special Terminology

“Advanced Life Support” and “Basic Life Support” should be spelled out once in the beginning of the chapter, but should be referred to as “ALS” and “BLS” for the rest of the chapter. All acronyms should be spelled out when first introduced within a chapter and then used as an acronym for the remainder of the chapter.

“Fire fighter” should be 2 words. “Firefighting” should be one word.

“HazMat” (and variations thereof) should always be spelled out as “Hazardous Materials”

Do not:

Do not change “victim” to “person” or “patient”. In firefighting, the correct term is victim.

Figures/Tables

All figures and tables need to be referenced within the paragraphs themselves. For example, if Table 1-2 is discussed in a paragraph about fire suppression, it would be referenced like so: “Fire suppression is good. These statistics show why it is good (Table 1-2).”

Do not allow the figure reference to be places anywhere other than at the end of the sentence.

NFPA Codes

Do not reference the specific edition year of an NFPA code. For example, do not say “In the 2005 edition of NFPA code 1561….” Rather, say “In NFPA code 1561…”

Numbers and Dates

nine, 10, 11 (for example, one-story, 10-story, first floor, 10th floor)

1000/10,000/1 million (note no comma in 1000)

24 percent

2½ (not 2-½; no hyphen between numeral and fraction)

Figure 1-1

911 call

160F

mid-1800s

350-degree inspection

5 mi/h, 20 km/h

10 ft; 2 in.

Metric Conversions

Ensure that all Imperial measurements have a metric conversion in parentheses. This should happen everywhere, including end-of-chapter activities.

Metric conversions are the responsibility of the editor and copyeditor. One should add the metric conversions to manuscript, the other should double-check the calculations.

Option 1: Editor adds conversions to manuscript, and has copyeditor double-check Editor’s calculations.

Option 2: Editor instructs Production to have copyeditor add the conversions, but then Editor must double-check the copyeditor’s calculations.

Metric conversions should not contain hyphen unless used as an adjective. Examples:

(Noun, do not use hyphen) “Use a hose with a length of 2½” (64 mm).”

(Adjective, use hyphen) “Use a 2½” (64-mm) hose.”

Square measurements such as ft2 should be stated as ft2, not square foot. But when discussed in prose, it should stay “square foot.” For example:

NFPA 101: Life Safety Code establishes the maximum occupant load per square foot by occupancy type.

There should be one person per 100 ft2 (9 m2).

Inches should be converted to centimeters except where millimeters are the more common measurement, such as with hose lines. For example: 2½” (64 mm).

Common metric conversion factors:

1 ft = 0.3048 m

1 ft2 = 0.0929 m2

1 inch = 25.4 mm

1 inch = 2.5 cm

1 gallon = 3.785 liters

1 GPM = 0.06308 L/sec

1 lb = 0.4536 kg

0.434 psi = 1 kPa

Common conversions in Fire:

2½ inch = 64 mm

1¾ inch = 44 mm

Conversions should be rounded to the nearest tenth.

See Brannigan appendix for any other conversion factors needed.

Punctuation

series comma

bacteria species: Yersinia pestis (italic)

Bulleted/Numbered Lists

ROMintro, followed by colon.
Include punctuation if the bulleted/numbered items are full sentences, and no punctuation if they are fragments.
Do not use semicolon at end of bullets.

Lettered Lists

Lettered lists should appear as A., B., C., etc. Not (a), (b), (c), or sometimes (a), (b), (c), or a., b., c.

Hyphenation

Terms should generally be hyphenated if they are adjectives.

Glossary

At end of chapter, should be bold (and usually a different color than black), not followed by a colon.

References Format

Numbered list at end of chapter, one number per reference. In other words, do not use ibid. Just re-use the reference number several times in the chapter if the reference if mentioned more than once.

Chapter 17, Fire Fighter Survival (rom)

Helpful Hints

In pages of NFPA books, it is especially is important to check that art and caption match text.

Abbreviations/Capitalization

American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM)

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

asphalt asbestos protected metal (AAPM)

boiling liquid/expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE)

British thermal unit (Btu)

concrete masonry unit (CMU)

chief officer

compressed-air foam system (CAFS)

critical radiant flux (CRF)

early suppression fast response (ESFR)

energy-efficient windows (EEWs)

engine company (not Engine Company)

exterior insulation and finish systems (EIFS)

Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC)

fireresistant treated plywood (FRTP)

fire retardant treated (FRT)

gallons per minute (GPM)

global positioning system (GPS)

hazardous materials inventory statement (HMIS)

hazardous materials management plan (HMMP)

heat release rate (HRR)

high efficiency particulate air (HEPA)

high efficiency fire resistive (HEFR)

high strength concrete (HSC)

highly protected risks (HPR)

incident commander (not Incident Commander)

International Code Council (ICC)

liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)

National Bureau of Standards (NBS)

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

normal strength concrete (NSC)

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

oriented strand board (OSB)

parts per billion (ppb), parts per million (ppm), etc.

pounds per square foot (psf)

pounds per square inch (psi)

revolutions per minute (rpm)

Robertson Protected Metal (RPM)

standard operating procedures (SOPs)

truck company (not Truck Company)

vertical assembly building (VAB)

Named fires are cap/lc: Great Chicago Fire

List of Terms

abdominal-thrust maneuver

A-frame

air bags

airborne

air-conditioning (a)

air flow (n)

air-handling system

air lines (breathing system)

air-tight seal

alarm initiation device

as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA)

assisted-living facilities

A tool

auto-exposure

autoignition

awareness level personnel

B

backcountry (n, a)

backdraft

backfill

backflush, backflushing

backpressure

backup (n, a)

backup hose

backward (not “backwards”)

balloon-frame construction

bankdown

bankshot

Becket bend

bio-diesel

BLEVE: boiling liquid/expanding vapor explosion

bloodborne

boarded-up windows

booby trap (n, a)

boogie board

bowline

Brannigan, Francis

build-up (n, a)

burnback resistance

bypass

by-product

carpenter’s handsaw

catch-all (n)

cave-in (n)

cell phone

changeover (n, a)

Chapter 23, Fire and Emergency Medical Care (rom, no quotation marks)

checklist

check-out (n)

chemical-protective garment

Class A fire

Class I standpipe

clean-up (n, a)

Code 1 response

cold-weather environment

co-located

color-coded (a, pa)

come alongs (n)

compressed gas cylinder

condensed Q formula

confined-space rescue

consensus standards groups

corner safe areas

co-worker

cross-contamination

cross-section

cross-training

cross-ventilation

c-spine immobilization

cut-back operation

cutoff (n, a)

data (pl)

daycare

deadweight

department-wide

de-watering

dip stick

direct-line telephone

down-shifting

downwash (n)

draftstopping

driveline

driver/operator

driveshaft

drivetrain

drop-off (n)

dry-pipe system

Ecstasy (drugs)

18-wheeler

e-mail

Emergency Medical Technician–Basic (–Intermediate, –Paramedic): EMT-Basic, EMT-Intermediate, EMT-Paramedic

Emergency Response Guidebook

end-loader

end user (n)

Engine 405

en route

equipment stockpiling and mutual aid (EMAC) agreements

face piece

fast-food restaurant

fiber-optic (a)

Figure 1-1

firebombing

fire box

firebreak (n)

fire-cause investigation

fire chief

fire department

fire fighter

Fire Fighter I, Fire Fighter II

firefighting

fire ground (n), fire-ground (adj)

firehouse

fire-resistance requirement

fire service (generic)

fire-setter (n)

firestopping

fire-training center

first-aid kit

first-due area

firsthand

first-response vehicle

flare-up (n)

flash point (n)

flashover (n)

flat-head axe

floodwaters

flow meter

foot-tilt method

forced-air cooling system

forcible entry (n, a)

free-flow (v, in relation to diving/water rescue)

frontline

fuel load (do not use “fire load”)

fund-raising

fusible-link (a)

gauge

Geiger-Müller sensing tubes

ground-fault interrupter

groundwater

gunpowder

half hitch (knot)

Halligan tool, Halligan bar

Halon

hand-held

hand light

handline

hand-off (n)

hard-copy (a)

hard-wired (a)

hazardous materials (always spell out – not hazmat or HazMat)

Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response standard

headspace

head tilt–chin lift technique (EN dash)

health and safety plans (HASPs)

health care (n), healthcare (a)

heavy floor building

heavy wall building

high-angle rescue

high-expansion foam

highline (n)

high-rise

high temperature–protective equipment (EN dash)

hose line (not just “line”)

hoses (pl)

hotspot

hot wash

human-made (a)

Hux bar

I-J

I-beam

immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH)

Incident Command System (IMS)

in-line (a)

jaw-thrust technique

J tool

jump seat

K-L

kernmantle rope

knockdown (n, a)

K tool

laypeople

lean-to void

leap-frogging

length-of-service awards

Level II

Level I staging

life line

life-safety (a)

life safety rope

life-saving (a)

light-gauge steel

limited-combustible materials

line of sight (n), line-of-sight (a)

liquid splash–protective clothing (EN dash)

load-release hitch, load-release knot

lockbox

lockout system

low-air warning

low-angle rescue

manmade

mass-casualty (a)

mass decontamination (n, a)

master supply gauge

mayday

medium-size hose

micromanage

mid-ship

movable

multiagency

multifamily

multi-gas meter

multipurpose

multistage

multistory

multi-vehicle

mutual aid agreement

National Hose threads

nonambulatory

non-attack

nonbulk

noncoded

nonemergency

nonencapsulated

non-entry

non-ionizing

nonloadbearing wall

nonmoving

non-plan state

nonpressurized

non-volunteer

O-P

offload

onboard (a)

operations level responders

parged

Pascal’s law

people at one time (PAOT)

phase-change cooling technology

photo-ionization

physiological

pick-up (n, a)

pintle

Pitot gauge

playpipe

points system

policy holder

positive-displacement pump

postincident

power take-off unit

preaction

pre-alarm

preassign

pre-cast concrete

preconnected

predetermine

pre-emergency

pre-entry

prefire planning

pre-flood phase

prehospital

preincident

prepiped

preplanning

pre-plumbed

pre-retirement

preventive (not “preventative”)

pre-wash

private-sector (a)

prove-out sequence

prusik loop

pull-station (n)

pump-and-roll capacity

Q-R

rabbet tool (not rabbit)

rack-over (n)

railcar

raindown

Raman spectroscopy

reentry

rehydration

reignition

re-rating

ride-along (n)

right-of-way (n)

risk–benefit analysis (EN dash)

risk management (n, a)

riverboard

roll-over (n, a)

roofline

room-and-contents fire

rough-terrain rescues

runoff (n)

salt water

sand-lime mortar

search and rescue (n), search and rescue team

seat belt (n, a)

self-survival

semi-circular

semi-reclining

set up (v), setup (n, a)

shelter-in-placeor sheltering-in-place

shut-off (n, a)

Siamese

size up (v), size-up (n, a)

smooth-bore nozzle

soft-tissue injury

solid-stream nozzle

spray-paint (v), spray paint (n)

standpipe

start-up (n, a)

state-plan state

Station 3

staypole

Stokes basket

story (not storey)

Storz connection

structural collapse incident

structural fire fighter’s gear

structural-stage fire brigades

subchronic

subcontractor

subspecialties

subtract 10 method

supplied-air respirator

swiftwater rescue

tactical level management (not tactical-level)

Table 2-1

tagout system

tailboard

takeoff (n)

tank fill valve

telecommunicators

temporal-3 pattern

through-intersection (n)

tilt-up (a)

total-burial victim

townhouse

tow-truck operator

tractor-trailer tanker

treatment, storage, and disposal (TSD) facilities

triple-combination pumper

turnout coat

Type A packaging

Type A soil

Type 1 search

U-V

unpumped

un-reinforced

U-turn

Venturi forces

videotape

V-pattern

V-shape void

W

water-motor gong

website

wet-pipe system

wildland fire

windowsill

wood-frame building

worker’s compensation

workforce

workgroups

work-safe environment

work site

workweek

wythes

X, Y, Z

X-ray

References Style:

Article: “The National Response Team’s Integrated Contingency Plan Guidance: Notice.”Federal Register 61, No. 109 (June 5, 1996): 28641–31104.

Law: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Public Law 94-580, 42 U.S.C. 6901, et seq., October 21, 1976.

Book: Rom, W, Environmental Occupational Medicine, 2nd ed. Boston: Little, Brown, 1992.