Communication and team performance in BA teams. A field study of breathing apparatus firefighters´ communication during rescue operations

The lack of guiding principles for the communication during breathing apparatus rescue operations is seen as a problem by many firefighters. There is a wish to obtain further heuristics for the communication, but there is no agreement concerning what successful communication is and how it should be achieved. This research aimed through field studies to see how the BA firefighters and the BA leader communicate with each other. It also aimed to investigate if some answers to what defines ´good communication´ during BA rescue operations could be found. Through a qualitative analysis of the communication patterns of two pairs of BA firefighters the impact on the communication made by common ground establishment, team knowledge and similar phenomena, such as experience of working together, has been investigated. The results illustrate communicative problems which can occur during a rescue operation and shed light on the gravity of an agreement on what information should be mediated by the BA firefighters. It is also seen how experience of working together can be suggested to help the firefighters to communicate efficiently.