"carry and comfort"exercise

10:41 Nov 22, 2013 

True. But I just see that as part of a health professional's work, rather than that of a firefighter.

10:28 Nov 22, 2013 

Easing a casualty's distress is an essential part of first aid. It is often essential to do this before it is possible to obtain responses needed for assessment of their physical condition and in order to prevent them aggravating their injuries or disrupting the rescue. If somebody is injured, it's possible that they might only be made "comfortable" once they get to the hospital.

10:05 Nov 22, 2013 

I too initially hesitated between physical comforting and easing distress as the meaning meant here by 'comfort', but in the end I decided that firemen might be expected to attend to injuries, but not necessarily to any other type of distress (of course it all depends on which country the source text is from; for example, as you know well yourself, the job description of firemen in France and the UK is not the same - French firemen often perform similar tasks to those of British ambulance drivers).