More SCBA

Last night’s class was all hands on or should I say all hands and knees on. We don'd our full PPE & SCBA gear and had four stations.
Station 1: practice Donning the full PPE & SCBA in under two minutes. More importantly doing it with 100% accuracy. I think most of were able to get it done in around 2:20. A little more practice (It is harder than you think)>
Station 2: The Trailer Maze. Think a fully enclosed, large utility trailer. Fill it with steel grated dog kennels stacked two high and the entire length side by side. No cut holes, doors in the sides, tops and bottoms, throw in a 2ft diameter tube and you have a fun but difficult maze. We went in 2x2 and navigated the maze in complete darkness, wearing the full gear. Fun and tough.
Station 3: Get the heart rate up. Run and down seven flights of stairs, full gear and then hammer the Kaiser Sled.
Station 4: More maze work, low light, wooden boxes and crawl spaces, wires hanging and stuff on the floor.

All in all it was a fun night. Next time we add more search and rescue.

Don and Doff

Last night we practiced the art of Don & Doffing our PPE & SCBA. 60 seconds for the PPE and another 60 seconds for the SCBA.

As simple as it seems as soon as you are under the pressure of time and perfection, it is amazing how clumsy you can get. A simple task of snapping the regulator in place can seem to take minutes. I guess that is why we practice.

Week One

I am what the EPFD calls a Probie (probationary) or rookie or Yellow Helmet. First year in-training fire department.

Sitting at 40 years old I am loving this opportunity to learn new skills, meet new people, get involved within my community and keep myself busy.

One of the elements I find so interesting (as a Probie) is the fact that I am low man (person) on the totem pole. For the better part of the last fifteen years I have been a manager or leader of a team. People looked up to me to tell them when and how to do things. I was encouraged to think for myself and take risks. Now, when I am on a call or training, I am told exactly what to do and when. No deviation. No free-lancing, no thinking. Just listen and respond. That is going to be interesting and a new skill for me.

During this first I have responded to about a dozen calls and met a lot of great people. Next week we begin our SCBA training.

Should be fun.