Polar plunge

A live post from EP polar plunge at round lake. 300+ jumpers. Nearly double from last year.


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American Heart Assoc Climb

Last week? Two weeks ago seven of us from the EPFD supported the American Heart Association by climbing 32 flights of stairs. I think we pushed ourselves, at least I know I did...but there was definitley a little left in the tank. The seven of us finished within 60 seconds of each other (between 8 & 9 minutes).

between the 7 of us we raised over $700 dollars.
Next up is the polar plunge for the special olympics.

Late night crash

Last night was the second late night page of the week. A rarity for station #4. Car slid off the road on one of the few remaining dirt roads in Eden prairie.
E41 provided blocking, light and help literally digging part of the car out of the embankment.


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Friction Loss = CQ2L

I think I am almost half way through operator class…..which is a good thing. If there was ever an example or separation of ‘book smart’ and ‘street smart’ this class is it. It is not that the classroom is difficult but boring. You can only read so much about how to drive and operate before you need to just do it. Every truck is different. Drives different, operates different so the real teaching will come during the hands on training at the department.

But I do have to say the pumping/hydraulics section is interesting. Calculating friction loss through the hose, elevation, appliances and then determining the right pressure to ensure the front line crew as enough GPM.
Friction Loss = CQ2L (co-efficient x flow rate squared x length of hose) And then you can calculate the Pump Discharge Pressure as = NP + FL + AFL + EL

AED in the OFFICE

It is not often that I am able to apply my EMT/Fire Skills during my day job but today I just took possession of four HeartSine AED for our company. We have a physically large footprint for an office building with attached warehouse. And until now all we had was a small medicine cabinet located in a few spots for headaches and bandages.

But starting in a few weeks we’ll have 10 full trained first-aid and CPR responders; four AED’s with Oxygen and Medical ERT bag. I think our safety committee is planning on surviving some catastrophic event……because now we can perform just about any triage/emergency outside of open heart surgery.

Training in the light of experience:

Right Seat Training: The last two weeks have been all about preparing the non-officers on how to manage an incident for the first few minutes (first on scene) in order to keep a squad safe and make the right decisions which typically impact the way an incident will be handled. It is amazing how few incidents we have which makes our training that much more important.

I am also in the midst of FAO (Fire Apparatus Operator) training which means I’ll be driving the big red truck pretty soon. Driving is one thing……Operating the water pumps, flowing water and making sure everyone on the end of the hose has enough water…..this one will take a number of months of practice, driving and more practice.

And last month I took the Fire & Life Safety Educator class which….well gave me some great insight into the effort, progress and infrastructure behind training and prevention. So, since we don’t see a lot of action I am taking advantage of all the training and practice I can get. ….but I’d still prefer a big ripper someday soon.

Waterous

Just finished a tour of the Waterous pump company. Although I am not a motorhead it was very impressive to see the innerworkings of a water pump..... And how they are manufactured.


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