A lot to catch up.

I have a lot of catch up to do as it relates to the fire department. Let's see, last week:
Wednesday - Finished my FAO training & test. Thanks to LT 10, I was able to squeeze my testing on Engine 41 & Tower 41 around a PI.
Wednesday - PI on 212 just east of station. 4. Took my first right seat role and we ended up providing some patient care on three patients involved in two different cars (See photo).
Spent the weekend up at the cabin and came back to help support Eden Prairie during the annual 4th of July celebration.
Sunday: Spent a few hours in the afternoon helping kids shoot a fire hose at the "Squirt House" and a few more hours educating kids (and parents) in the "Safety Trailer".
Sunday: In between shifts I joined station 1 on car fire. Was able to be on the nozzel for the suppression.
Sunday: Came back and spent the evening on Enine 12. Ended up assisting with a medical heat exhaustion and then cardiac following the fire works.

Busy day(s).

Hopkins standby

Tonight a few EPFD's are covering The city of Hopkins while the have their annual party. Our shift us from 4pm to 1am.
Basically we will eat, watch a movie and eat..... Repeat in that order.


Perhaps we will get a call or two?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

FAO Training....Almost done

Today I completed all the pre-requests for FAO training. 5 hours of Engine Driving, 5 Hours of Tower Driving, 5 Hours of Enging Pumping, 5 Hours of Tower Operations, an hour of hydraulics. Thanks to all the Officers and FAO's who helped and put in the time.

Next up is a set of three scenario tests and then three supervised code 3's

EPFD Open House

From OPen House

EPFD has locked in the date and time for the 2010 Open House….October 9, 11-2pm. The open house is a time for EPFD so show-case its equipment, personnel and most importantly the all important message around safety and fire prevention. In 2009, there was a fire reported every 34 minutes across the state of MN. Fire Departments responded to some type of emergency every 2 minutes. The most common causes of fire in MN continue to be cooking, smoking and candles/matches……all that are 100 percent preventable.

The current plans for this years Open House will include the following:
Car Fire & Extrication
Safety Lab staffed with EMT’s
Fire Engine Tours
Squirt House
Fire Safety Trailer
And much more.

Last night mutual aid

Last night we responded to a mutual aid call to support Chanhassen for a house fire. By the time we were called to the deck the fire was out but we had a lot overhaul to perform. Exposing the joists between basement ceiling and first floor from the outside was interesting.

At least we got out and played a little.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Auto Extrication

Last night’s weekly training was all about auto-extrication. We had two engines crews working on one vehicle. The goal was to see how quickly (safely and efficiently) we could extricate a trapped victim. We were required to use a number of different methods of gaining access including Noah’s Ark (cutting the front & rear doors and the top allowing doors to drop down like a draw-bridge); 5th Door (not sure but we basically peeled the rear door open, remove the windshield, remove the trunk and gain access from the back, roll the roof off the entire car and finally role the dashboard upwards. All in all we completed all tasks in 38 minutes.

Tomorrow is off to do some “advanced search & rescue” in the training tower. Thank god for training programs otherwise I don’t think I would see the inside of a fire truck lately.

FAO Big Rig Driving

This was the last week of FAO class. Final exam on Tuesday and then an evening at Dakota County for some technical driving. Engine 21 & 32 made the trip. The night started out with some serpentine driving. 24-28MPH through some tightly placed cones.....carrying nearly 8000 lbs of water and gear make all maneuvers a little interesting. Second task was the skid pad...a flooded parking lot. 40 MPH and the lock em up...on a straight away and while turning. Third task was backing up through the serpentine...slow and steady. Fourth....was the decision course. Drive 26MPH straight into wall of cones.....with a last second light to direct you left or right without slowing down.