Where did the time go? Three more days!

Wow. I just realized my last post was almost two weeks ago... so much for even attempting daily blogging! At least I have a good excuse. Everytime I considered even a short (yeah right) update, I chose sleep instead. What with the 0730 - 1700 hrs, Mon - Fri, of firefighter recruit training, that leaves precious little time to eat, sleep, study, do homework, recover physically, do laundry, pay bills, read/respond to email, teach my Code 5 classes on the weekends, or socialize...

Looking back at the last few weeks, my class had done A LOT of stuff. We did another long day of live fire in the burn building; we became Technical High Angle Rope Rescue, as well as Hazardous Materials - Operations certified; we drilled, did PE, practiced Job Performance Requirements (JPRs), put together a Fire Prevention Presentation, and today – WHOO HOO! – started Vehicle Extrication - Jaws of Life, baby!

Some training highlights:

Live Fire Day - Justice Institute of BC, Fire & Safety Division, Maple Ridge, BC

This should have been labelled "Lowlights". I was not happy with my performance at all during the live fire evolutions. Not only that, but my friend lent me a fire-proof helmet cam to take into the burn building – and I melted it into a pile of plastic and rubber goo. Oops! I told him to return it, and say it came out of the box that way...

Basically, I overthink things to the point that's commonly described as "Paralysis by Analysis"... I can't describe it any other way. I know the task, I have the skills and the tools to complete it, I just think too much to the point where I make dumb mistakes. Well, I learned a lot, and I beat myself up the point where I HAVE to let it go... but as any Type-A will attest, for us, it's a hard thing to do. Anyways, that was the day I came the closest I've ever come to passing out.

It was one evolution in particular, taking a charged hoseline up a 35' ladder into the 3rd storey window, and from there, finding and attacking the fire. Well, let me tell you something, if you recall a previous post, I casually mentioned that humping charged hose was a hard thing to do... now try dragging it up a ladder! Apparently, there is no easy way, or a miracle trick that makes the hose magically float up the ladder. It's a lot of gruntwork and sweat. Of course, for me to be able to see what I'm doing, I have to go on air, or else the mask fogs up. So after what seems to be an eternity, I get the damn hose up the friggin' ladder, I'm already pooped, and we haven't even started looking for the fire! My cohorts join me, and away we go. I can't even remember what we did once inside. We must have found the hot stuff and squirted some cool stuff on it. While getting the fire under control, my low air alarm starts going off – bells ringing, pack vibrating, me sweating and trying to control my breathing. We're deep in the building, we have to find our way back to the ladder, and climb down. That's a lot to do on low air!

We try our best to hurry back. By the time we get to the egress room with the window and ladder, my SCBA pack has stopped singing and dancing. That's bad. It means you are so low on air, you have maybe a few minutes left if you're lucky. I am SOOO exhausted at this point, you have no idea! I barely have the strength to jump up to the sill and climb on to the top of the ladder, but I do it. What alternative is there? There is none, because there are guys behind me waiting to get out, also low on air. I descend the ladder, one step at a time, each breath getting harder to take. Halfway down, I can feel each breath starting to suck the mask back onto my face. Not good. Two steps from the ground, I completely run out of air. I come off the regulator, and gasp for fresh air. Wow, was I ever happy to breathe that! An instructor came over to monitor me, and walked me through basic tasks such as, well, taking off my mask. And my helmet. And opening my turnout coat to cool down. My vision starts to blur, and I have to bend over to support myself... whoooo, gaaaaaassspppp, breaaathhhheeeee....... At least I don't fall over! I make it back to the staging area, and wait for my heart rate and body temperature to return to normal. Wow. And wouldn't you know it, I forgot to turn on the helmet cam...!

Technical High Angle Rope Rescue (THARR) – Operations

I won't lie to you. This is fun shit. We get to climb ropes up the side of a building, rappel down, create raising and lowering systems, tie cool knots, and rescue hapless victims from precarious situations. I would pay to do this, it's so much fun! This stuff does require thinking, because we needed to construct mechanical advantages (MAs) and make them work.... well, when you are dangling 3 storeys above the ground, you want to be sure you (or the guys that built the system) know what they're doing! This is definitely when you want to have your team skills honed, because teamwork and communcation is crucial to a successful rescue. I can't wait to take the Confined Space course next year!

Hazardous Materials (HazMat) – Operations

I was never really interested in HazMat. Seemed tedious... much less glamourous than THARR or live fire, and, well, dangerous chemicals just didn't do it for me! But it's part of the job, and we are all to be trained to Operations level. And the reality is, it was mostly pretty cool! The only problem is that at 5'4" and 130lbs, I am too small to fit any gear that would be on the trucks, and they don't even have my size for much of the equipment. But, we made it work, thanks to copious amounts of duct tape and ingenuity. I also picked up another nickname. Did you know that when I wear a Level A HazMat suit and speak through a throat microphone, I look and sound like Kenny from South Park? Kenny! Great. Well, it could have been worse! And, as an added bonus, we got to keep our Level B suits... so if anyone needs a Ghostbusters costume for next Halloween, give me a shout!

Vehicle Extrication
Well, we have a whole day of scenarios to go through tomorrow, so I won't bore you with details. But cutting through metal and operating the Jaws of Life is, let's just say AWESOME! I won't let bad drivers get to me and road rage is now a distant memory, because this just kind of cures it all. We still have another day to go... so I guess I'll have to put it in the next post.

I am tired, as usual. I'm starting to fall asleep while writing this, so I know it's time to pack it in. It's supposed to snow tomorrow, so I have to wake up even earlier than my usual 5am, just in case the roads suck. Welcome to BC!

Cheers

TD (Kenny)

Battle of the Badges?

Q: What do cops & firefighters both have in common?
A: They both want to be firefighters!

Okay, okay, relax, it's a bit off humour... LOL!! I'm gonna catch it from all of my cop friends now! Last post I touched on some cop 'n' firefighter commonalities; now we'll look at some differences.

BTW, I have so much more to add about the adventures of firefighter training, but I should catch up on what was left unfinished...

The more I become engrossed into the world of firefighting, the more observations I can make. Keep in mind, I have yet to serve 5 minutes on the floor as a badge-wielding, Union-backed, IAFF sticker-bearing firefighter that actually has a story to tell – but even as a lowly recruit, there are notable differences.

Primarily, the nature of our contacts with the public come to mind. Let's face it, anytime you see a cop car coming at you Code 3 (lights & siren) behind you while driving, I'm guessing the first things you do will involve looking at the speedometer, hitting the brakes, asking yourself if you've done anything wrong, and putting your cell phone/Crackberry/iPod/breakfast/lunch/dinner down and paying attention to the road, after you've checked to make sure your seatbelt is on. Sound familiar? Then as the cop passes right by you, you breathe a sigh of relief as you wait for your heart rate to subside. Uh huh. Or, let's say you get a knock at the door in the middle of the night, or whenever, and there are two uniformed cops standing there. Whatever the reason, you know it's not going to be good. Usually, public contacts with law enforcement are not happy ones, and that's ther reality of the job. Cops have to deal with both scumbags and law-abiding citizens, and their duties are thankless. A job well done is often taken for granted, and when you do get the scumbags off the street, there is always someone trying to criticize the who/what/where/why. So easy to jump to conclusions, but if you weren't there, you have no right to criticize. End of story. But when cops do make mistakes, you can bet it's all over national television. Well what about the happy human-nature stories? Once in a while yes, but disproportionately. "If it bleeds, it leads", to quote a popular journalism saying. It's not right, but it's not going to change anytime soon.

Firefighters, however, have it pretty good. Courageous, and brave, when the community calls the Fire Dept into action, they are SOOO happy to see us arrive! We save their lives, their property, their homes.... and we have a special charitable calendar to to boot! We get station visits from families and community groups, people honk and wave as we drive down the street, and we really feel the public's appreciation for what we do. AND... even though we work a 4/4 shift schedule much like police do, we actually get to rest on our night shifts, sometimes. We get to ride that big red truck!! Does it get any better?

People often joke that I've traded my gun for a pillow. Actually, it's usually the cops the say that to me. That I switched to the "other" side, to be a "buckethead". They've even asked why I'd want to be a firefighter... because I'm too smart!! Ouch! There are so many misconceptions it's hard to keep it short for a blog like this. But let's try.

What I find amusing is that it's usually the cops that try to belittle firefighters, whether it be to criticize how we burst into houses just to bust shit up and break it down, like bulls in a china shop. Or, we spend our spare time shining that pretty red truck. Or that we get too sleep on night shift. Or that we all have second jobs, usually in the trades. The list hoes on. But funny, I really haven't heard any "digs" from the firefighters about cops. Except for maybe to question to fitness level of some members after they've spent a few years on the road.

Fitness. Now we're talking. I have a lot of opinions on this, and I speak from experience, not as an armchair quarterback. I've walked the talk, and am not shy to say it like it is. Too many times I have seen police pre-recruits work their asses off to pass the POPAT or PARE, then let themselves slide once they're in, past Police Academy or Depot, and then fitness becomes a chore, last on the priority list. 99% of the job is routine, and you spend a lot of time sitting on your butt in a patrol car. But it's that 1%, that one call where the shit hits the fan and you have to fix it... you NEED to be on your A-game, you are going full-on, balls-to-the-walls, with an all-out adrenaline dump. Now is when you will feel that skipped workout! Firefighters, by the nature of the job and countless hours of continued training, MUST and DO maintain a high level of fitness, otherwise they become a risk to themselves and their mates. Our CPAT fitness test is 10:20 compared to a 4:15 POPAT, and much more difficult. But the real test in on the fireground, when you not only need to have the strength to set up ladders & fans, hump hose, climb/walk/crawl in, out, up, down, around, wearing 50lbs of gear, hauling heavy tools, and also have the cojones to enter a building on fire, search for things when visibility is zero, get the job done, and make it out safely... all on air, which means if you run out... bad things happen. Our first week of Fire Academy, our Training Officers told us that now we are in the field of emergency services, we GIVE UP THE RIGHT to be unfit and unhealthy. I love it!

Probably the best way to describe to differences between firefighting and policing is to first understand that we are different people that fit under the broad spectre of emergency services. Then, to put it bluntly, cops are enforcers, and firefighters are saviours. And I'm speaking my own humble opinion here, in very general terms, so if you have a comment or story to share, please do! Love to hear fr om you!

TD