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)
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)
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