Fire School - Search and Rescue Training

Monday night we had Search and Rescue training. We had enough instructors that we split the class in two, and each team of students (there are 8) got to work with 1 instructor. Normally it's two teams per instructor, so this was a good thing.

I found myself in the 'apartment side' of the burn building - the object was to work on search and rescue techniques for smaller areas, we had another instructor doing wide area, a pair doing another closed area (in the house side) and someone else outside supposedly teaching lifts, drags and carries. This setup was mirrored at the 'highbays' (a facility that is tall enough to house an extended aerial apparatus, yet also has an elevator shaft, and more rooms of an apartment / housing type).

Overall, the students did well with the basic concepts - sounding the floor, keep checking for entanglement hazards and doing the actual search with appropriate communication. I believe that at some point they all 'died' by not doing the basic survival steps (floor/entanglement). But as it was their first night, no biggie. The public humiliation will start in a couple of weeks if they are still doing dumb things that can/will get them killed.

I found myself doing something I really really hate: talking longer than the actual doing during a practical session. I'm of the opinion the lecture is for talking, the practical is for doing. Simple right?

Well there were a few key points I felt it important that the students think about.

1) how to size up a structure to know where the victims are likely to be (i.e. we most run at night, so how to tell where bedrooms, living room and bathrooms are from a glance at the building from the outside before you go in)
2) using that information to better decide where to search
3) proper radio traffic for doing primary/secondary searches, as well as what to say should you find a victim
4) what do to when you do find a victim
5) what's the best way to extricate a victim? Through the main door? Balcony? Defenestration?

While I'm sure it went over the heads of most of the students, I did get some feedback from one of them I ran into last night at my station. He said that when driving down the street, he is looking at buildings in a new way - trying to visualize their layout just by looking at the outside.

That made it all worth it.

Ironically I'm meeting the same student today as I want to drive around my first due with a pre-plan book looking at some target hazards and new construction. I've been been in this part of the county 6 months, so I need to get to know it better still.

Hopefully we'll both learn something today.

The Triumvirate as a Success Story

Aside from spending my (free?) time teaching Fire and EMS classes, I am enrolled in the county's Command School. This is basically a series of National Fire Academy classes as we as some State and County leadership training. So this past week I found myself as a student, and not an Instructor.

It was a welcome change. Unlike the students in the basic firefighting and EMS classes, the wearing of uniforms, shaving and such are entirely optional. Classes at this level are a lot more informal: there are fewer students (in this case there were 7 people, unlike the core classes of around 50), we (the students and the instructor) have all known each other for a few years.

This was my kind of class, and this is the environment where the baldest member of the Triumvirate really shines.

The class was "NFA Emergency Response to Terrorism - Tactical Considerations for the Company Officer." The course material provided little in the way of actual tactics (i.e. just how far do you need to be from a car bomb, a small incendiary device, biological weapons etc). In fact, I think the entire class could be summarized with the following statement:

"Treat a terrorism incident like a large Hazmat incident."

So what do you do when you have 12 hours of class time when the course can be summarized in 1 line? You goof off, crack jokes, tell stories. All related to the topic at hand of course.

for example:

T: "When dealing with a large mass casualty incident, the press and public tend to get upset when you just leave bodies lying around."

me: "Well the bodies clearly don't, if they did - they'd move."

**

T: "Yeah, I really had my dick ground into the dirt on that one."

**

T: "Man, I really hate the guy who manages the vending maching [this was break time], he only comes here once a week to bring me stuff. I really really hate him."

me: "Damn, I hate to ask what you think of Santa Claus"

**

Some other highlights were when two guys in the class who have a history of mutual intense dislike almost got into it.

Anyway, the class itself was awesome. The Triumvirate member in question is much better dealing with smaller advanced groups than the basic core classes. He (understandably) wants to provide all the information the students need in the real world, but unfortunately that does work when they're trying to figure how to tie a rope to a tool. I had taken Fire Officer II with him and 3 other people. It was excellent. Much discussion. Here's hoping the tools in the current class will last long enough to enjoy the baldest Triumvirate in his element.

Coming up: Module 1 Skills Final tomorrow. I wonder how many will fail.

I can't wait.

Learning the Ropes

Saturday was my debut lecture where I was teaching the Firefighter 1 and 2 class all by my lonesome.

And it was the incredibly painful (yet very very important) lecture entitled, "Ropes and Knots." In other words, Boyscouts 101.

You can do all sorts of fun (fire service related thank you very much) things with ropes and knots. I enjoyed it so much I somehow became a nationally certified NFPA 1006 Rope Rescue Technician. And by somehow I mean I'm afraid of heights. Heights like I hate standing on chairs.


I wanted to emphasize that ropes and knots are the corner stone of Technical Rescue work and can be damned fun.

Unfortunately, this is hard to do when you have 75 or so powerpoint slides with almost no pictures, and exciting information like the terms, "standing end, working end and running end" for parts of the rope you're using.

Shit, I'm falling asleep just recalling the lecture. I really did feel bad for the students.

So, knowing the material was dry, I decided to use a video clip I used for a Technical Rescue Awareness Class that an esteemed colleague (who has yet to earn a nickname) did for our Fire Instructor II project.

The video went something like this:




So the lecture only took around 1.5 hours of actual lecturing. Apparently this came as a shock to a lot of students. Apparently the Triumvirate don't hold to the mandated 1 min / slide guideline.

Then we learned to tie knots.

The Baldest Triumviate arrived midway through knot tying. He informed me that my bowline really wasn't a bowline (uh huh) and that bowlines should be used for rescue (perhaps 30 years ago, but that's not what is taught in Technical Rescue around the US and overseas).

I prepared for this ahead of time (well not the comment about MY bowline knot, but the rescue part) by trying to emphasize to the students during the lecture what knots are used for what, and what they USED to be used for. Don't how if they got it or I explained it well. Oh well. We'll find out later.

I later found out (after the lecture) that I was also organizing the practicals. I wasn't expecting this. It was also weird having people who taught me fire 1 and 2 here deferring to me. *boggle*

We managed, did the basic This Is How You Tie a Ladder, This Is How You Tie Fire Service Tools, and of course the obligatory Let's Make Sure You Actually Can Tie The Knot Itself practicals.

The fun part (or so I thought) was at the end when we did relay tool tying. It was pretty neat to see who really had the knots and how people did with teamwork, as well as how they responded to a little friendly pressure and competition.

All in all, it was a good day.

And no one messed with My Chair.

(I learned to lock my car)

Extinguishers

The other night was portable fire extinguishers. I managed to avoid the lecture (it was one of the Triumvirate), but I was on the pad to do some demonstrations/practicals.

The way we teach people to use the various flavours of portable extinguishers is to put some diesel fuel in a metal tub, some straw and light it with a flare. Depending on what type of fire you're simulating, you adjust the amount of straw.

Of course, I've never actually done this before. I've been it done, but never set it up.

Now imagine my delight when I found out I was organizing the practicals.

Shit.

We had three stations, each to cover the use of dry chem, CO and water extinguishers.

I had a new instructor (who is career in the county and a vollie at my vollie house) with me doing water, and the non-bald Triumvirate had the other two.

Apparently one of the Triumvirate used all the CO extinguishers in his first group (of three). *sigh*

The cool thing about doing the diesel and the stray is that once it gets hot enough, it ignites for you so you're not sticking your (in my case non-gloved hand) over the fire to relight it. Unfortunately that doesn't usually happen until the end of the evening.

All in all, it was fun. We did see some deer up at the main pad hanging around when we brought the empties back up.

Would have been good to recruit them - they would be better than some of the students, and if they failed - we could eat them.

Divine Intervention and the Acolytes of My Chair

This is My Chair.

At least, it's the best image I could find of the same type of chair without having to get off my ass to take a picture.

Apparently, the students in my Firefighter 1 & 2 class worship it.

Frankly, I can't blame them. My Chair, emboldened with a bright maple leaf; this chair, purchased in my home and native land; My Chair, lovingly transported to the nation 'down-below' (not to be confused with the land down-under - Oz is was cooler than the US), My Chair keeps my ass off the ground while giving me a place to secure my Venti Starbucks Chai while feigning passing interest in the epileptic mambo-like dance that learning firefighters find themselves doing.

My Chair is worthy of that worship.

Subsequently, the students believe that My Chair should be prominently displayed for all too see it and bath in its ass-supporting glory. Their faith seems to dictate that this should occur whenever possible. Their faith is strong and growing.

My chair found itself loving placed in the 3rd floor window of the training center's main burn building for all to see and worship.

However, according to the Book of Chad 3:24 "When building a temple of worship to Me, thou shalt build it on high, so all unbelievers will feel the power of my Holy Ass Support."

So, My Chair was returned to the Holy Tabernacle (the back of my SUV) wherefrom it would be removed for the next service.

However, the devoted disciples, nay Acolytes of My Chair took heed to the Holy Book and placed My Chair upon the highest point of the burn building, for all to see.

Having seen the new Altar, and having Felt Their Love, I decided to complete the service my placing my ass upon My Chair.

Unfortunately the Forces of Evil were conspiring to remove me from My Chair in a Dorothy-esque manner. While basking in the Love and Worship from the Acolytes of My Chair, the evil Lowenstein and one of his minions attempted to remove me from My Chair by using the deck gun of one of the pumpers.

Keep in mind, these babies, with a 1.5" tip can flow many hundreds of gallons of water per minute.

I heard the pump throttle up, I looked down off the building and noticed I was staring straight down the bore of the nozzle.

Ruh roh.

And just as the stream was coming towards me, the Gods of My Chair intervened, the turret detached itself from the pumper and proceeded to drop a few hundred gallons of water on Lowenstein.

"The Acolytes of the Chair Rejoiced, knowing that their faith was true and their prayers were answered." Book of Chad, 43:32

God loves Canada.

The Acolytes also made a video of their ceremony to help spread the faith. I'll post it once I get clearance from the folks in it.

Meanwhile, this is Lowenstein getting soaked.

awesome.

Fire School - Show and Tell

Last night was the introduction to hose and appliances (not the beer fridge kind - the flows 1000 gal/min through it kind). I arrived at the training center early to help setup.

Imagine surprise and delight when The Chief was roaming around the pad around 15 minutes before class started. And when I mean The Chief, I'm referring to the Chief of [my home county] Fire Rescue, not my station Chief (who is usually a good source of Starbucks, wit and repartee).

This can't be good.

As a general rule, The Chief makes an appearance when things have gone horribly, horribly wrong for someone. Horribly wrong.

Horribly wrong like someone filed a suit, went to the hospital or the instructors/students completely fornicated superior so much that he was called.

It gets worse.

There is a video crew with him.

*shudder*

As the more senior instructors automagically vanished, it was left up to me to see what The Chief was up to.

"Hey Chief, what brings you down here tonight"

"Evening ," (I really really really hate he knows me by name - nothing good will come of that) "We're just making a child safety seat video. You guys carry on."

* P H E W *

I then discreetly wandered over to the various pockets of students to let them know The Chief was on the pad, so please, for *all* our sakes - behave well.

I should interject that this really isn't a problem with the class. They're actually pretty respectful, courteous and organized. All except for the ones I've know from before class, they haven't really learned that the roles and interactions are a little different. Still, hasn't been an issue so not worth mentioning.

Imagine the delight to all the instructors when 5 minutes before class was to begin, the students are all lines up, gear setup and ready to go.

And right at 1900...

"GO!" shouted The Chief.

And so class began.

Fire School - Watching the Master

I wasn't scheduled to teach last night, but I was in the area of the Training Center so I decided to stop by to listen to [Lowenstein] teach. Lowenstein is an excellent instructor, and a recent winner of Fire Instructor of the Year. So i decided to drop in during a break, sit at the back of the class and try glean nuggets from his teaching style.

Imagine my joy and happiness when one of the Holy Triumvirate was also there. He was lounging on the steps to the ministage at the front of the classroom as though he were posing for the centerfold of 'Pudgy Old Retired Firefighter Monthly'. Ugh.

The class was one of the fundamental classes that is absolutely critical to understand. Fire Behaviour. The name says it all really. I was glad to see that Lowenstein was the lead on this and HT was simply doing Pilates and Yoga at the front of the class.

My favourite moment in the class was when someone asked about drywall. The question was along the lines of 'is drywall fireproof?' Lowenstein started to answer, but was interrupted by HT. HT waxed lyrical (lyrical in the sense of Vogon Poetry) with a longwinded answer discussing the different ratings in terms of hours, composition, texture and other crap so convoluted I was rapidly losing the will live and wanted to choke myself with the nearest chair. Once HT paused for breath (a belly that size holds a lot of hot air), I interjected "the answer, as far as the State Test is concerned, is Yes."

HT glared at me, Lowenstein smirked and the class laughed, knowing that they were spared.

Sometimes, just sometimes, I totally rule.

Happy Birthday to Me

Yesterday was my birthday.

I'm getting old.

How did I spend my birthday? I was on duty at my firestation. My crew got me a Spongebob Cake (I have proudly mounted the Plastic Spongebob that came with the cake on the brim of my Helmet).

It was an unusual night - we didn't run any calls. Well, we did from 3am to just before 6am, but not on my birthday itself.

Bah.

Fire School - Consumption Test

Consumption test day is usually a long drawn out day. Given that I've attended the last 4 or 5 of these, I decided to make sure I was comfortable while watching the students do their thing.

We setup for the day, lined the students up, broke them into groups and began the fun.

I did make sure that I brought an ambulance out and parked it nearby - as a reminder that every year *someone* goes to the hospital on this day (usually for dehydration because they're retarded and ignore our advice about not going out drinking the night before, but it's more dramatic to make it look like the Consumption Test is Evil).

The Consumption Test begins.

My job was to take the students who had just completed the Tire Drag, and have them do 20x (yes, only 20) chops with an axe. Not the most stimulating of jobs, but thankfully I had my Comfy Chair and Cooler With Ice and Cold Drinks.

Much to my surprise, I did get to Make A Difference with a lot of the students. I'll explain.

When you exert yourself, are wearing 60-80lbs of structural firefighting gear, and are breathing through an SCBA, you tend to get a bit winded. Most of the students who arrived to my station were breathing very very rapidly. Of course, this type of breathing doesn't really give your body time to do it's magical gas exchange and get the oxygen you need in and the waste you need out, out (hyperventilation).

I took it upon myself to spend a moment prior to chopping to work on the breathing techniques. The idea was to get the students to focus on breathing in and out while counting to 5. 5 seconds in, 5 seconds out. This is a modification of a technique I learned cave diving that enabled me to minimize my air consumption rates (0.25 cubic feet per minute with moderate activity).

Anyway, this seemed to prove beneficial to many of the students.

Then came one of the students who was starting to panic. He claimed (quite obviously and accurately) that he was claustrophobic and that he wanted to remove his mask. He was very near total panic and become more irrational as the seconds ticked past.

Happily, we (the student and I) were able to regain his focus, using a combination of breathing techniques and Jedi Mind Tricks, and help him push past his phobia and he continued with the rest of his tasks. That made me feel pretty good inside.

The rest of the day passed almost without incident, until the very end.

Near the end of the day, it became obvious that one of the students was somewhat overheated and dehydrated. As the class was dismissed, I noticed that said student was in the hands of one of the Holy Triumvirate, one who is known for his disdain to all things EMS.

Apparently the HT was suggesting to the student (who was in somewhat of an altered level of consciousness, dizzy and had stopped sweating), that all he needed was a cool shower to fix him because "that how we did it back in highschool football", (keep in mind this would be in the 60s).

So I asked one of the other instructors to get the Lead Instructor, and bring the ambulance to us. Meanwhile, I attempted to cool the student with towels soaked in ice water draped around his neck and had him place his hand and arms in coolers full of ice water (this helps cool the blood and thus lower the temperature from the inside).

When the ambulance came, we put the student onboard, grabbed one of the medics from the training center and took our boy to the hospital.

Phew, that was close. I can only imagine the medical and legal fallout if the HT had his way...

Thank god for 18 yr old Talisker.

Fire School - Day 1 - Introductions

So today was the first day of class.

We, The Instructor Cadre, wanted to try to make a point to the fire plebes this year that would hopefully stick with them throughout their careers. This point was simply - this is Dangerous Shit and Being a Firemans Can Kill You. As someone who is a Near Miss statistic (I was injured at a box call in a way that has killed more than a few people over the years, but ended up with a smashed face, busted teeth, split lip and a very very wounded pride), I felt that it would be good to point out that Shit Happens, and It Can Happen to You. I had asked to be the one to teach this point but unfortunately one of the Triumvirate did it. I was relegated to helping with the paperwork. This was okay for me (just not the poor students), as I had to drive to NYC shortly into the day anyway

As the lemmings started to arrive, I saw some familiar faces - students from the last class who were here for Firefighter 2, students from my former station and students from my current station.

The anticipation in the air was palpable. The students were clearly excited to be there and begin their Journey of Fire. The eagerness to learn was on the faces of all the new students, and the wary apprehension was there on the returning ones. You see, they new something the newbies didn't. They knew the instructors.

[My county] Fire Rescue system is a combination system. This means we have both paid and volunteer firefighters in the same system. While there are some career / vollie issues, over all this works out well for everyone. The county saves money on staffing, and the vollie side has a real budget for apparatus, equipment and training.

Where we fail on the vollie side is the Instructor Cadre. While there are some instructors who are excellent, traditionally the Lead Instructors are guys who have been in the Fire Service so long they were waiting for Prometheus with a hoseline.

While this is a resource that is full of experience and history, it has a tendency to be a resource that is outdated in approach, concepts, technology and attitude. The county is aware of this, but instead of simply using their better instructors, they are gradually phasing them out. it's like pulling teeth, instead of pulling once and being done with it, they are wiggling, twisting and gently pulling - causing much more pain and anguish than needed.

Disclaimer: I don't put myself in the category of the better instructors. I'm fairly new at the Fire and EMS instruction, so I'm more focused on trying to delivery the information the students need to pass their tests, and to minimize the carnage of twisted minds left behind by the Holy Triumvirate.

So... Day 1.

As I mentioned above, I left early into the day. But I did learn some things about the class already:

1) 1/3 of the number were AWOL and didn't advise the Lead Instructor - so buhbye to them!
2) filling out personal information on bubblesheets (the infamous Green Form), was beyond many people
3) the Holy Triumvirate can rip the happy innocent souls from students in mere minutes.

Instructor Orientation

Last night was Instructor Orientation. It was the night where we received a copy of the Master Plan (the nights that we're teaching), and also to learn the Rules of Engagement.

Aside from being there to teach most of the hands-on practical days, I was disappointed to find out I was only teaching two lectures. Salvage and Overhaul and Ropes and Knots. Ugh. I'm hoping it's a testimony to my great motivational, inspirational and awe inspiring teaching skills that I received two of the three dullest lectures (the third being Wildland Fire), but really I think it's cause I'm the low man on the totem pole and shit flows downwards.

I was also surprised to learn that we are being a kinder, gentler Fire Service. Apparently it is much harder to remove the chaff from the wheat now - much more paperwork and documentation is required to beg the County Administration for permission to remove students before they go out into the real world and kill someone (and that person is unfortunately unlikely to be themselves). We had some issues in the last class with a couple of people who demonstrated the validity of the [My State] Department of Fire Programs Firefighter 1 testing. Basically we learned that if you have a pulse, you can pass. Cerebral functions are apparently entirely optional.

Traditionally, one of the more effective ways of removing the unwashed from the program is the Consumption Test. This is where we have the students carry a weighted highrise pack (45lbs or so) up and down stairs 2x, drag a tractor tire that has been weighted with sandbags (170lbs-ish) the length of the Pad (the training ground) 2x, simulate pulling ceiling with a weights pikepole on a weighted and springloaded ceiling prob 40x, chop with an axe 40x, climb 3 flights of stairs and pull a 50' coil of 1.75inch hose hand over hand up and over the railing and back down again 2x and finally raise a permanently mounted 36' truss beam extension ladder on their own. All while in full turnout gear and on air.

However, this time, we're doing less than 1/2 of that. Looks like the Whiny Bitch Movement is infiltrating my hallowed Fire Service.

One of the larger, more senior and self inflated instructors (one of the Holy Triumvirate) also went on a tirade (as usual) regarding the absence of some of the Instructor Force and how they are Not Committed and Letting the Students Down by not being here so we could remove some of the inconsistencies in the program. This was most ironic as he is one of the larger contributors to the inconsistencies in information that our students face.

It was pointed out to him that the missing instructors where currently teaching the EMS First Responder class. Happily, as another tirade began to wash over us, [Ned] came and saved me by dragging me (kicking and screaming for joy!) to assist with the aforementioned class.

Ned rules.

The Program

This year will be an interesting year for the instructors at our County's Volunteer Fire School. Here's why:

1) It is the first time we are combining Firefighter 1 and Firefighter 2 together.
2) We have a brand new burn building and training facilities that have never been used, so we'll be learning about this as we go.
3) We are using newer instructors (like me) more in an effort to reduce the presence of those known as the 'Chubby Triumvirate.'
4) There are students just coming for the Firefighter 2 portion of the class.
5) Total class numbers are expected to be around 75. (50 for the 1 and 2 program and 25 for just the 2). The largest class we ran was the last one, which was around 48.

I wonder if Costco sells Prozac in bulk?

The Reasons

Why did I become an Instructor?

My reasons are simple:

1) when I started teaching, it was really the only way I could keep my basic firefighting skills fresh. Getting anyone at my (now former) firehouse to do any training was like trying to pull teeth from Plies - likely to get me killed or ass-raped. I'm at a real station now, but I still love teaching.
2) it actually helps me make sure I know my shit. Answering questions, explaining concepts in different ways and with different examples ensures that I truly understand the fundamental material.
3) it's fun to torture people
4) my shirt says, "Instructor" - how sexy is that?
5) my life will literally depend on some of these people at somepoint. What better way to gauge who I should avoid, and to help make sure that they really know what they're doing?
6) it's a great way to help my station and community
7) it is very rewarding on a personal level
8) it gets me out of the house, and my girlfriend knows where I am

Introduction

My name is 'Chad' [name has been changed to protect the innocent, guilty and a special sheep I met last Thursday called 'Flossy'], and I'm a volunteer Fire Instructor. This is my blog.

Let's start at the beginning... well, not at the beginning, but at the inception of why I wanted to write a blog about this in the first place.

I wanted to keep a journal of this process for one of three reasons: 1.) Either I could look at it 20 years from now and laugh at what a poser I was, 2.) People could read it at my (or my students') funeral and try to eke out some sort of meaning for the life that was snuffed out in the first-ever fire-school death brought on by uncontrollable laughter, or 3.) I found out one of my student's has been writing a blog of his own, so I wanted to share the Instructor's Perspective.

Plus, I'll get to publicly make fun of people, and they might even read about it!