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While this is a resource that is full of experience and history, it has a tendency to be a resource that is outdated in approach, concepts, technology and attitude.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.