This past Fall we were doing a Survival class and one of the drills we do is the “following the coupling” drill. It is one of the most basic of drills and is well known throughout the fire service. We have posted on this drill before on using a cut piece of hose to hand to your firefighters and have them tell you which way would be back to the truck.

We get comment about how basic this drill this and some like to try and shrug it off. Well, as we all know, we must master the basics.…

This photo shows a way to make an SCBA face piece for your RIT bag/kit glove friendly. You can use a garden hose or any kind of rubber tubing or hose that would be easy to grab with a gloved hand. We used a small bungee cord and ran it through the bonnet and attached both ends to the hose. This allows for easy feeling and grabbing the back of the mask with gloved hands.…

Here is a great "memory jogger" for Command Functions and Size Up from one of our instructors, Scott Hulsey.  I know it's short, but these little cheat sheets can be used during training evolutions or at the kitchen table to stay sharp as an incident commander.

Size-up Matrix…

This is a video of a drill we do. It starts as a VES drill with the firefighter ascending the ladder and then clearing a window. The space is smoked up and the fierfighter enters, starting his search for the door. While he’s searching we throw a rug or piece of plywood ontop of them to demonstrate conditions deteriorating and making them exit fast to the window.

The intent is to force quick recognition to exit and to perform the ladder bail fast. We do this drill after evolutions of…

Check out this new blog from Frank Lipski of Engine House Training, LLC.  Visti the site and post your responses and to learn more about Engine House Training, LLC.

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