We have all done a “Follow the Coupling Drill” where we are placed in the center of a pile of hose spaghettied around the engine room and told to find our way out. Here is a quick, inexpensive way to do this drill at every training exercise or anywhere around the engine house.
Find a piece of hose that has been removed from service, it works best if the couplings are not damaged. Cut both couplings off the section of hose, leaving about 12” of hose. Connect the couplings to each other and you’re finished.
During a training exercise walk-up to any firefighter, ask them to close their eyes, thenplace the coupling in their gloved hand and ask “which way is out”?
This can be taken anywhere, completed in seconds, and requires no set-up or tear-down time.
Take it and Train with it!