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Save a life...Go back to basics
Hi all...Here's a question for everyone.....Do you train on the basics or are you wrapped up on the latest greatest ? When is the last time you blacked out a mask and had to follow a hoseline "out of a structure"? When was the last time you practiced "mayday" drills ? When was the last time you practices "hooking a hydrant" ? I ask this as I just read that Ohio had 2 Firefighters killed in a structure fire.....according to the story they entered the structure without charging the handline first (remember that discussion) and got trapped by flames in the basement...they failed to follow guidelines and follow the hoseline out became disoriented and perished....Makes one think a bit....
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on
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I've just had some robust discussions with members about going back to basics- oh but we've done it all before, they tell me.
Too bad! Get it right in training, get it right in the field. We MUST know our core business, inside out, back to front, upside down....
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Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on
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I had a little discussion with our training officer....the last 3 drill nights were hydrants...and I said so....His reply (and appropriately so) was...."Well then you should be pretty good at it then." and yes, again that night it was hydrants....Each and every one of us took turns getting off the engine, grabbing the hydrant bag, Pulling the LDH off the back, Hooking the Hydrant, signalling the Operator and then doing the connection....by the end of the evening we were looking pretty good and even the "Newbies" and "probies" could be depended on to do it and do it right....
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Permalink Reply by Reg Mathis on
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Well, the last two training nights were consumed with testing hose. But the session prior to that was a full-out follow the hose (WITH blackout), the final portion of which was locating a downewd FF by listening and locating his PASS, once located, we had to extricate him via a Denver Drill.
The session prior to that was S&R a victim. Blackout with Mayday.
We drill on the basics a lot!
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Good to hear Reg.....I see many people get so consumed with the advanced stuff that they forget about the basics....example....we had a class one night and by chance took the hose clamp off the truck....one of the old salts didn't know how to use it.....so we spent and hour or so letting everyone (that showed up) clamp a charged line and add a length of hose without having to shut down the supply....just shows...noone knows everything....
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Permalink Reply by Norm Tindell on
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I'm proud to say we've done each one you mentioned recently. We're sticking with basics most of the time and hitting some oddball stuff, too. Speaking of odd: How long's it been since you had a session on dumpster fires?
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Permalink Reply by Olivia Jones on
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I can honestly say that my department has trained on all the above mentioned basics within the last 2 months. YAY US! But on a serious note it doesnt matter is you can do that wicked awsome ______, that you may NEVER use in real life. If you dont know the basics you really are a functunale member of you department
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There is a quote that comes to mind
DONT do it till you get it right, Do it till you CANT get it wrong....
Then move on to the bells and whistles
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Permalink Reply by Roy Walker on
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Too true Paul sometimes way to much time is spent preparing for that once in a lifetime call while the basics slide by. If enough time is spent on the basics ,until they become second nature, then when a big call comes those skills will be evident. Training officers take a lot of heat for doing the boring stuff that everybody knows ,but if you knew it I doubt they'd waste your time on it.
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Permalink Reply by Derek R. on
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I used to instruct people on a different activity, and used to tell them that unless the basics are there, all the fancy stuff will not work properly, if at all. I believe the same applies to what we're doing, whether it be fire fighting or ems or rescue. Basics, basics, basics. And I really like the quote mentioned before about doing it until you can't get it wrong. Like others here, we train a lot on basics. Too bad there are some who feel they don't need it, or find it boring.
Great post. KSHF
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Permalink Reply by capcityff on
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We train when we can. It's kind of just whatever we feel like for the day. There's no certain thing that we have to train on. We are supposed to train every day at 1000 hours except for Sundays and holidays. Depending where you're at, the officer might not enforce it. Others train, but squeeze things in when they can because they are so busy. Some basic things like pulling lines and hooking up to a hydrant are done every day on the job anyway. Most people don't want to pull a line off and then be behind on a run. So they wait until the box alarm comes in. At most companies, there are several each day. So we pull lines there on scene. If it's a slower day, my crew will try to drill on a few other things around the house. Some days though, we aren't at the fire house for the entire tour. It all depends, but I think what keeps us in the game is that fact that we pull lines and throw ladders on every box alarm.
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Hey Ralph...good to hear from you again....I agree...I work both ends of the equation....(Fire and EMS)ALS is great but if you forget your BLS then you are working ALS on a dead patient.
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Capcity what about starting saws and hydraulic pumps or blowers. Does everyone know how to use a hose clamp, when was the last time you did a black out drill even if it's with just an old mask so you don't take things out of service. Drill your people in areas they don't do often, medical on fire ops and vise versa we all benefit from extra knowledge.
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