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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 capcityff on
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If you're on a truck company then you start the saws every tour. We put the stick up and start every tool on the truck. On the engine, we start it up, put the wagon into pump, flow some water from a booster line, and some companies even re-rack all of the hose lines. So things like that are just part of the daily check. Everyone should know how to operate every tool upon graduating the academy. We calculated it out once and its about a 1200 hour fire academy here now. Then pulling lines happens several times/tour because we usually respond to multiple box alarms. As far as ems, I run a solid 12-15 medical runs/tour. We run both fire and ems so you get a decent taste of both. Get decent practice doing that.
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Permalink Reply by EngineLadder on
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I agree with you bunks we train when we can....between handing out smoke FREE smoke detectors, checking hydrants and taking a couple thousand runs there is no time for training. The training we do is real life training pulling lines on boxes.... we do do battalion training every second day work but it is usualy some new policey that downtown sent down.
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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on
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I ran our guys through Fire Extinguishers last night. Doesn't get much more basic I thought.
Glad I did- at least half couldn't remember the classes of fire or the correct range of extinguishers for the different classes. Sad, but an enlightening moment...
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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Paul,
The critical mistake in the Ohio incident was not the lack of a charged handline, it was the lack of a complete size-up. A complete size-up would have revealed the walk-out basement and the basement fire.
The absence of complete information about the structure's physical layout and the failure to realize that they were entering above a basement fire were the critical factors. The hoseline wouldn't have prevented them from falling through the floor. It is questionable if they would have even been in control of the line - let alone able to use the nozzle - after the collapse.
As the discussion about charging the line or not showed, there are plenty of situations were advancing a dry line is not only appropriate - it's the best way to get water on the fire quickly, and in large quantities.
It is difficult to follow a hoseline to the exterior when the egress point is a floor above you, you have no ladder, you are injured from the fall, and you have fallen into the seat of the fire.
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Permalink Reply by Jamie Mitchell on
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i agree.. we have to get back to the basics..we had a full out mayday training last month....following the hose line out.. mayday drills... hydrant drills... it was a class called back to basics..... was a full 10 hr class and training
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Permalink Reply by Peter McCarthy on
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Hooked a Hydrant last Wed and Thurs, in May we blacked out masks and crawled through playground equipment following a search line.
It is very easy to get into all the periphery things in the Fire Service: Dive, HazMat, Tech Rescue, etc etc. But just like I tell the new guys coming in, you cannot build a house without the foundation. You can have all the specialty training in the world, but you still have to get back to the basics to be a Firefighter.
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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A complete size-up
walk-out basement
structure's physical layout and the failure to realize that they were entering above a basement fire
Scene size-up, and pre-planning, response district/territory familiarization. All basic drills which can mean the difference between going home or not. Short classroom drills which can be done even in busy houses.
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Permalink Reply by Bekks on
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When I was working EMS, we recertified our CPR every year. No mater how many hours of CPR we did the past year. Without fail.
This included the "Conscious Choaking Victim" (aka Heimlich Maneuver) - which seemed silly to us from an EMS perspective (usually they are unconscious by the time we get on scene) but it was required and we did it... every year.
Good thing we did it, because one year at family Thanksgiving dinner my Dad started choaking - total airway obstruction. My training kicked in instantly... no fumbling... no second guessing... no sloppy technique... it was second nature. Cleared the obstruction within seconds and saved my Dad's life.
I will never whine about drilling the basics.
It saves lives. Period.
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Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on
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I would like to thank all those that responded..I look forward to your comments and suggestions....I am also greatly appreciative of the opinions of those that support my theory that training can and does save lives....Thanks for all you do....Paul
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The point some of us were making was that at busy fire houses it's sometimes hard to train, but we incorporate it into our job. We pull lines at every box alarm. We run 20 runs/tour with several box alarms. I recertify in things like CPR when needed, but that's not what will help me remember it when it's needed. I should already remember it without that refresher class. I've done CPR 3 out of my last 5 tours on the job. I shouldn't be forgetting it and then remembering only after class.
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Permalink Reply by Kenneth Austin Veal on
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i am a volunteer at my local department. i've been involed in the fire service for about 1 1/2 years. for the 1 1/2 years i have been volunteering, everytime we train, we always train for the worst case scenario. we use all our equipment (new and old) and are trained on all of it. we always train on the right proceedures and what to do first and the following steps. we practice regularly and intensely. we try to teach every member what to do and what NOT to do...
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Permalink Reply by Paul Campanell on
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i too come from a small department with a majority of the team being volunteers. when we train we tend to spend most of the time on just basics; hose patterns, S&R, mayday, roofing a ladder, pump panel ops. simple things like this will make "worst case scenarios" easier to overcome because you will already have a framework built up.
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