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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on February 28, 2014 at 10:45pm

Individually, cardio.

 

I can understand the drive here, but try not to limit your focus here. There are no doubts an in shape and "firefighter athlete" will be able to endure more and longer in situations, but you have to look at the big picture.

 

First and foremost, as a firefighter you operate as a team, there is no individual aspect involved at all. Zero, zip, nilch. If you are operating alone, while on air, you are freelancing. So this means that despite your personal abilities, you are limited to the air consumption of your partner or teammates. You enter together, you go out together. That means if their low air alarm is going off, then your low air alarm is going off (even if you have half or more left in your own bottle).

 

The other element is learn air consumption techniques like skip breathing and so forth. If you find yourself in a MAYDAY situation, this can help conserve air and get yourself out. These will be taught as you go along.

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Norm Tindell on March 1, 2014 at 9:26am

As John mentioned, air consumption techniques can become second nature if practiced early on. Concentrate hard on relaxing your breathing the entire time you are on air. You'll soon get used to the technique and it will give you a few extra minutes. If they don't teach the skip breathing technique ask about it. It will save you additional time on your bottle as well. Take extreme care of your mask and it will take care of you. Inspect it daily and be very aware of any problems that come up, getting them fixed immediately. Clean it daily and after each use.

Stay safe.

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