It's that time of year.....

We had our multi-company OSHA eight-hour refresher training on Saturday. I can think of roughly ten millionnnnnnnn things I would rather be doing ( and cleaning out my sock drawer ranks right up there) instead of sitting through another eight hour session of “gotta do it, so shut up and suck it up” OSHA info. This has only been my second OSHA refresher, so I can't speak to how boring they normally are, but if last year's day-long exercise in water-board torture was any indication...it's usually Snoresville.

For the record, the irony that my department didn’t avail themselves of FASNY’s (yes, the folks who pay me to do my day job) online OSHA refresher training isn’t lost on me. But I don’t drive the bus, I just sit in the back row and throw stuff at the other kids.

We do the program with one of our MA departments, Guilderland Center (big department...they have a MASSIVE budget and all the cool trucks and toys) and they had told us they were going to shake things up a bit for this year. We alternate turns on hosting.

It was GRRRRRRRREAT!!!!! (My sincere apologies to Tony the Tiger) ---Why? The a.m. component was the usual b.s....boring as hell, except for the fact that one of G.C.’s Captains knew (and I’m only guessing here, but I think I mean in a biblical sense…) the Blood Borne pathogens instructor, and he made sarcastic hay on her PowerPoint. It was pure entertainment. I suspect she wasn’t as amused as he was…and I also suspect that all biblical relations have been suspended until further notice.

Anyhoo….on to the afternoon “hands-on” portion of the day. You know….the day where I could have been doing ten millllioooonnnnn things other than….

I’m so glad I didn’t bail.

They did the SCBA and Equipment portion in a really cool way---rather than just drag all the tools and packs off the truck...and the usual "This is a Pike Pole" crap....they set up working stations for everything.

PPE and SCBA's....timed donning drills followed by a "follow the hose" thru their building with Nomex hoods turned around...had to identify various pieces of equipment by feel (scattered along the hose line) and explain the purpose of said tool before you could progress forward (I totally dropped an eff bomb trying to remember the name of a gate valve --at least I left them laughing...) "You know....that f_c_ing thing you use on the hydrant for additional lines..." ... Way to represent.

Then BullEx had their live propane and digital computerized flame rig set up for fire extinguishers...Now that is some really cool crap. They have portable propane (live flame) extinguisher training…but they ALSO have this thing that looks like a 42” plasma TV screen…complete with sensor-equipped extinguishers. It all works the same way as the live burn training…but it’s all digitized and computerized. VERY cool. In fact (cheap plug warning….avert your eyes if necessary) FASNY and BullEx have entered into a partnership to bring their training equipment and trailer to F.D.’s at a solid discount. Check out www.bullexsafety.com They also have a newly developed “Magnum” portable propane training piece specifically for the fire service…you wanted flames? You got em….in spades. WALLS of flame…. I think I just drooled.

Meanwhile, they took all the pump operators/drivers out to the neighboring high school and ran truck rodeos all afternoon.

It was SO not a waste of our time. Everyone was pumped at the end of the day. Now that's what I'm talking about...THAT'S the way to run an OSHA refresher.

And guess who got put in charge of setting up an equally cool OSHA refresher (our turn to host next year) at my department next time? Yup.
Got any really cool ideas? Feel free to share them here so I can steal them.

Until next time, stay safe, wear your seatbelt.