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Permalink Reply by Emmaleigh Hardy on June 16, 2013 at 6:34pm

That's great for you! I do have a few of advices for you!

1. Make sure you are comfortable being claustrophobic.

You have no idea how many cadets are AUTOMATICALLY FLUNKED OUT of school for freaking out in Search and Rescue drills!

I practice this drill before fire academy.

Here's what you'll need:

- Workout clothes (with knee pads and yard gloves)

- 2 backpacks full of sand or rocks

- 25-50 feet of cheap rope

- Ski goggles that you have blacked out with duct-tape

- a big local playground available at 5-6am in the morning

- cheap digital watch with countdown timer

Warm-ups

STRETCH and then do 15 minutes of cardio running around

the playground.

Put one backpack full of sand on your back and the other on

your chest, and then do another 5-15 minutes of jogging.

(Keep increasing the times each time you do this drill).

Drill:

Get to a corner of the playground and get on all fours. Start

the watch countdown to beep after 10 minutes.  Put on the

BLACKED OUT goggles.  Tie one end of the rope to your

backpack and tie the other end of the rope to whatever piece

of jungle-gym equipment is closet.  If you have trouble tying

knots without seeing then YOU BETTER START

PRACTICING!

Now, staying AS LOW AS POSSIBLE, climb your way

through the ENTIRE playground.  REMEMBER: Keep one

hand out in front of you AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.  This

way you will be able to feel out your surroundings BEFORE

you bump your head into them.  Wind yourself around and

through every obstacle you can.  If you find a tunnel or

something small you can't fit through, take OFF the

backpack(s) and push them in front of you (simulating SCBA

removal).  When your rope runs out, give it a tug to make

sure it isn't just caught on something (Remember: Drill

Instructors like to see you TRY solutions to easily correctable

problems).  If the rope's out, untie it from your backpack

and tie it to a piece of the gym wherever you end up.  Then

turn around and FOLLOW the rope back to your start

location.  If you don't make it back to the start within 10

minutes, keep practicing until you do.

It might sound ridiculous but I did it and it's helpful!

You also can continue exercises that you have been doing but you can add some of weights on your back, such as backpacks with sand or rocks in it (about same weight as SCBA).

Keep thinking positive! If I can then you can do it! It was challenges for me because I'm only 5 foot tall and 110 pounds but I succeed.

If you have any more questions, please don't be hesitate to ask!

Permalink Reply by Kaitlyn on June 16, 2013 at 8:49pm

Thank you so much! That helps a lot. Some of my worry is being able to do it since I'm about 5'2" but hearing encouragement from other women helps a lot. I'm a bit hard-headed so I'm pretty sure I can do this with the right preparation so thanks for the advice. I will try it.

Permalink Reply by Emmaleigh Hardy on June 16, 2013 at 9:31pm

No problem! Let me know how it going!