We had a First Response call Friday night and it's been a quiet couple weeks. It was good to put the uniform on again and at the same time, kinda sad. I was thinking this could be a really quiet Christmas holiday with no pages.
But we did get a call and we responded quickly. An elderly woman had been having problems breathing while talking with her son on the phone. He had hung up and called for help.
When we got there we assessed the situation and it was interesting watching 3 grown men take such gentle and caring time with her. I don't know what the problem was because I didn't fill out the paperwork this time. One or the other of the guys, as I watched and learned, would talk to her softly, ask her permission to put on the oxygen mask or the heartbeat monitor, and ask her permission to get her purse and retrieve things, what the concern was, etc. We do this with everyone, but it really got to me this night as I watched. I went with one fire fighter each time he had to leave the room to get something. Always work in pairs. Have your partners back.
At one point her dog came from behind her chair with drooped head, ears flat and tail tucked under his butt. It looked sooooo sad and lost. Command got down on one knee and whispered in it's ear, patted its head a bit before getting up to show the Paramedics where we were. It was heart warming to see him take concern for her pet. I glanced over to see how or if the patient would react; she had tears in her eyes. She was being cared for by two great firefighters and her dog was in gentle hands of one, too.
Ambulance got there about 5 min after we did and took over. When we got back to the hall, I took the clipboard to do the truck inspection. I really didn't want to talk to the guys because I was still processing what I was feeling. Why did this particular situation affect me emotionally? I'd been on a few calls similar to this. Why this one?
Then I realized what it was. If these guys I volunteer my time with. Willingly spend time with helping others could treat total strangers with such care and kindness, then the possibilities of what they showed their wives and kids was even more precious.
I'm blessed to be working with 22 super heros and know their wives and kids. I am so proud to work with these guys and see there are a few great men in this world. It gives this single woman hope.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Thursday, December 20, 2012
All About Possible Scenarios
Fire practice was different than normal. We were given a scenario on the whiteboard for a fire and then divided into two groups of five to come up with a strategy to put out a fire. It was really fascinating considering the situation. A fire in the basement, laundry room corner, and the fire is spreading through the main floor and smoke coming out the second floor. Only five of us could respond to the fire on first call. What to do? How do we work it to keep it safe, etc.
After we were done with the first scenario we moved on to another one. One about a fire in a trailer that had hit a power pole and live wires over top. People trapped inside. Again only five of us could respond.
We discussed with the project Captain on each situation and about our thoughts on protecting the community, business, etc and keeping ourselves as fire fighters, safe. He talked with us about where we could improve our ideas and even liked some of our ideas too.
The chief and one of the captains took time to prepare a nice Christmas snack for us as we were out learning about the new headsets for the trucks. He did a cold cuts platter, cheese platter, veggies and dip:) It was great to sit and enjoy time with the guys, laughing, joking and hanging out.
We are taking next Wednesday off from fire practice. Have a great week and Merry Christmas everyone!
After we were done with the first scenario we moved on to another one. One about a fire in a trailer that had hit a power pole and live wires over top. People trapped inside. Again only five of us could respond.
We discussed with the project Captain on each situation and about our thoughts on protecting the community, business, etc and keeping ourselves as fire fighters, safe. He talked with us about where we could improve our ideas and even liked some of our ideas too.
The chief and one of the captains took time to prepare a nice Christmas snack for us as we were out learning about the new headsets for the trucks. He did a cold cuts platter, cheese platter, veggies and dip:) It was great to sit and enjoy time with the guys, laughing, joking and hanging out.
We are taking next Wednesday off from fire practice. Have a great week and Merry Christmas everyone!
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Meetings don't always run smooth or on time
Fire practice last night was about checking the fuel and liquid levels in all the machines and trucks before our meeting.
We discussed old business, new business and plans for the future in the hall. Yeah pretty boring I know. But it's kinda funny when in the middle of a meeting someone pipes up "can we talk about the turkey?"
Silence in the room as we all look around to see first who said it and what do they mean considering we're discussing budgets. Chief asked for the person to repeat the question....silence then the question is repeated by a member, not the same person as the first time though. The Chairman wants to know why it's important to discuss now. Original person pipes up, "because we bought it for the Christmas dinner and it didn't get cooked. It's on the budget."
Ok, so our fearless leaders are trying very hard to keep a straight face AND maintain order in the room. Not going over very well as we're all cracking up. The Chief very politely told the gentleman we would discuss the issue of the bird after we'd finished what was already on the floor.
What does the fireman do? He looks under the table! "What's on the floor? Should we get a mop?" Ok, that pretty much ended the society meeting right there. After that, everything kinda went to hell in a hand basket. We did get the meeting finished and the RDOS one too but things ran later then normal. Then we all pulled out the leftovers from the party and had dinner together:)
In the end the turkey was donated to Helping Hands along with a charity cheque from the hall. We did get it all worked out but with much laughing and a few stern looks from our Chief...hee hee
We discussed old business, new business and plans for the future in the hall. Yeah pretty boring I know. But it's kinda funny when in the middle of a meeting someone pipes up "can we talk about the turkey?"
Silence in the room as we all look around to see first who said it and what do they mean considering we're discussing budgets. Chief asked for the person to repeat the question....silence then the question is repeated by a member, not the same person as the first time though. The Chairman wants to know why it's important to discuss now. Original person pipes up, "because we bought it for the Christmas dinner and it didn't get cooked. It's on the budget."
Ok, so our fearless leaders are trying very hard to keep a straight face AND maintain order in the room. Not going over very well as we're all cracking up. The Chief very politely told the gentleman we would discuss the issue of the bird after we'd finished what was already on the floor.
What does the fireman do? He looks under the table! "What's on the floor? Should we get a mop?" Ok, that pretty much ended the society meeting right there. After that, everything kinda went to hell in a hand basket. We did get the meeting finished and the RDOS one too but things ran later then normal. Then we all pulled out the leftovers from the party and had dinner together:)
In the end the turkey was donated to Helping Hands along with a charity cheque from the hall. We did get it all worked out but with much laughing and a few stern looks from our Chief...hee hee
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Twas Another Wednesday Night Fire Practice
Wednesday night again and all is quiet at the hall.
Not a fireman hollering, not even a call.
28 Stockings where hung under the whiteboard with care,
in order of older to younger, me in the middle somewhere.
Garland up on the ceiling with style while the red lights glowed from the corners for miles.
A crew put up the Flagpole in a hurry, then...what was that noise,
a clatter and crash, not to mention the roar of laughter... such a scurry and dash as we rushed out to see what was the matter. When to our wondering eyes we saw
not a flag on the mast but a wee little fire fighter up there trying not to fall. He clung with his life way up the pole,how to get him down we pondered while we stared in awe as to how he got up there.
I was told to stay around as he was too short and wouldn't stay on the ground.
After we brought the stranded man down and flag went up without a hitch we went inside shaking our heads and talking at a low pitch.
Not a moment later we hear the chief shout, "Clean the equipment or the party is out!" We scurried to and fro, scrubbing and polishing the gym equipment till it glowed.
Some of us were sent to finish the party trims and sweeping up after the tinsel had been found.
At the end of it all we sat around the table, nodding to each other and grinning our silly grins.
We had done good and now it was time to play.
See you all Saturday night, with our party shoes on and empty tummies to be filled.
Happy Wednesday to all and a good night!
Not a fireman hollering, not even a call.
28 Stockings where hung under the whiteboard with care,
in order of older to younger, me in the middle somewhere.
Garland up on the ceiling with style while the red lights glowed from the corners for miles.
A crew put up the Flagpole in a hurry, then...what was that noise,
a clatter and crash, not to mention the roar of laughter... such a scurry and dash as we rushed out to see what was the matter. When to our wondering eyes we saw
not a flag on the mast but a wee little fire fighter up there trying not to fall. He clung with his life way up the pole,how to get him down we pondered while we stared in awe as to how he got up there.
I was told to stay around as he was too short and wouldn't stay on the ground.
After we brought the stranded man down and flag went up without a hitch we went inside shaking our heads and talking at a low pitch.
Not a moment later we hear the chief shout, "Clean the equipment or the party is out!" We scurried to and fro, scrubbing and polishing the gym equipment till it glowed.
Some of us were sent to finish the party trims and sweeping up after the tinsel had been found.
At the end of it all we sat around the table, nodding to each other and grinning our silly grins.
We had done good and now it was time to play.
See you all Saturday night, with our party shoes on and empty tummies to be filled.
Happy Wednesday to all and a good night!
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Rode a 1000 Gallon Pumper. You Try Saying that with a straight face!
Last night's fire practice was a bit more relaxed. Nothing extreme to report other then we were getting the christmas lights tightened on the roof of the fire hall and turned on. At one point, I was hanging over the edge of the roof (trust me it's not easy when there's nothing holding you in place while you reach for a fallen string of lights). I have longer arms then my partner did, he grabbed me, I grabbed the lights. Other then that little excitement, we pretty much hung out on the roof watching cop cars driving around and wondering what they were up to. Looking for someone? LOL
After we were done on the roof, 2 of us got a lesson in driving the 1000 gallon pumper truck and went for a ride. First time my partner got to drive the truck and I sat in the back with another member as he explained our roll in a call to a structure fire or MVA from this place on the vehicle. It was really fascinating. Kinda funny how the more you learn while training to be the best fire fighter you can be the more you want to learn and the better you want to be.
I'm put out a challenge there for all my readers. No matter what you are doing in your life, career or home, figure out what you are passionate about and go for it 110%! Trust me, it's the most amazing thing to see what you can do. Never give up on yourself. Because when you give up on you, others will too. But if you are dedicated to what you want, you'll be surprised at the people that are drawn into your life to support you, motivate you and lift you up.
We all deserve a moment in the spotlight; no matter where that light shines... up a chimney, down a sewer tank, underground covered in dust, out in space, on stage or taxiing people from place to place. As long as you are loving what you are doing, nothing is going to make you dim or dull, but you.
I'm taking a physical test on Saturday for something I dreamt about doing all my life. I don't know how I'm going to do, I've been told I'll do just fine but I am still cautious. There's nothing wrong with being cautious but I don't want to stop myself before I've even tried.
I'll keep you posted as I go through the rest of the days. But take it from me. If I hadn't of joined this amazing group of guys here at the OK Falls Fire Hall I would not have known what I was missing and perhaps regretted it for the rest of my life.
I salute ALL volunteer fire fighters and all those that are taking a leap and seeing what they can do to become one of us!
After we were done on the roof, 2 of us got a lesson in driving the 1000 gallon pumper truck and went for a ride. First time my partner got to drive the truck and I sat in the back with another member as he explained our roll in a call to a structure fire or MVA from this place on the vehicle. It was really fascinating. Kinda funny how the more you learn while training to be the best fire fighter you can be the more you want to learn and the better you want to be.
I'm put out a challenge there for all my readers. No matter what you are doing in your life, career or home, figure out what you are passionate about and go for it 110%! Trust me, it's the most amazing thing to see what you can do. Never give up on yourself. Because when you give up on you, others will too. But if you are dedicated to what you want, you'll be surprised at the people that are drawn into your life to support you, motivate you and lift you up.
We all deserve a moment in the spotlight; no matter where that light shines... up a chimney, down a sewer tank, underground covered in dust, out in space, on stage or taxiing people from place to place. As long as you are loving what you are doing, nothing is going to make you dim or dull, but you.
I'm taking a physical test on Saturday for something I dreamt about doing all my life. I don't know how I'm going to do, I've been told I'll do just fine but I am still cautious. There's nothing wrong with being cautious but I don't want to stop myself before I've even tried.
I'll keep you posted as I go through the rest of the days. But take it from me. If I hadn't of joined this amazing group of guys here at the OK Falls Fire Hall I would not have known what I was missing and perhaps regretted it for the rest of my life.
I salute ALL volunteer fire fighters and all those that are taking a leap and seeing what they can do to become one of us!
Thursday, November 22, 2012
"Quick! I'm limp!" And other firefighter quirks
Hello and welcome! Our fire practice night was entertaining to say the least. We washed trucks! Yeah!!! LOL I know, I know, you're all going WHAT?!? Actually it was pretty funny and fun.
Let me tell you why we enjoyed it so much. One of our Captains, pointed at us randomly around the table, including me and said, "you five come with me" then pointed to another group of guys and said "you six will go with 'him' " directing to another Captian. We all looked at each other, shrugged and sure enough, five of us followed him out. We came together in front of one of the trucks and he disappeared! We looked around, "where did he go?" One of the guys wandered to the tool room, nope not there, then went back to the main room, nope not there...came back looking rather confused. We were told to follow but where? Not sure what we were suppose to do next we figured it was better to wait as a group then to spread out and hunt.
Have no fear, Our Captian came back! ha ha ha He'd actually gone to the storage room and brought out brushes, special stainless steel cleaner, soap for the water hose then proceeded to tell us what we were in store for that night. One of the many Chris' said, "I hired a baby-sitter to come and clean trucks?" I thought he was going to leave, but as we got going on the cleaning he realized we were having so much fun, he stuck it out.
At one point we were laughing so hard that no one could stand up properly. You'd thought we had drank the cleaner! One of the guys was using the hose to rinse the trucks down in stages and he yelled from the back of the truck, "Quick! I'm limp!" Oh man, that did it...we were killing ourselves laughing. We had no idea what he was talking about but we figured it must be something good. He then clarified it with, "My hose just dribbles!"
As you can imagine with a room full of guys, it got worse from there. Funny thing about being in the fire hall as the only female. None of the guys think twice about how they treat me, I'm either one of the guys or their my "father". Some will swear and look over at me immediately and appologize. I say, "Don't worry about it. I'm around drivers who know a lot more words then you say." But it's really nice that members respect me enough to think about their language.
At the end of laughing, getting soaked and cleaning trucks we went back to the hall for our meeting, and then got started on the Christmas party plans.
I bet you're wondering what the other six guys got to do while we played with water. They had to do CPR practice on a dummy :P I think I enjoyed my evening more then they did...ha ha ha
All in all, I didn't get home till after 11 and certainly didn't get to bed too early. LOL But what a fun way to break up the week.
Let me tell you why we enjoyed it so much. One of our Captains, pointed at us randomly around the table, including me and said, "you five come with me" then pointed to another group of guys and said "you six will go with 'him' " directing to another Captian. We all looked at each other, shrugged and sure enough, five of us followed him out. We came together in front of one of the trucks and he disappeared! We looked around, "where did he go?" One of the guys wandered to the tool room, nope not there, then went back to the main room, nope not there...came back looking rather confused. We were told to follow but where? Not sure what we were suppose to do next we figured it was better to wait as a group then to spread out and hunt.
Have no fear, Our Captian came back! ha ha ha He'd actually gone to the storage room and brought out brushes, special stainless steel cleaner, soap for the water hose then proceeded to tell us what we were in store for that night. One of the many Chris' said, "I hired a baby-sitter to come and clean trucks?" I thought he was going to leave, but as we got going on the cleaning he realized we were having so much fun, he stuck it out.
At one point we were laughing so hard that no one could stand up properly. You'd thought we had drank the cleaner! One of the guys was using the hose to rinse the trucks down in stages and he yelled from the back of the truck, "Quick! I'm limp!" Oh man, that did it...we were killing ourselves laughing. We had no idea what he was talking about but we figured it must be something good. He then clarified it with, "My hose just dribbles!"
As you can imagine with a room full of guys, it got worse from there. Funny thing about being in the fire hall as the only female. None of the guys think twice about how they treat me, I'm either one of the guys or their my "father". Some will swear and look over at me immediately and appologize. I say, "Don't worry about it. I'm around drivers who know a lot more words then you say." But it's really nice that members respect me enough to think about their language.
At the end of laughing, getting soaked and cleaning trucks we went back to the hall for our meeting, and then got started on the Christmas party plans.
I bet you're wondering what the other six guys got to do while we played with water. They had to do CPR practice on a dummy :P I think I enjoyed my evening more then they did...ha ha ha
All in all, I didn't get home till after 11 and certainly didn't get to bed too early. LOL But what a fun way to break up the week.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Pictures save a 1000 words
Gooooood Morning! It's been a busy week for me this week, but all quiet so far on the OkFalls Fire Department end. Apparently they had a couple call outs yesterday while I was at work. Nothing they couldn't handle without me. Hee hee
Ok, so this morning I thought I would change things up a bit. Instead of talking about my boring practice night last night where I was the "man down". Literally! I ended up being the one brought back to safety and told to "sit this one out, we got it". My knees were a little worse then I'd thought. Ugh...anyway, we don't want to know about that do we? No, I didn't think so... Here is a blog of some photos instead:) I've got a couple more "action photos" to add when I get them later today, hopefully.
Enjoy! And have a great week!
Ok, so this morning I thought I would change things up a bit. Instead of talking about my boring practice night last night where I was the "man down". Literally! I ended up being the one brought back to safety and told to "sit this one out, we got it". My knees were a little worse then I'd thought. Ugh...anyway, we don't want to know about that do we? No, I didn't think so... Here is a blog of some photos instead:) I've got a couple more "action photos" to add when I get them later today, hopefully.
Enjoy! And have a great week!
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| Tim and me beside Engine 171 |
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| I'm in the water rescue craft for our fire fighters |
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| Tim and I |
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| Tim got to sit in the driver seat of Engine 171 wearing a Captain's helm. |
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| At the back of our Pumper truck. |
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| As you can see, our Engine 171 was custom built. It's kinda neat what they've done to it. |
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| Me inside |
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| At the back of our old pumper truck. Still used, just a lot smaller. |
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| O_ooo buttons, levers, knobs oh my! The air tank on my back is one of our newer ones. Much lighter then what I've been training with. |
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| Yes, it says Smart on my helmet! My parents might not think it's the smartest career move but it's one of my better choices in life <3 |
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| Our old pumper truck |
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| Tim was having a blast. |
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