Review Review Review... Cuz we do forget

Someone once said, "Learn the basics, practice the basics, master the basics." He was talking about Kung Fu but actually I think it fits in every part of our lives. If we don't learn to crawl how do we learn to walk? If we don't learn what a steering wheel is, how do we know when to use it?

It's no different in the Fire Hall. You, dear reader are probably unfamiliar with hoses, what they are made of, why they work the way they do. What the gadgets, bobbles, lights and twirly things are on the trucks, why ladders come in all different sizes shapes and know some collapse while others extend. All these are basics to know, learn and understand. But more important that we can learn, understand and master besides using our gear and equipment is how we connect with each other. If we don't have trust in each other's capabilities and confidence that our partner has our back, how can we fully do our job?

Uh yes, I do have a point to this. It was learned Wednesday night. Most of the guys were on a practice, climbing ladders, hauling up ropes, equipment, working as teams and communicating through the radio. 

I and our newest member of the team were reviewing what was on the trucks, where stuff was on the trucks, what each item was used for on the trucks and how to handle said equipment. After our fire call, short handed and we two were out there with the Deputy Chief, he had decided, and I was very relieved to learn, that we needed more reviews and refreshers on everything. Putting aside rope tying, wash trucks, hanging hoses, rolling hoses... you get the idea. Yes, they are important but we needed more practical practices and I for one was happy.

I love my time at the hall and I really appreciate the years of experience the guys all have. I am like a sponge wanting more knowledge. But there are times when I read my Fire Fighter manual, ask questions or go on a call-out, I feel inadequate. I know, silly and shows a lack of confidence. However, the more I learn, the more I don't know and the more I want to know, the more humble I feel. Being a part of the fire hall is not a temporary, sometimes I'll hang out and wear the T-shirt kind of volunteer. It's a life choice and life commitment. It affects not just where I live, work, play, who I associate with but who I am inside. 

So back to the basics... I may feel inadequate for now, but that will change with reviewing, listening, learning and mastering. Just as these guys were all rookies once upon a time, I too will become a master. 

Busy Night: Fire, Labor Cramps, MVA Oh my!

I had just hung up the phone from talking with my son when a page came in about a structure fire. Sounded serious, building on fire, possibly spreading through the trees and grass. Propane tanks in the building and equipment.

Okay... I'm just getting over a cold/flu and not completely up to par in strength but when you get a page you go! I'd imagined that I would be staying at the hall because I still haven't been completely trained on fires and what use am I today?

Apparently a lot useful. Hee hee I had the pleasure, (adrenaline rush kicking in here) of riding on the first truck on scene. Was putting on air tank when the Deputy Chief said not to bother. He had something else in mind for me. Once at the base of the driveway a local drives into the area and a woman, jumps out freaking out about her grandparents. I look at DC and he just nods and waves his hand at me. I turned to her and proceeded to talk with her. She really wants to get up to the house to see her grandparents. I told her we couldn't let her do that until we knew what was happening. Once everything was under control then we could help her get closer. She started to feel cramping, yes she was pregnant and the anxiety was starting to take hold. I gave her instructions on taking deep breaths and relax so  she didn't go into premature labor. Fires and labor just wasn't in our plan but we could have worked with it. I'd prefer not to. One new experience at a time for me, thank you very much.

We talked about her pregnancy and she seemed to calm down a bit so she went back to her truck and waited. She was feeling twinges and I warned the Captain. He said he'd keep an eye on her. I then turned to the Deputy Chief for further instructions and he had me check the size of hose we neede for the hydrant. I get the information to him and someone came to double check my sizing. It was correct :)

Then DC had me grab the hose and follow the truck up with it, letting him know when it gets tight. Hydrant hose in hand I proceeded to follow him up the hill. He then asked me to hook up the hose to the truck at the top of the hill and get it ready for the hydrant to be opened. Ok, I've not done this before! He mentioned, hose wrenches... uhhhhh where? Oh to the right. Ok, got them. Then at some point he swore, don't worry it wasn't me he was mad at, adrenaline rush here people! I softly said, "Sorry sir, never done this before. Might not be the most experienced but I can learn fast. Tell me what you need." He looked at me, smiled and gently told me how to hook things up while he unrolled more hoses. The attack team was getting the hoses to the fire while another member hooked up the two attack lines to the truck. By the time DC and I got the main hose hooked up, the attack lines were ready to go. "Let her rip!" DC hollers into the radio.

I never knew structure fires could be sooooo loud. It was deafining. I just assumed they would be like a fire in the fire place or pits... was I wrong.

After we attacked the fire got it out and did our perimeter check. DC pulled me aside and said I did good for a first timer. I was proud of our team. We were short on members and the three of us rookies kept our heads and did what we had to do. Four members stayed on scene for a couple hours while the rest of us were sent back to the hall.

Smile :)

Back at the hall we were undressing and just as I was hanging up my gear, putting on my shoes, we got an MVA call. Here we go again! Something new and sounded really serious. I looked at my Chief, he nodded and said, "Go". I grabbed my gear and donned it again. Hopped into the truck and off we went. Get almost to the scene when we were cancelled. Ugh, turn the truck around and head back home.

It's now 3:30AM and I'm finally slowing down. Think I'll sleep in today.

CPR Practice on Dummies

As you can imagine, having read my blogs about being a volunteer fire fighter, this isn't just another night of serious learning.

If you call, wise cracking, hilarious boys, timing their breathing and pushing on a dummy's chest, serious learning. I'd taken ECE many years ago and had a pretty good idea what we would be doing on the baby dummy.

Infant dummy we have at the hall

The bigger dummy, no arms or legs, pretty much bodiless accept for the chest and head was different then I'd expected. Some assembly was required... hee hee

This is the model we have at the hall for the adult CPR practice

Learning 30:2 and 15:2, differences between adults, infants, kids, 100 compressions per minute and then including alone or with a partner can be a bit overwhelming in a regular classroom. However with this team I got a kick out of listening to them making jokes and even asking reasonable questions before I could even ask. Its all fun and games with my Hall and yet in all the fun and games I have learned so much from the regular members. And as with all learning, the more I learn, the more I don't know, the more I want to learn :)

Have a great read and see you next time.

Serious fun tying knots...especially with my crowd

Can you get into trouble when you are learning to tie knots? Apparently so... at least with my fellow fire fighter members. You want to know what I mean right? Ok, here's what happened at practice.

All fun in the hall, but it was serious fun including lots of practice, practice, practice. You know that saying "Practice makes perfect"? Well, it's actually more accurate to say "Perfect practice makes perfect."

I had been away for the introduction to knot tying and so I took the rope home for a couple weeks with handout and book on tying certain knots. Knowing me, you realize I would practice my little heart out to make sure I had it down pat.

You guessed it! I practiced really hard and made sure I knew what knots where what and what each one was used for. Such as Clove Hitch, Bowline, Butterfly Knot, Figure Eight and the double Figure Eight, just to name a few I learned...

Now, when I get to the hall Wednesday night, I bring my tools for learning, quite confident that I had them down pat...test time... Start panicking anytime now!

Instructor: "I want to see a Double Fisherman's knot. Go!"
Me: "A what?" Grab book and start looking through the pages. I'm sure I don't remember that page! Sweating. Not really, but the drama keeps you reading...

Instuctor: "Tammie, you having a problem?"
Me: "I must have missed that page in my book."
Instructor: "Here let me show you."
Sweet! Whew!

Oh that one's easy!!!

Practiced that one a few times. Next the Instructor says, "Show me your Figure 8 Double Loop."
Me (mumbling): "Uhhhhh right, no problem. I know the Figure 8, how much more difficult is the double?"

Sneaking up on me the Instructor bends down and says, "How's it going Tammie?" Hmmmm now do I panic or do I look at him and stick my tongue out? Hee hee  Yes, I chose to cross my eyes at him and stick my tongue out...So far he isn't asking for knots that I was told to study at home! I'm sure it's a conspiracy!!!

Nice! He showed me the knot... easy peasy...

Then he says, "Ok everyone show me your Clove Hitch with a couple half Clove Hitch."

Ok this should be easy because I remember the clove hitch. By this time the Deputy Chief sitting beside me is getting bored and quickly did his knots, got up and went to do something else. Can't look at his stuff anymore :(

Someone piped up as to why I was getting so much help? Hee hee Instructor mentioned I hadn't been there for the introduction to knots and needed to catch up. But it wasn't really hard to learn and being a fast study, he didn't spend much time with me.

Then we have to proceed to put two of the knots together. The Double Fisherman with the Clove Hitch and half Clove Hitch. Combining? Really? Uhmmm ok, it's 8:30 PM and my brain shuts off at about 5! I'm suppose to remember and combine at this hour? hee hee

All in all the knots were easy and fun. Until one member came over to me and said, "Here's a knot you can use on your significant other. Put out your hands." This isn't looking too good, for me...should I be worried? Have no idea what it's called, but it was fun to learn and made lots of people laugh. Comments from the peanut gallery not included. Use your imagination :D Let's just say it's kinda like the handcuff knot only more wraps involved...hee hee

We then went out and practiced our knots on the equipment. Talk about a laugh-athon! I learned lots and of course my usual 100 questions in the evening didn't all go unanswered. I was even able to make a couple members laugh. Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back :)

Well, that's it for this week,s practice.

A couple fun...for me...call outs

Since being back from my trip to Bella Coola, we've had a few call-outs.  A couple of them were what I would call, routine. If a first responder call can be called routine. hee hee

Though I must say I was pretty excited, not over-the-moon-with-joy excited but excited none the less about getting the chance to attend an MVA. I got to do the paperwork at the scene. It was very minor compared to what could have been. Not sure exactly because...well... let's just say that the guy driving the ambulance decided to overtake us and pass us on the highway. The ambulance got there first and we pulled in a couple seconds behind him.

No we don't know why the driver felt he had to or what the point of it was. We still had to deal with the car and helping getting the accident victim into the ambulance. I've never had so little information to put on my paperwork since joining the fire hall...hee hee Command on duty said he's had less. I did however ask the RCMP officer, who attended the accident, for a name, address and he even gave me the victim's age. I was glad for that at least. 

Another new experience for me was just the other day we had a call-out for a bush fire. Weeee!!! something I haven't dealt with yet. On with the bunker gear, in the truck I go...wait, which address is it? We are given two. Ok, Engine 171 is going one way, Rescue 171 is heading the other way, let's see if we can head the fire off at the pass...ughhh... NOT!

We can see the smoke up in the hills across the river from us. The Captain in our truck, R171, calls to Command and informs them where we can see the fire. Yes, Command was on scene and sees it. He's already sent one man, Mikey, up the hill to inspect. Doesn't look like much, but we can't get the trucks up there, we'll have to hook up a couple miles of hoses if we have a situation that needs attending.

Finally R171 heads to join E171 at the correct location. Command informs Dispatch of the situation.it' It's just a smouldering burn pile a guy is actually watching. No permit, the guy gets a warning...not the first time this has happened apparently. We're not needed.

What can I say? It was was still pretty cool! I didn't get out of the truck once. But had time to sit with my fire partner while we took pictures with our cell phones of each other and of the goings on around us. Here are a couple fun pictures for you guys. Have a great week! More to come as always.

Electricity...the Invisible Killer

We had a pretty intense but facinating lesson in safety around electricity and downed power lines. In the video at http://www.electricity.ca/theinvisiblekiller/ you will see where a police officer touches a car in the effort to help and he himself gets killed. This blog is more serious and perhaps not as funny to read as my others but I'm hoping if I can save at least one life, let it be yours or your kids'.

If you are working around
powerlines, trimming trees or painting the side of your house, please contact your local power company for advice on the best and safest practices. If you are working around lines, trimming trees or painting the side of your house, please contact your local power company for advice on the best and safest practices. 

Ideally you want to be a minimum 1 power pole distance away from the downed line. the ground is charged by the current and can kill you at any zone. The video link above demonstrates this.

If you see a car accident on the road, don't get out of your vehicle to go help. You could be come a casualty yourself. If there is no emergency vehicle in sight, call 911 and report it. Stay in your vehicle until you are given instructions from the emergency team at the scene. You'd be surprised at how many people try to be a good samaritan and end up getting seriously hurt or dead themselves.

As my instructor for the electrical safety program says "When in doubt, Don't." 

Take care of yourselves and I'll see you on the next blog date.

Four of us volunteered to show a group of kids and their parents through the Fire Hall today. The kids were aged younger then 3 up to 12 years old. The tour took only an hour of our time, but I'm sure those kids on the truck, hearing the siren and see the lights come on on the truck, will remember this all their lives. I love my job! Kids grinning ear to ear, excited to sit in the driver's seat is just an example of what a fun I have here at the Hall.

Birthday boy Riley, sitting in the new truck.

The group listening to one of the Captains explaining the function of a pumper truck.

Here the group is seeing what's being held behind closed doors of our Rescue truck.

Kids getting a taste of how loud the siren is and seeing the lights going on the truck. You can see one plugging her ears. It's pretty loud out side, and here we are in the hall :)