Everyone Goes Home

Whenever you get on a truck in the fire department, you take a small tag off of your gear and clip it to a ring kept by the officer of the rig. Thats so he knows where you are at all times. When you go in a building for a fire or a rescue area, you give a second tag to be placed on a second ring. So that way, people know you're in the danger zone.
Its a simple concept but it makes all the difference, the tags say it all. A tag left on a ring at the end of the night means that someone is not going home and that's not acceptable. Everyone goes home.
The fire academy stresses accountability. When I leave the room to hit the head or to refill my water bottle, I take a tag, when I arrive at a skill station I tag in so they know I'm there. The drill instructors perform subtle tests on us, telling us to go move something and counting how many of us tag back out again. If we forget to tag, we hear about it, a lot about it.
But being able to know where everyone is at all times, is essential. You need to know where members of your crew are in order to keep track of personel and make sure everyone goes home.
So after tagging up, I set out to re-learn the fundementals of rope and knot work. Ropes are a huge element of the fire service, perhaps the most versital piece of equipment carried on any rig.
With a rope, you can perform rescues, secure things, haul things, the possibilities are endless. So a knowlege of ropes is key for a firefighter. Our knots have to be strong yet easily untied. We have to be able to tie them with bulky golve on.
Two days of tieing and retying knots in full kit had me beat, but after spending so much time with the rope, I feel confident in my ability to use knots effectively and safely. One of the most important elements of the fire service, one frequently overlooked, has been beaten into my brain, as I struggled to make my knots hold tools a mere three feet off the ground.
So now a piece of eight foot long kernmantle life safety rope hangs on a peg behind my door, when I leave my room, I practice a knot. When I watch TV or a movie, I twirl it into a bow line, a figgure eight or several others.

In Omnia Paratus (Through Training We Are Prepared)

My goatee has been shaved, all I have left is my mustache, making me look lot more like my father than I thought possible. Mass Firefighting Academy regulations state that recruits are not allowed facial hair, so yesterday I shaved all but the mustache. Then I put on my Holden Fire/Rescue uniform, navy blue trousers, navy blue shirt with a Holden patch (and soon to hold an EMT patch as well) my badge and firefighter lapel pins.
The uniform is mandatory for every class of the fire academy and is subject to a military style inspection at the begining of every secession.
Knowing all this made the drive to Berlin Mass, more than a little nerve wracking. With my buddy, and fellow class mate Mike Braley behind the wheel, our bunker gear on the back seat, we set out for our first night of Firefighter I/II Plus class.
A row of white shirted instructors greeted us at the street infront of the fire station at which our class was to be held. We pulled over and told them who were and they immediately began yelling for us to pull around back. At the back another instructor yelled for us to park between the cones, get our gear and assemble inside for a pre class inspection.
Under the orders of yelling, roving, instructors we set out our bunker gear for a full inspection and then run into the classroom to find our seats. No sooner had we sat down then the instructor came into the room and yelled for us to stand at attention. A military style role call was conducted in which we each replied "Present, sir"and then we all sat down for the rules and regulations.
Everyone was issued an MFA water bottle with our number written on it, and an accountability tag that we have to wear on our right side every time we leave the room, even if its just to step into the hallway. In the fire service, everyone needs to know where you are at all times.
After going through a mountain of paperwork, we're given a break in which we were "strongly encouraged" to reassemble our gear. Basically we put our gear back into working order while the instructors gave constructive criticism---they weren't just yelling but giving tips on how to make donning and doffing our gear easier by putting it together a certain way.
After one class at the firefighting academy, I am ready for more. It promises to be a challenging and nerve wracking experience but it serves one purpose, to make me a better and more proficient firefighter. To suceed in emergency service I need not only the certifications offered by this class (Firefighter I/II and HazMat First Responder Operations) but also the lessons born of the experience of my instructors.