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.
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.
posted by Nick Stabile at 12:41 PM
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