Greatest Job

Ladders are one of the most well recognized pieces of equipment in the fire service. Much like contractors, we have to be able to reach different parts of buildings, parts not normally accesible to regular people. Ladders come in handy, but you need to know how to set them up properly, how to foot them and keep them stable while you work off of them.
In an effort to practice with this vital pice of equipment, my class met at the Mass Firefighting Academy's facility in Stow. the facility has a large, three story burn and smoke building in the center of the drill yard. We set up ladders to each floor and spent the day climbing in and out of the windows and practicing weaving a leg through the rungs so as to hold ourselves in place when our hands are busy.
It was a particularly cold day for late October and snow was falling as we scrambled up and down ladders. When a firefighter climbs a ladder, he has to check that the pawls, locks that keep the fly section of the lader extended. Upon checking that, the firefighter has to yell "Pawls locked!"
The day was long, running around with ladders weighing upwards of 450 pounds on our shoulders, scaling buildings and raising and lowering our tools. Exhaustion set in on the way home, with hopes of the next day be relaxing as there was no academy class scheduled.
Waking up to sound of my pager, I rushed to the station. Apparently, a car had struck a bicyclist, killing him instantly. To his luck, the driver of the car was a former EMT, he performed CPR on the body until our Squad arrived and shocked him back to life with an AED. He died again and the AED brought him back to life, is blood pressure soaring over two hundred. A LifeFlight helicopter was flown in to transport him to a trauma center in downtown Boston. Helicopters carry alot of fuel and therefore require an engine on standby should they crash or burst into flames.
The LifeFlight pilot, a Nam vet called Rat, dove the chopper in like he was back in the paddies of Southeast Asia. The two flight doctors onboard and the EMT they take with them bailed out and spent a good twenty minutes trying to establish an airway on the patient. Once again, no airway, no patient. Eventually they managed to get an OPA into his throat and treat him with drugs available in hospitals.
Upon returning to the station, the tones went off again for a chimney fire. We rushed right back out and I realized I have the greatest job on the face of the earth.

Trusting Yourself

In order to complete the Mass Firefighting Academy's I/II program, you need to sucessfully complete a three level maze made of chicken wire, in pitch black, full turn out gear and ScottPack. While you're crawling around in total darkness, the instructors are watching you from infrared cameras.
The purpose of the maze is to build confidence in your ability to move around in your equipment. Small round holes, covered by manhole like lidsare scattered on the ceiling and floor throughout the maze. You need to go up three levels and find your way out before your air runs out. In order to complete the evolution, you need to safely navigate through holes designed to trip up your airpack. I never want to remove my pack in a hostile environment. I've never wanted to, I don't even like to loosen the straps to fit through obstacles. So I tried to force myself through the first. In the rim of the opening so I tried to drop my shoulder, hoping that I'd reduce my profile without taking off any gear. I managed to squeeze through and got my butt up on the next floor.
Total darkness has a way of making you feel either claustrophobic or absolutly at peace. Some people get all wigged out in the dark, start to see things or get nervous about what they can't see. I tend to like the darkness. My hands are my eyes and I can pick my way around by feeling my surroundings. Its kind of like a game, find your way out of the darkness in a bulky suit.
Its fun.
Firefighting, when done correctly, is fun. The maze is one of those fun activities. You have to rely on yourself and your abilities. No second guessing, just insticnt because anything else is unrealiable. When you're crawling around in the dark, trying to figgure out where the hell you are and whats going on, you can't be wondering if what you're doing is right. You have to know its right and trust your self. Trusting your ability is what will make you suceed in the maze and in a fire.
Any kind of doubt can get you in a bad place, if you start doubting what you're doing, you're not doing what your supposed to be. If your in the middle of darknes and start to wonder if you have what it takes, you're setting yourself up for failure. Training is what builds your ability to save lives and keep yourself safe. Its imprtant to realize that you have had the bes training possible and that yourtrust in that training will be paramount in your safety.
After I stumble my way through that maze, six minutes that felt like six hours, I have a new found respect for my training. I was able to find my way through three floors of total darkness. I managed to get through holes designed to trap me. I passed one evolution and look forward to a myriad more.

You Want My Job

The large framed instructor at the front of the room grabbed someone's fire/rescue service training manual. He held it up for all to see and asked, "Do you want my job?" We all answered in unison, "Yes sir." His reply was to slap the book loudly with his hand. "Everything you need to know to get my job is right in here. I know this book cover to cover, and if you want my job you'll have to know the same." He threw the book down on the table and told us we had two minutes to get upstairs and in full gear for a day of practical exercises.
We spent the morning relearning our ScottAirPacks, self contained breathing apparatus that firefighters use to survive in the harsh conditions of a burning building or hazardous materials incident. An instructor with a thick mustache told us we were doing horrible and that we had to relearn the basics. Under his tutelage we practiced donning and doffing the gear until we could barely move.
Next we had to learn how to save ourselves incase we get disoriented and lost in a building. Our first priority is to find the hoseline, we follow along it until we come to a coupling. Couplings have lugs on them used for identifying them in this type of situation. We were locked in a dark, cramped stockroom with a hose strewn randomly about the floor. It looped back on itself, went under cans and all sorts of clutter.
Finding a hoseline, especially an uncharged one, while trying to keep a foot against the wall so as not to become further disoriented, is a trying task. You claw at anything that feels remotely like an inch and three quater line. Its time consuming, nerve wracking because you realize that hoseline is your only hope. You try to hold your breath, make that tank on your back last as long as possible.
But finding the hose is only half of the work of the Long Lug Out drill. In order to navigate out of the area, you need to locate a coupling and feel, through your thick firefighting gloves. You need to find the long lugs to know which way is out, then you follow the hose, hopefully to freedom.
The next drill was a victim search, we put on a blacked out face mask and crawled around in a sheet metal trailer with various obstacles thrown in. Our objective was to find a dummy, meant to be a victim. We were given a tool to extend our reach into the middle of the "room".
Sheets of ply wood were set up to represent the confined spaces we could routinely encounter in a building fire.
I scramble around, poking and sweeping with my tool. Having done search drills before, I tucked my tool between my knees when I encounterd what I thought was the victim. An instructor stealithly snuck over and relieved me of my Haligan. I had lost my extra reach and I didn't even have the victim. After realigning myself with the wall, I inch along, kicking out my feet into the center of the "room". My feet thud against something squishy. Jacknifing myself so my feet go back against the wall, I feel the object. Its a dummy! In one motion I drag the body back to the wall and start to finish my round of the building. My arms strain and my lungs burn when my low air bell starts ringing. A deep breath, hold it, move. With low air, you're reduced to basic functions. I shuffle and drag, holding breath and taking little sips of breath to conserve my air. My mask brightens, i push toward the light, dragging my burden.
But thats just two drills, countless more will follow because, I want his job.