Well, today was rough. We started with PT this morning by doing 6 minutes of lunges because one of the cadets was a minute late. After the lunges, we ran out to disaster city and did some competitions between companies. After PT, we didn't get to shower because we were going right into outdoor skills training. We have spent time in class the last two days learning about hose rolls, drags, carries, and other things related to the operation of applying water to the fire. Today we got to practice what we learned in the classroom.
We were all issued a 50 foot section of one and three quarters inch hose and three inch hose. After we all had hoselines, we were required to put on all of our firefighting gear and begin practicing the skills.
We did straight rolls, donut rolls, twin donut rolls, and self locking twin donut rolls. After the rolls, we moved straight into hose carries. We did the horseshoe carry, the accordion carry, and the loop carry. Each time, we had to carry the 50 foot section of 3 inch hose (weighing about 50 pounds) about a quarter mile... in full gear... in 100 degree weather. After the carries, we began to practice hose drags. We learned 3 different methods. Again, we dragged the hose for a quarter mile. After the first hose drag, two of the members of my crew were beginning to suffer from heat exhaustion so they down geared and took a break, while the other member of my crew and I continued with the next hose drag. About 3/4 of the way through the second hose drag, I notice my heart rate increasing, but my breathing rate staying normal and with a slow walking pace, so I decided that I needed to down gear and take a break after this hose drag because I was starting to suffer from heat exhaustion. Even though our instructors would gripe at us for taking a break, I wanted to listen to my body and stay alive. Every time I lifted my helmet up, a steady stream of sweat would come off of my head and I could feel the heat radiating between my body and the bunker gear. When I was almost to the finish line, the cadet pulling hose in front of me passed out, so me and two other cadets dropped our hose, pulled his hose off of him, and got him out of his firefighting gear. We got some instructors over to where we were and called for a medic. Unfortunately, the medic was at a heat exhaustion call on the other side of the training field and would not answer his radio, so they loaded the passed out cadet in a truck and took him to the medical center. After the adrenaline rush, I finished the hose drag fairly easily. This entire training session was done over a period of two and a half hours. We only got a 5 minute break and were told that we could not down gear in between evolutions. After we finished all of our hose training for the morning, we did 30 eight count body builders and 20 crunches as punishment for a cadet not having a belt and several others not shaving this morning. Then we finally got to go to lunch.
This whole training exercise made all of the cadets very frustrated at our instructors. There is a time for physical training, and there is a time for learning. We already completed PT this morning, and are supposed to be learning and practicing these skills, but we are so exhausted from the training evolutions that none of us can even remember what it was we were supposed to be learning. We were simply trying to pull through step by step. We do not need to be in full bunker gear, in 100 degree weather, and in direct sunlight to understand how to roll, carry, or drag hose. We need to learn, practice, and perfect those skills before applying them. Yes, fighting a structural fire is going to be very hard work and exhausting, but we should be using PT in the morning to get our bodies to the level of fitness required, not our time to get the learn the basic fundamentals. There was also no need to carry that hose for a quarter mile to learn how to properly perform the carry. I don't mean to complain, and I try to understand that the instructors have their reasons for making us do the things we do; to make us better firefighters and push us to our limits so that we learn what those limits are. However, there is no need to unneccesarily put a cadets wellbeing in harms way in training. I don't have a problem with sweating and working hard, but there also needs to be alloted recovery time. At real structure fires, firefighters wearing full gear are expected to work until they use up two air bottles (about 30-40 minutes), but are then required to go to rehab for where a medical professional clears them to go back to work. Working for two and a half hours with only a 5 minute break is not acceptable on a fire scene, or in training where we do the same work we would do at a fire scene. You would assume that a firefighter training school would abide by the firefighter health and safety rules that were taught to the students in week #1. Directly out of Essentials of Firefighting 5 ed., page 68: "In hot weather, trainees should be given appropriate breaks during which they may remove all or part of their protective clothing while they rest and rehydrate in the shade." However, if we do complain to our instructors, we felt that we would either have to do more pushups, or get written up for insubordination.
When we came back from lunch, all of the companies are required to do a PAR (Personnel Accountability Report). We realized that one of our company members was not with us. We were later notified that he was taken to the hospital over lunch break for extreme heat exhaustion and having an irregular EKG. He was one of the members of my company who took a break during the hose drags because he was feeling light headed.
The instructors were reprimanded by the chief training officer over the lunch break for demanding so much out of us. After lunch, we were allowed to practice hose loads in street clothes, in the shade, and we were given 15 minute water breaks between each evolution. All of the students' attitudes improved, which also allowed for better participation and a better learning environment.
The cadet from my company that was taken to the hospital did meet up with us in the classroom at the end of the day with IV marks up and down each arm, but in good spirits.
1 comment:
Unbelievable!
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