A newbie's CPAT practice orientation
A newbie here. I just finished my first CPAT practice orientation. Like others have said, the stepmill was the part of the test that could be considered moderately, physically challenging. However, since I'm completely new to this, I took my time with each event, walked with the hose (proctor told me that if I ran and accidentally went outside of the barricade, I would be disqualified come test time), was extra careful in placing the saws on the ground as not to drop them during the equipment carry, and in some instances between stations, I accidentally walked outside of the cones, and the proctor made me go back the way I came around the cones and the yellow line, which definately slowed me down. I took too much time lowering the lanyard of the ladder because I was worried that it would slip out of my hands. Also, the proctor, who was very helpful, told me to brace my foot on the inside of the metal cage while doing the pike pole push and pull so I wouldn't have to reposition myself after each set. I was not gassed at the end and finished with 43 seconds to spare. However, next time I will improve my time because I'll pay better attention to details and techniques that will make me more efficient. I'll post an update of our final practice section next weekend. Any other advice from you guys is very much appreciated. Thanks!
