Va drill

[Lt.Todd]

I just finished reading the article about the drill done for officer canidates in Va.I was hoping to here from some one that may have done this type of drill before and what results did you see? Thanks

SERVE WITH PRIDE

[morriss]

We have not done this drill before, but are planning to do so soon. My question is where did the organization let the FFs down? I mean, I'm not bashing Chesterfield Fire, why was there so much difficulty with connecting the air fill hose, activating the mayday message, etc.? We all need to understand this lesson and drive home the basics that will allow us to return home safely at the end of the call. We as trainers need to reinforce these messages with practical exercises to achieve competence.

[Halligan84]

It's not so much the FD as it is our own mindset. We refuse to admit we have a problem! (how many of your wives get on ya for not stopping for directions?) We just did a drill last week with a downed FF, no mayday. When asked why, the answer was no big deal, we had him, never thought of it!

[FFTrainer]

Halligan -- You may have hit it on the head with us being our own worst enemy. We routinely take things for granted whether we want to admit it or not. The valve connection... I bet you each and everyone of them knew it was there, same with the emergency on the radio. I have run similar drills and routinely get the "Oh, I forgot that was there! I guess that would have made it easier??" We also don't comprehend sometimes how much more difficult certain things are in the dark with gloves. We know we can do it in the station with the lights on and no gloves(and no pressure) so we think we have the skill mastered. And I'm not singling these guys out, since I have done similar things over my career until someone jumped on my for these same reasons.

All that said, there is also fault on the organization(actually not to point fingers) really on the majority of the fire service. Training takes a back seat!!! Everybody preaches it is important, and we all know that it can save our lives, but when it comes to budget time, etc, the thought of training seems to be forgotten.

[fireseeker]

I need to agree with Haligan and Trainer. I think it is great that they found out during training than at an actual incident. It is pretty well established that we lose too many firefighters because they didn't do the basics right. I think that anybody who believes that they are beyond the "easy" stuff is setting themselves and their partners up for a disater. The basics are what are going to keep you alive. breath in, breath out, pretty basic. try skipping it and see how long you can last

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fireseeker

[Lt.Todd]

I think your both right. It usually takes a diaster for us to realize what we really need to be doing!

SERVE WITH PRIDE.