True-to-Life Training

Aurora Fire Rescue in Colorado is similar to other fire departments throughout the country in that we review line-of-duty deaths (LODDs) and major events, develop response policies and guidelines to deal with the majority of calls, and discuss how we can train for certain events if they occur.

But when it comes to the next step in the process—the hands-on training (HOT) portion of the training evolution—we identified a shortfall. Specifically, the drills consisted of unrealistic conditions with fairy-tale results, ultimately leading to a successful outcome on each evolution, regardless of the crew’s actions and/or decisions. This gives the firefighter and the crew a false sense of security when it comes to readiness for the fireground.

To combat this, we began injecting three distinct components into our drills: 1) mimic the environment that our bunker gear creates and condition in that gear, 2) train in the “fog of war” and 3) infuse speed into training to keep a “fireground pace.” We’ll review each here and then offer a sample of Aurora’s true-to-life training.

1. Train in gear

First, we addressed the need to mimic the environment that our bunker gear creates. This was a simple solution—regularly train in our gear. Our gear has its own separate environment, creating its own physical challenges, as it is composed of three layers, all contributing to heat-trapping and restricted range of motion.

Our bodies are significantly stressed in this environment, with body cooling functions compromised. Combine this with the intensity at which we work in super-heated environments, and ultimately it leads to a rapid rise in body core temperature.

Our body temperatures regularly rise to 100 degrees or higher, leading to cognitive impairment. This results in decreased mental accuracy and speed, lack of simple problem-solving, and inability to perform recall and pattern recognition.

We must also factor in the loss of fluids while working in gear, which contributes to rapid dehydration within the vascular space of the brain, leading to increased difficulty with processing and decision-making. Physical performance undoubtedly suffers. If we regularly place ourselves in the “game-like” conditions, we are able to adapt to conditions more readily. In other words, practice how you play.

The “Monday morning quarterbacking” that takes place throughout the fire service following major events may not consider that a firefighter was experiencing the deficits previously mentioned. Could these environmental stresses be the reason that a well-trained and physically conditioned firefighter makes a bad decision? It should be noted that this rise in core temperature will happen much faster in a “deconditioned” firefighter, as his or her body is already struggling to cool itself in the outside environment without gear. These “deconditioned” firefighters are in a much worse position considering all environmental factors.

This begs the question: If we consistently condition in our gear, can the body adapt? We say yes, and we say yes because we have done it for years, and our bodies have adapted. Consistently conditioning in our spare set of clean gear has significantly increased our performance. The body has the unique ability to adapt to the environment it’s in, similar to adapting to altitude. Our gear is a factor to be considered when creating a conditioning program, and it may be the most challenging and important one of all.

2. Train in a “fog of war”

The second component of our training focuses on decision-making under stress. Carl Von Clausewitz coined the term “fog of war” in his seminal work on war. He defined it by stating that war is a realm of uncertainty where combat takes place in “a kind of twilight, which like fog or moonlight often tends to make things grotesque and larger than they really are.” Clausewitz elaborated that, “fog can prevent the enemy from being seen, a gun from firing when it should, a report from reaching a commander and a good decision from being made.” In the fire service, a bad decision has real consequences tied to it.

In the past, our crews would come out to training and run a fire scenario on a multi-family residence. They would size it up, obtain a water supply, force entry, put the fire out and drag a victim to safety. It never goes that smooth on the actual fireground. Worse yet, we had training where the officer and crew would run a tabletop scenario and use a computer program to go through the fire scenario. Coordinating fire attack with ventilation is too easy with the click of a mouse.

With each of these examples, there is no “fog.” There are no burned out egresses, dead hydrants, burst hoselines or radio traffic issues. Very little physical stress is being applied to the body. There is no fog whatsoever. Previously, our organization trained without the fog, and we would then see firefighters overwhelmed on a chaotic scene because of the visual and auditory demands and the speed required to be successful. In reality, fog is present on every fire scene, and the only way to get better at performing in the fog is to train in the fog. Again, practice how you play. 

We recognized the need to develop a way to mimic this fog so we would be better prepared to perform under stress. It’s the same type of fog that athletes create during practices or exhibition games. It’s the same type of fog that the military creates during Special Forces training. This concept is not new to any industry that is evaluated on physical performance. However, the fire service can be infiltrated by many who say otherwise. They say training is out to hurt them so they call in sick that day. They say they will be ready when the tone goes off while they enjoy their cups of coffee throughout the day. They say they don’t want to exercise because they will be too exhausted if they get a fire.

Currently, any fireground training conducted by Aurora Fire Rescue is preceded by an intense 8- to 10-minute workout, and all fireground training is completed in full PPE with SCBA and structure fire gloves. The pre-scenario workout raises the heart rate to a level consistent with fire scene operations. Then we immediately put the crews through scenarios in their PPE, responding in their engine, and having to make real-time decisions with the fog they encounter. The fog consists of the dead hydrants, burst hoselines and radio traffic issues that we spoke of before, but it also can be any variety of obstacles. Ultimately, the success and rewards of this training are dependent on two things: 1) the firefighter subscribes to the fact that the foundation of any good firefighter is top-notch fitness and 2) the firefighter embraces the fog under stress and possesses the desire to be placed in the fog because he or she knows how valuable it is to future performance.

Just recently, we placed our newly promoted officers in the “fog.” We took them from a 4-minute sprint on a rowing machine directly into sizing-up a scene, making initial assignments and eventually passing command. These officers realized the difficulty in making quality size-ups and assignments when under this physiological stress. If these officers make mistakes, wouldn’t we rather they make those mistakes or bad decisions in the training environment? Wouldn’t we rather they experience the tunnel vision in training and learn to combat it before the big one? Emphatically, we say yes! If training is conducted in controlled, fog-less environments, we provide ourselves with a false sense of security and readiness.

3. Train at a “fireground pace”

The third component of our training lies in a belief that we should practice how we play with regard to speed. We consider ourselves tactical athletes no different than professional athletes. Therefore, we need to train as if it’s a game. Our citizens and fellow firefighters deserve our very best. We need to stop making excuses as to why we can't hustle (run) on the fireground. No one wants to see firefighters walking around when there’s a structure on fire. The fire is growing exponentially every 30 seconds, so it’s imperative that we have the ability to move very quickly.

It is possible to move rapidly while thinking clearly if you train to do so. If you take your time with everything you do in training, you will take your time on the fireground. Once we learn a skill, we should be moving toward increasing our speed, trying to accomplish that skill as quickly as possible. We are in a race against the clock, time being our greatest enemy. Safety is important, but we should never use it as an excuse not to work at increasing our speed and efficiency, which, in turn, results in increasing our chances of survival on scene. 

We put stop watches on our training now, and we compete with each other, bringing an additional level of stress and sense of urgency not found while going through the motions at your own pace. We know the skeptics say that we don't run because we may get hurt. Here’s some late breaking news: Our job is dangerous, and you’re about to go into a structure that is on fire and is doubling in size every 30 seconds. If you’re afraid of getting hurt on the outside, be prepared to have a greater chance of injury on the inside because conditions are that much worse. Practice how you play and ask yourself, would you want you rescuing you?

Basic Skills Rodeo

To give you an idea of exactly what we are talking about, let’s review our organization’s last in-service training. We placed firefighters in working teams of two and then gave them a set of instructions and tasks to complete:

Instructions

This series of tasks must be completed in full PPE with structure gloves. Prior to beginning, your SCBA can be turned on. The only equipment you can carry with you is one length of webbing.

You may start from any seat inside the engine. The engine will be parked 50 feet north of the hydrant west of the tower and it will be facing north. The engine will be set up with two 250-foot-long preconnect crosslays, and each side of discharges will have only one reducer. Rope bags and tools will be placed in the officer-side rear compartment. All knots do not require safety knots. 

You must go on air either before you enter the tower for interior attack or at 15 minutes, whichever occurs first. In order to successfully complete the rodeo, you must complete the entire rodeo on air. You will not be prompted in any way if you miss a task.

If a task is completed, but there are mistakes within the task, you will incur a 30-second penalty for each mistake. Mistakes include, but are not limited to, kinks, flushing the hydrant, not giving the radio report when finding a victim, sounding the floor, etc.

The rodeo is divided into two phases. Phase 1 must be completed prior to entering the structure for interior attack. Phase 2 begins upon entering the structure for fire attack.

Phase 1

Task 1: Establish water supply with a 5-inch line. You must check hydrant caps, flush the hydrant, connect both ends of the hose, charge the line, bleed the 5-inch and open the BIV.

Task 2: Establish connection from pumper to west side FDC utilizing two 2.5-inch hoses. The bed must be cleared. Lines will not be charged.

Task 3: Deploy 24-foot ladder to south side third-story windowsill with halyard tied. Deploy roof ladder to west side second-story railing with hooks over the rail. Any rail is acceptable.

Task 4: Place tools (rope bag, and axe or Halligan) on fireground for use.

Task 5: Deploy transitional and attack hoselines from the crosslays. Each hoseline must be at least 150 feet in length, and the beds must be cleared. Kinks are allowed in the transitional hoseline (within reason; spaghetti will incur a time penalty), and the transitional line must be deployed first. The location of entry for the interior hoseline is the west side first-floor entrance on the tower. At this time, don SCBA.

Phase 2

Task 6: Open entry door, sound floor and advance interior attack line to specified cone, then hit cone on east wall with water. Exit structure by reversing out, leaving hoseline. 

Task 7: Ascend the tower with 2.5-inch hose pack, tool, rope bag and separate knot-tying rope. Each half-landing tie a prescribed knot (clove, bowline, figure 8 follow-through, becket bend) and drop hose pack on the top floor. Tie off rope bag from fourth-floor half-landing, and throw to ground level. Proceed to third floor.

Task 8: Enter maze on third floor with tool. Sound the floor and follow the rope, navigating each obstacle. You must navigate through the entanglements and under the simulated collapses. There will be an infant victim present, and you must locate the victim, give a radio report to command once located, and complete the maze with your tool and the victim. Once out of the maze, the victim can be left. Proceed to ground floor via interior stairwell.

Task 9: Tie 5-gallon bucket with 6-pound weight inside with an inline bowline using the rope bag tied off to the fourth-floor half-landing. Ascend to the landing and hoist the bucket. Return to ground level.

Task 10: Proceed to Class A building on south side. Enter structure, sound the floor and crawl to basement stairs. Descend stairs while sounding in front of you. Locate victim in basement. The victim will be a 170-pound dummy in turnout gear, and it will be located in the B/C corner with the head closest to the corner. Using any means necessary, you must take the victim upstairs and remove from the structure (at minimum, the victim’s upper body above the waist must be outside the door threshold).

Task 11: Proceed to base of roof ladder on west side of tower. Tie off hoseline with a rope bag (clove hitch around the coupling and a half hitch through the bale of the nozzle). Ascend the ladder, tie off the working end of the rope to a railing, and begin hoisting the hoseline. The 50-foot coupling must cross the door threshold on the west side second-story door. The knots must be removed from the hose. Lastly, tie off the hose to the railing using an approved knot. Cross the threshold and the rodeo is complete!

Eager for more

The evolution described above requires the appropriate application of the many attributes of a well-rounded firefighter. It is designed to test teamwork, communication, decision-making, memory and recall, gross and fine motor skills, and the ability to manage physiological demands of each task. But most important, it builds mental toughness and confidence to welcome any fireground challenge in the future.

What we saw in response to this rodeo may surprise some. We found that following the initial rodeo, many firefighters wished to complete the rodeo on their own a second time. No partner, no one to air the radio traffic for them, no one to help them carry the dummy out of the basement, no one to help deploy a hoseline, all while managing the air of one bottle. And they completed it successfully in under 30 minutes. Each of these firefighters was then asked, “Would you want you rescuing you?” All could now answer with an unequivocal “yes.”

Challenge your team

You may hear from doubters that one firefighter performing these tasks in unrealistic. That statement is simply an excuse. We should all be aware that some departments show up on scene and work for upwards of 10 minutes with just two firefighters. So it leads us to the question, “Why not complete the same number of tasks in half the time, or twice as many tasks in the same amount of time?”

Ultimately, we found that firefighters want to be challenged with training that takes them as close as possible to the demands of the fireground. It gives them the opportunity to honestly measure themselves, recognize their strengths, and then address their shortcomings. The firefighters who took the most away from this type of training had a desire to get better. This desire was stronger than their fear of failure, and they believed in practicing how you play.