February
This month we are going to focus on our performance in our PPE and SCBA confidence. I think it is very important to understand our abilities when operating in our PPE. We need to know our capabilities and how long we have to operate inside IDLH environment. I firmly believe that everyone should breath their cylinder down to zero to know what that feels like. The SCBA confidence is going to get you in your SCBA and get comfortable with movement and getting through different areas. Then, conducting a Air Consumption drill allows you to perform realistic drills in your PPE. Safety is the utmost importance when you are completing this drill.
Please have someone there to monitor you while conducting this drill. We do not want anyone to get hurt or have a medical emergency. This will be very strenuous. It is imperative that if you start to experience any symptoms that you stop the drill.
SCBA Confidence Course: Coming Soon (by Cody Nicely-Green- DMFD)
Air Consumption:
Below are two articles for reading and two air consumption documents. The goal here is to perform firefighting tasks in our PPE while operating on air. The Air Consumption outline is a rough outline with tasks which we want to accomplish. Each firehouse is different not all may have the resources to perform this test exactly. If you don’t have a hose tower, walk the apparatus bay or perform step ups. If you don’t have a j-maze, perform a 50’ drag with or without a sandbag. Use a tire for forcible entry strike or use a hose for battle ropes. If you don’t have kettlebells or a sled, perform carries with foam or buckets will with weight for both exercises. Be creative with the resources you have and replicate the fireground activities. The record document lets you keep track. The goal is to perform this at least yearly, but twice a year is better. Watch your time increase and the air utilization increase. This also allows you to understand how much time you have to work if your vibration-alert or bells stops ringing. Critical to life safety of our firefighters.