Blog For the Brave brings you “Trained Risk”
~Captain Craig has been in the fire service for 20 years. He has been at the same department for 17 and as a captain for over a decade. He holds multiple certifications in his home state and also works as a Lead Instructor at one of the biggest fire academies in the world. An extremely busy person he also has a wonderful wife and two small children. Several years ago he joined a “fire service cult” in Georgia and is number 987.~
How much risk are you allowed to take? What do your guidelines/SOPs/SOGs/Shift abilities/other bs allow you to do?
You say you’ll do anything to save a Mrs. Smith.
Think about it.
How long does it take you to get to be seated and belted in the apparatus?
Does your driver know where they’re going?
Can you operate the MDT to see the note the Mrs. Smith is trapped?
How trained is your crew to be first due?
Are they waiting for you to call the play?
Can they pull a line around a parked car? toys in the yard? A 4′ chain link fence?
Do you mask up in the truck or when you get there? How long does it take? 30 seconds? 20?
Is your radio already on the correct channel? Can you change it on the fly?
Does the front door have a gate? 2 deadbolts? A ghetto Walmart security bar?
Screw the door do you have a tool to break her bedroom window?
Can you get yourself in gear and SCBA in her window? How big are you?
What if it’s 4′ off the ground?
When you find her do you know how to grab a 5′ tall 250lb unconscious human being?
Can you lift her up to the window?
Once you get her out THEN WHAT???
ALL OF THESE QUESTIONS NEED ANSWERS.
None of these questions are answered in the recliner.
TRAIN. PRACTICE. LEARN.
DOING>TALKING
And once you’ve trained your ass off to get all the answers…Look around in the cab…are those your guys or some derelicts on the other shift that you don’t want to train.
Saying we’ll figure it out when we get there IS COMPLETE NONSENSE.
HOPE IS NOT A PLAN
Blog For the Brave is a blog series for first responders, military personnel, teachers and nurses. It is brought to you by Discounts For the Brave. Our contributors are the men and women that are in the trenches with you. We discuss equipment, tactics, technologies and many other topics pertinent to our fields. Thanks for reading and we hop that you will join the Discounts For the Brave community by following our other pages!
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1 Comment
Keep on keeping on! You all are awesome!!!