Essential Skills Training
On Monday evening June 22, 2020 our weekly training session was centered around essential skill training. Members rotated through four different workstations which included the following:
- Donning Full PPE – In this station, members needed to successfully put on all their protective equipment including their self-contained breathing apparatus in under 90 seconds.
- Ventilation – At this station, members successfully demonstrate the usage of various pieces of equipment and tactics used to properly remove smoke from a structure at an emergency scene.
- Communications – The communication station is where members review the use of emergency radios which are used when responding to or operating on the fire ground.
- Hose Confidence Course – Here members wear a SCBA face piece which is blacked out so they can not see. They then practice being able to identify from the feel of couplings on the hose which way is out. In an emergency that can prove to be a lifesaving skill. Along the way members are faced with a series of kinks and knots in the hose which they must untangle. The goal behind this drill is to build confidence and enhance problem solving skills while in an unfamiliar or challenging environment.
At the end of the class, our Chief treated everyone to an ice cream and a well-deserved break from the heat where members were able to cool down and review what was covered in each of the training stations during the evening.
