A full set of Turnout Gear (the protective clothing a firefighter wears on the scene) weighs 27-30 pounds, depending on the size of the person wearing it. SCBA, aka “Scott pack” (Air bottle, pack and mask) holds 45 cubic liters of compressed air, is good for about 30 minutes of normal breathing, adds another 30 pounds to the firefighters starting load. Taken together, the gear is cumbersome, hot, and, for the inexperienced, can be claustrophobic. It takes some getting used to. Normal breathing does not come naturally. There is a constant “wosh-pop” sound as air enters and leaves the mask and valves open and close in rhythm with the firefighters breathing. Without experience and conscious effort to maintain controlled inhale and exhale, that “wosh-pop” sound increases rapidly and hyperventilation can empty a 30-minute bottle in about 10 minutes. The sensation of not getting enough air can be significant
The Hampton Fire Company participants in an acclamation and skills challenge included both men and women, ages ranged from 19 to 68, weights ranged from 115 – 240, experience was from first exposure to many years. The challenge: In full Turnout gear and Scott Pack, blindfolded, on hands, knees, belly when necessary, navigate through a 6-station skills course — executing a different skill at each station.
Let the “wosh-pop” begin:
- Crawl and feel your way along a 50 foot twisted length of hose, locate and attach the nozzle. Wosh-pop, wosh-pop, wosh-pop, reach, feel, wosh-pop reach feel, locate nozzle, align, fumble, wosh-pop, wosh-pop, align, twist, lock. Now onto the next station. Wosh-pop, wosh-pop, wosh-pop.
- Following voice direction, locate, start then turn off the leaf blower. Wosh-pop. Wosh-pop. Wosh-pop. Crawl, reach, feel, sweep. Got it. Pull cord. Vroom. Feel, feel, feel, feel. Where in the @#$% is the off switch. Got it. On to the next station. Wosh-pop, wosh-pop, wosh-pop.
- Following voice direction, locate and crawl under low obstacle. And the wosh-pop pace picks up. Reach, sweep, feel, wosh-pop. Bingo. Now crawl under. At 115 pounds, she slithers under, no problem. At 240, that damned Scott Pack gets hung up. Okay lift the ladder a little higher so he can get through. Wosh-pop. Wosh-pop. Wosh-pop. Reach. Feel. Sweep.
- Find the road cone and light. Turn on light. Balance light on top of cone. Wosh-pop. Wosh-pop. Reach, feel, sweep. Got it. Turn light on. Place light on cone…so, so, carefully. Plop. Light falls off cone. Wosh-pop. Reach, feel, sweep. Find light. Place light on cone…so, so, so, carefully. Ever so carefully. Plop. Light falls off cone. Wosh-pop. Reach, feel, sweep….Skip it. The clock is ticking. On to the next station
- Make your way to the Hurst tool (jaws of life). Open and close tool. Don’t cut your foot off. (Yes, there’s a safety person at each station.) Wosh-pop. Wosh-pop. Reach, feel, sweep. Move to your right. To your right. YOUR OTHER RIGHT! Got it. The jaws open. The jaws close. The foot remains attached to the leg. On to the next station. Wosh-pop. Wosh-pop. Reach, feel, sweep.
- In a tangle of rope find the end/s and tie a proper knot of your own choice. Simple overhand knot excluded. Feel, feel, feel. Got it. Nope – not a proper knot. Fingers don’t fail me now. Tada – bowline.
Off to the finish line. The crowd cheers wildly. Help me out of this gear. And the participant emerges drenched in sweat and once again savoring the fresh, free, Wednesday night air. The training went well. Times for completion ranged from just under three minutes to slightly more than six.
During the month of July HFC members responded to 20 emergency dispatches, attended two training meetings and two admin meetings. Over 200 man-hours were logged. Meetings are held Wednesday evenings at 7 – come on down.
And the pager sounds.
FireHouse Dog