Good morning from the Jumpseat……The sun is shining down on
another great day, happy to be a firefighter in America. This day is starting interesting for me to
say the least. We purchased new IPhone
4S last week and in the process lost 3 pages of notes from it. So, for the last week I have searched for
ways to recover my lost work. Then this
morning I found it, BAM! During this
process my mind kept wondering, what is our back up plan if we had an emergency
during a structural firefight?
How often
have you grabbed your SCBA, hose, flashlight, and headed into the pits of Hell
ready to combat the dragon? Can you ever remember a time when you thought to
yourself “what if I had a SCBA emergency right now”. If you’re like me it
doesn’t happen very often because we have a job to do! Do you have a backup plan and how many ways
can you prepare before the alarm sounds? Let’s look at a couple of quick tips.
Tip 1 is to
be familiar with EVERY piece of PPE that you have, from your hood to you face
piece it all should be familiar to you even in the most extreme
conditions. If you’re not familiar with
it before you have an emergency how do you expect to manage it when it does
happen? You should take time practicing equipment malfunctions before the call comes in. Practice your hood on wrong, radio strap on
wrong side, pack straps not let out all the way, and practice them slowly then
add in game speed as you become faster.
Tip 2: Don't
mask up until it's time. I have seen
many firefighters putting on their face piece before they even get off the
truck. How are you going to get an exact
view of the structure as you arrive to find exits, entries, fire, and smoke
conditions? Just because we ride in the jumpseat don’t mean that we can’t size
up the building and be #jumpseatready.
It is our jobs to remain a reliable worker when things are at their
worst. You should practice managing
emergencies in the comfort of your station before you’re faced with a life or
death situation!
In closing I
would like to remind you that you always need a backup plan. It’s hard to imagine taking a lesson in
firefighting from my phone, but hey, it is 2012. I will remember to back up my data from now
on and it’s your job to have a backup plan on your next fire!
Thanks for
the stop in the jumpseat…..train hard….stay safe…
Bunker up,
Buckle in, it’s where we ALL begin!!!
