By Chris Mc Loone
Atlantic City, NJ-I have just returned from day one of what has become a semi-yearly ritual for me: observing as many Hands-on Training (H.O.T.) sites as possible in two days. Once again, I wasn’t disappointed. Many of us have already been impressed by the scope of training available to attendees at FDIC in Indianapolis each year. Though the FDIC East show floor may be smaller than the show in Indianapolis, the quality and scope of the training has been equaled here in Atlantic City.
Truck Company Aerial Ops
An office building, no longer in use, served as the site for Truck Company Aerial Ops. More than just a “working off an aerial” evolution, the site’s three stations moved students through a depth perception exercise, and two components of raising and lowering a stokes basket with victim lashed inside via an aerial ladder and a tower ladder.
The depth perception exercise looked easier than it actually was. An example of some of the evolutionary ideas one can find at FDIC events, this evolution called for participants to use the aerial’s remote controller to raise, lower, and extend or retract the ladder, from which was hanging a hydrant wrench. The goal of the exercise was to lower the wrench into a bucket. Participants quickly realized this was no simple task. These aerial operators learned a new way to hone their skills to raise and lower an aerial ladder to the right positions.
At the other end of the office building, two aerial devices were set up to raise a stokes basket with victim (simulated) lashed inside to the roof, and then down again using the tower ladder’s bucket. Think of the skills that participants reviewed in this “aerial operations” class: lashing a victim inside a stokes basket, tying it off, guiding it to the roof, the teamwork involved with getting it on the roof and helping the tower’s crew place it on top of the bucket, and maneuvering the bucket with stokes on it. Clearly there was much more to be learned at this site.
Engine CompanyOps
The Atlantic County Fire Academy provided the structures and various fire departments helped provide a venue to practice the vital skills necessary for engine company crews. Maneuvering 2 1/2″ lines, advancing 1 3/4″ lines, using thermal imaging devices, and simulating flashovers. Again, students learn to work independently and as part of teams during these exercises. Maneuvering a 2 1/2″ line is no easy task, even for the three to four participants at this evolution. Stretching and advancing hoselines is also a team effort. IN any evolution you’ll find at FDIC, teamwork is essential. No firefighter should ever go it alone.
Vehicle Extrication
The most impressive aspect of this evolution was the seemingly endless supply of vehicles. One flatbed tow truck after another delivered vehicle after vehicle after vehicle. Participants used a wide variety of hydraulic tools and various stabilization devices to practice new techniques and review old techniques for creating a means for EMS personnel to access and remove the victim of a vehicle accident. Perhaps the most important part of this evolution didn’t require students to do anything more but pay attention and listen. Learning about today’s hybrid vehicles critical for today’s responders. Sure, some of these vehicles look funny, but some of them look no different than their gasoline-powered brethren and it is imperative that we know what we’re doing if we encounter them.
Truck Company Operations
That title encompasses quite a bit: forcible entry, RIT combat drills, search, and ventilation. All of these were covered in great detail at an apartment complex no longer in use. We’ve all sat through class after class, reviewing ventilation procedures, search procedures, and forcible entry procedures. Some of us get a rabbit tool out once or twice a year. But nothing beats the real deal. Not many of us have the opportunity to cut vent hole after vent hole. Not many of us have the opportunity to search in veritable obstacle courses in unfamiliar buildings without actually going to a real structure fire and lets face it, structure fires are down all over, and with this decline comes a decline in practical exercises. FDIC East provided a venue for honing these skills. And let’s not forget the peripheral training involved. Participants didn’t just go up to a roof and cut some holes. They reviewed various types of building construction. I climbed up through a hole leading to an attic space and was confronted with lightweight truss construction of roof components. You can bet not one instructor forgot to remind attendees about the dangers of this construction, the failure rates of the gusset plates, and the inevitability of these roofs when exposed to fire conditions. This clearly wasn’t just a place for people to cut a few holes.
Search and forcible entry evolutions reviewed myriad ways to enter a structure, and solutions to search problems. The search instructors go all out to ensure students will be challenged, but do not create impossible scenarios. Missing stairs, wires in which to become tangled, openings in walls so small air packs may or may not have to be removed, all challenge searchers to find their way through before running out of air. This team finds new ways to change the way we think about search with every new structure it uses.
FDIC East introduced forcible entry crews to an impressive array of locks, security devices, doors, etc. They were also introduced to a wide array of equipment we use to beat these locks to gain access to a structure to perform our searches. Once again, the key here is that each and every participant had an opportunity to practice beating these devices with a variety of tools. There is no hanging in the background at FDIC training sites. You’re there to train and FDIC instructors do not let they’re students walk away without the practical skills they need to do their job better at the next call to which they respond.
Finally, RIT Combat Drills trained and evaluated RIT members under realistic conditions. Students assembled into teams were deployed to challenging downed-firefighter rescue operations. Team-oriented tactics/procedures and safety were stressed as firefighters responded to save one of their own. These teams have proved their worth to the fire service, and the concept of rapid intervention is one that we see constantly redefined. Training to save our own is critical. Fire scenes can rapidly degrade and when ICs receive the Mayday, we need to be ready and able to go inside and get the job done.
Though FDIC exhibitions are critical components to these events, my favorite part is always observing H.O.T training participants. They always learn something new, and they never come across disappointed at the conclusion of a drill. I mentioned above how RIT is a concept that is constantly redefined. Every year at various FDIC events, training for the fire service is redefined. If you can’t make it to FDIC East, you won’t only miss out on a first class event in its totality, but you’ll also miss out on the best training around.
Chris Mc Loone is FireEngineering.com’s Web Editor. An 11 year veteran of the fire service, he holds the position of First Assistant Engineer for Weldon Fire Company in Glenside, PA. He can be reached at chrism@pennwell.com.
