By Tony Carroll
It’s time for a Mayday Monday staff favorite.This drill was provided to us from a company officer with the Dayton (OH) Fire Department. Lt. Brad French has found a good use for the Sunday paper. Get out the real estate section and use the pictured houses and buildings to talk about strategy, tactics, and rescue scenarios. Gather the crew around the kitchen table and pick a picture of one the houses. Ask members some questions, like…
− “If we were the first-arriving engine on this house with fire on the second floor, what attack line would you advance?”
− “If we were the first-arriving ladder truck on this building with fire on the second floor, what length ladders would we use and where would we position them?”
− “Where are the bedrooms in this house?”
− “We are assigned to be the RIT for a fire in this house and we get a Mayday, for a member trapped in the basement. How do we access the basement?”
After you have discussed different strategy and tactics, ask members to provide the running route to addresses of some of the properties in the paper. This is a great way to keep everyone on their toes as the houses usually change from Sunday to Sunday.
If you have ideas for a future Mayday Monday post, please email them to mayday.monday@dc.gov. We welcome reader input!! See you next month.
Tony Carroll is a battalion chief with the District of Columbia Fire & EMS Department.
