Search and Rescue Drill written 6/25/09

Last Tuesday was the Training Meeting at BVFD. We discussed how to go about search and rescue. Things like, if you start a right hand search, you stay in a right hand search and you always come out the way you went in. The front of a building is side A, the left is side B, the rear is side C and the right is side D, ya know clockwise. You always report your position via radio to the command center. If a firefighter goes down, that becomes priority 1.

Then the fun began! They lined face masks with foil and put them on us, paired us up and made us get on our hands and knees and crawl around the floor of the garage keeping in contact with the wall or your partner at all times while sweeping for victims [represented by life jackets]. Then we got to crawl on our bellies under the trucks [to simulate debris or obstacles]. Sounds fun, doesn't it? It would have been more fun if I hadn't been in shorts and flip-flops.  Note to self, remember to wear jeans and boots to training meetings!

After we finished that we pulled out the SCBA [self contained breathing apparatus] and learned how to use them. We learned about the motion detector, if we don't move for a determined length of time an alarm goes off increasing in volume. If you move it stops. If you are injured and need assistance there is a red emergency button to push and the alarm goes off like crazy! We learned how to shut that off my pressing the yellow button twice. Next, we removed the foil from our face masks and attached to the SCBA and tried it out. Mine wouldn't work and I almost panicked and I pulled my mask off my face. I guess my partner had turned it off. We also learned how to bleed air out to keep us cool and our mask clear but it uses up our air faster.

Our new bunker gear hasn't all come in yet but I did get my pager. Haven't figured out how it works yet. Haven't gotten any pages! I guess I will have to resort to reading the directions!

July 4, 2009

At about 12:20 am my pager went off. Belmont Volunteer Fire Department was being called to a single vehicle rollover. I had only been asleep for about an hour. My heart was pounding. I dressed quickly and hopped in the car and drove to the fire station.

Bob was just pulling out in the Rescue truck and waited for me. When we arrived the Fire Chief and Fire Captain were there and Nick was on the way back with the big pumper tanker truck just in case.

There was no fire and Bob performed a walk around and determined there were no fuel leaks. The driver and 2 passengers were checked out by the ambulance crew but declined to go to the hospital. The DPS officers gave the driver a field sobriety test and apparently it didn't go well as they took him into custody.

We waited around for the wrecker to arrive. The wrecker arrived and turned the vehicle over and pulled it up onto the flatbed. We all headed home or back to the station. Those of us going back to the station arrived approximately 1 hour after we got the call.

This was my first Fourth of July with the fire department and I was expecting to be busy but this was the only call I had all weekend.

By the way, no one was injured and that is not blood but transmission fluid coming from under the hood. The final photo is from inside the vehicle. DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE. Luckily the driver is in custody and didn't kill himself or anyone else!