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Firefighter Intern: Day 1
Apr. 5th, 2018 10:10 pmPeople talk about 'finding' their lives. In reality, your life is not something you find - it's something you create. - David Phillips
Today was my first day as a Firefighter Intern. This morning was getting through some of our yearly mandatory training (HIPPA, Bloodborne Pathogens, Confined Space Awareness, and Marine Fire Safety Awareness) and then a bit of Fire Prevention classwork before lunch. After lunch, we spent a few hours out in the rain "dropping tails and taking hydrants" (pulling 3-inch fire hose off the engine, getting enough hose to connect to a hydrant, and having the engine drive forward to pull the rest of the hose off while you are supplying water to the apparatus. We also spent a lot of time pulling and deploying and replacing speed lays and spraying water. Although my arms were shaking from exhaustion from the end of the day, I learned a lot about getting water and hose to the apparatus and fire faster. What great training! We stopped for dinner, and just as we were serving ourselves - the alarm went off, and we were all racing for our wet turnouts and I sat in the back seat of Engine 481 en route to a car that was on its side in the slough, for my first emergency response as an intern. We cleared after not finding anyone in the car and went back to dinner. Hopefully, we'll have a quiet night.
Today was my first day as a Firefighter Intern. This morning was getting through some of our yearly mandatory training (HIPPA, Bloodborne Pathogens, Confined Space Awareness, and Marine Fire Safety Awareness) and then a bit of Fire Prevention classwork before lunch. After lunch, we spent a few hours out in the rain "dropping tails and taking hydrants" (pulling 3-inch fire hose off the engine, getting enough hose to connect to a hydrant, and having the engine drive forward to pull the rest of the hose off while you are supplying water to the apparatus. We also spent a lot of time pulling and deploying and replacing speed lays and spraying water. Although my arms were shaking from exhaustion from the end of the day, I learned a lot about getting water and hose to the apparatus and fire faster. What great training! We stopped for dinner, and just as we were serving ourselves - the alarm went off, and we were all racing for our wet turnouts and I sat in the back seat of Engine 481 en route to a car that was on its side in the slough, for my first emergency response as an intern. We cleared after not finding anyone in the car and went back to dinner. Hopefully, we'll have a quiet night.
