Two weeks of FF1, condensed into a viable coalesence of human experience

Can you identify the source of the paraphrased title? Clicky!

Anyway: The second class of FF1 was CPR and First Aid. Nothing earth-shattering there.

This past saturday was the first of the actual "hands on" experience. We learned about our PPE (Personal Protective Equipment and more to the point, we learned more about our SCBA. More on each later.

Right now, I'm using "hand me downs" from Syosset FD in NY. When I complete my probationary period (after 1 year), I'll be issued my own personal set of turnout gear. Turnout gear is typically made of fire resistant material (sometimes called Nomex or PBI, depending on what its made of). This stuff weighs about 20 lbs and can usually handle temperatures up to about 700 degrees for a a few moments. Gear with PBI can go up to 1200, but that's only going to help you if you've made an incredibly stupid mistake.

We also worked with the SCBA equipment. The SCBA stands for Self-Contained Breathing Appratus, otherwise known as the airpack. My department uses Scott and the carbon-fiber bottles that Scott offers. The bottles are smaller, rated to last 30 minutes (but they usually only last between 15 and 25) but they're very lightweight.

We had to don the SCBA packs in one minute. That meant putting the gear on the ground, along with helmet, gloves and facemask. It may sound easy but when you also have 20 lbs of turnout gear, its tougher. One gentleman in the class popped his knee and will be out of the class. I kept getting my SCBA straps twisted and kept coming in at 1min 5 seconds. After my third try, I finally got it down at 53 seconds. Cool!