Today started out much like the other days. Chores, quiz, classroom work, PPE practice, and then PT. The only difference was today went by extremely fast.
After our classroom work we took all our gear and headed to the gym. There we put on our gear and took it off. And when I mean put it on, I mean everything...face piece, harness, coat, pants, etc...At one point we did it three times in a row. I would barely get my last thing donned, and then immediately told to take everything off. I would then be pulling my foot out of my boot when they would tell us to go again...and so forth.
We must have not been doing it to Captains expectations, because we broke down to small groups and worked on taking the PPE gear on and off.
Let me clarify what we have to do and have done by the end of the academy:
In two minutes we have to:
Put on our hood, step into our boots, pull them up using the suspenders, fasten the pants, put on our coat, snap all four buttons, buckle all for buckles, pull over the chin protector, place the harness assembly on our back, snap the bottom buckle, pull the bottom straps to tighten, clip the top of the harness, pull the top straps to tighten, remove the hood top and pull it behind the head, place our head through the face piece neck strap, place the face piece on our face and secure it to position, pull the hood back over our heads, making sure to cover all face piece buckles, place our helmet on the head, secure it using the chin strap (making sure to pass through the neck strap of the face piece), Turn on the air cylinder...opening it all the way, place the face piece regulator on the face piece track and dock it, put on both gloves, pull down the face shield mounted on the helmet, and un-dock the face piece regulator and push it into place....Done and breathing air. We then do the reverse.
That will all have to be done in two minutes and in the dark.
After lunch (which was fantastic...ham, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, and banana pudding) we go into a large circle and did a timed Dress out drill. I had a few hic ups, but all in all...it's getting faster.
During that last drill, my air cylinder regulator had become lose. When I turned on the air, it was shouting out the bottle. I quickly reached back and tightened the regulator and it fixed my problem.
The remainder of our classroom day was spent doing four drills:
Drill one: In full turnouts and on air, complete a two person bottle exchange. This involved one person kneeling on the ground, while the other person changed out the air cylinder.
This skill required the person kneeling to hold their breath for an extended period of time. When my partner was ready (having already unlocked the bottle from the harness), she turned the cylinder down completely and then back on. On her count I took my breath and purged my system. She then un-tightened my air cylinder regulator, removed the bottle and replaced it with a new one. It got interesting at this point because my partner could not get the bottle tightened easily. If you remember, I took my last breath. With out an air flowing, my face piece was supplying me with nothing...meaning I couldn't breathe. Finally I was told to take out my regulator allowing me to breathe through the mask. When my partner realized what was going wrong, they took the steps to get me breathing air again.
On my turn, I did everything fairly well. Had a little trouble getting the bottle back in, but managed to get the bottle changed in under a minute. I thought working with gloves on this drill would be hard, but it turned out not to be the case.
Drill Two: Complete the confined space trailer with air. No problem.
Drill Three: Pass through a studded wall opening, removing one arm from the cylinder harness. Again, on air. Not a problem.
Drill Four: Climb the tower and up the ladder to the top floor. Return to the bottom using the outside stair case. Done.
Using the mask will take some getting use to. While it is not a problem wearing it, breathing just through the mask and not using air can get a little tiresome. It's almost like you can't get a full breath.
PT was done quickly, and we were done around 4:45.
All in all, a good day to be at the training center.
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