Drills to simulate pressure

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Todd McKee on October 17, 2010 at 2:37pm

in water????

Permalink Reply by Robert Woodhead on January 6, 2011 at 7:32am

Pressure Drill's ?..... 

Permalink Reply by WLR Deputy Chief on February 4, 2011 at 2:06pm

If by pressure you mean "stress"....Simply adding a time factor to any drill will introduce "stress" or "pressure".

Permalink Reply by John Barrett on March 10, 2011 at 11:00pm

Mark,

 

In my mind the challenge of providing realistic training is accurately duplicating the pressures of an emergency scene. 

Let me use the following analogy to explain my training idea:

 

To create your Emergency Scene cocktail, use the following ingredients:

• risk (this is the "alcohol")
• an unknown situation
• immediate and required physical actions
• simultaneous mental acuity
• time constraints. 

Our desire for training is to create the non-alcoholic version of this coctail, right?

 

We can do this is by creating a way for participants to be presented with a situation with unknowns, that requires immediate and required physical actions with simultaneous mental acuity under time constraints. 

Sounds like a live burn, right? 

How else could we do this? 

What if we created an "obstacle" course that combines all of the non-alcoholic ingrediants listed above?

(I'll provide an example in a second)

At this type of unannounced training participants will only be given instructions to go gear up with the PPE and equipment they typically bring to or wear at fireground operations.  They will have no idea what obstacles they will encounter until they have reached the obstacle.  Upon arrival and throughout the completion of the obstacle course they are asked to respond  with correct answers to relevent "textbook" questions while completing the skills necessary to successfully negotiate the obstacle, as quickly as possible.  This obstacle course requires the participant to exercise their mental and physical reflexes at the same time...much like we must do on emergency scenes.  In other words, to think on their feet.

The stress of the course can be incrementally increased by grading participants performance and responses, adding time limits and you can even add a little friendly competition, if you desire (inform participants that they will be scored during the drill and everyone's scores will be compared at the end of the event).  No one is going to want to walk away with the lowest score.  If you are doing this with your station or company you can even offer rewards for the top score; as an example, no chores/checkouts for several shifts.

 

Example:

All participants will be required to start the drill in complete PPE with tools appropriate to their daily riding assignment.

Participants will be graded on the time it takes to don gear/assemble equipment and if gear is worn properly.

1st event: Ladder throw.  Participants will be required to select, carry, deploy and climb ladder in a safe manner.  Performance will be graded as proficient (2 pt), questionable (1 pt) or unable (0 pt).  During this event participants will be asked questions such as the distance between rungs, proper climbing angle, proper ladder placement, how many rungs above the roof, appropriate knots, specific ways to move victims down ladders, etc. Participant will be awarded points if questions are answered correctly, number of points based upon the difficulty of the question.

Event 2: Hose drag and deployment.  Participants will be required to drag a dry line a specific distance to a simulated front door.  Participants will have their face piece blacked out and will be required to go on air.  The line will be charged.  Participants will be given instructions once to "enter the structure" and move forward until they reach an obstacle - then turn left or right - and proceed until a traffic cone is reached.  After the turn and before they reach the cone they will be told that they have run into a fire condition (you make it up).  At that time they must begin to flow water until they reach the cone.  During the event participants will be graded upon their ability to wear PPE (1pt for each item/interface area), ability to follow instructions (1pt for each instruction given), an appropriate reaction when encountering the fire event, and of course, answer appropriate questions such as what are the four characteristics used to read smoke, what conditions should you be actively looking for once inside, when should you call a mayday, what is our procedure for calling a mayday, what do you do if you become disoriented or lost from the line, etc.

 

Event 3: Catch a hydrant.  Partcipants will be required to hit a hydrant according to your SOPs/SOGs.  During the process participants will be graded on each required step, for example: flushing hydrant before hooking up, ensuring tightness of other caps, adding valves, ensuring the engine is ready for water.  Participants can be asked questions such as, hydrant marking system, how to check to ensure hydrant is draining properly, what size and length of hoses are on the engine, etc.

 

I think you get the idea.

When doing this you need a minimum of two instructors: one asking the questions, collecting answers and taking time.  The other solely to ensure safety. 

 

Make the events believable and the questions relevent...things that participants have and will see or need to know on the job. 

 

The biggest reason firefighters hate to train is because they don't see the value in it.  Sometimes because there is no value in it...sometimes because we fail to show it to them.

 

I hope this helps!

Take care and be safe,
John