Truck Training Continues...

Practicing hoisting the stokes basket, using the "Pierce" method.

METRO Training

As most people who live in the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia) area know, our Metro train system is fairly extensive, weaving its way through Prince George's County, Montgomery County, the District of Columbia and Fairfax County. As many people, regardless of where they live, also probably know, Metro has had several problems over the years (crashes, derailments, people getting struck by trains, etc.). All of the fire departments that have Metro trains running through their jurisdictions are responsible for mitigating potential Metro incidents to a certain degree. This includes rescuing passengers in the event of a crash, evacuating passengers who get sick while on the trains, and extinguishing fires that occur in the Metro stations or on the tracks. We rarely run calls involving Metro trains, which makes every opportunity to train for Metro incidents very important. This past Wednesday, we had just such an opportunity.

All of company 12 was given the chance to go to the Greenbelt Metro yard and get some refresher training on Metro cars. I was not scheduled to work on Wednesday (it was my kelly day), but as I said, Metro training is very valuable. So I came in to the station anyway and went with the guys to the Metro yard.


At the yard, we were met by one of the Metro employees (himself a former firefighter from Fairfax) and he brought us into the warehouse to give us an in-depth look at a Metro car. He taught us about how Metro cars are always paired with another car {An "A" car and a "B" car..."A" cars have even numbers and "B" cars have odd numbers), how to open the car doors manually, how to access the batteries on each Metro car and how to remove the windows, in case we needed to get people out of a car when it's not convenient to go through the doors. Our guide pointed out lots of other things about the train cars, but they just aren't coming to mind right now.


So many people ride the Metro, incidents are inevitable. I'm glad I got to participate in this training so in case I'm working when the next Metro "big one," happens, I'll be ready!

Sunday - Anything but a day of rest

For some reason, I have this idea that Sundays should be a relatively chill day to work. Maybe it's because Sundays are our "Career Enhancement" days (days where we have no scheduled training or activities scheduled for the day). Maybe it's because it's a weekend and I expect the citizens that we protect to relax and enjoy their last day off before heading back to the grind on Monday.

It seems like the citizens of Hillandale haven't gotten that memo.

Since working for the fire department, I've had some of my busiest shifts on Sundays. Calls just won't stop coming in, or somehow something is happening that keeps us busy. This past Sunday was a perfect example.

The day started with myself, Lt. TB and Bill going up to Gaithersburg to run the Pikes Peak 10k. Because we left a little late, we got there JUST as the race was starting (I still needed to register!). Despite our 11th hour arrival, we all got to run the race and it worked out fine. We met up with some other guys in the department who ran the race, spent some time talking and eating, then headed back to the station.

Once we got back to the station, got cleaned up and got some lunch, I was hoping to relax for the rest of the shift. However, I was driving the medic unit and M712 rarely has a quiet day. We did have a couple hour stretch where we didn't run any calls, but we filled those hours by doing some training drills. I'm working to get checked off to drive the ladder truck, so there were some things I needed to work on. We set up a rope hauling system, which is definitely an important skill to know if you're assigned to the truck company for the day. It was a great drill...one that I know I'll need to practice again.

We didn't run a lot of calls during the rest of the shift, but the ones we did run were really interesting...

We ran one call where a little girl got burned pretty badly by some cooking oil. She accidentally bumped a pan with boiling oil in it and spilled it all over her arm. She was covered with 2nd and 3rd degree burns...truly terrible. We rushed her down to Children's Hospital so she could get the best care. She was really brave throughout the whole ordeal though...she only cried a little bit.

Then, just after midnight, we ran a call for an injured person after a fall. We got to the house and our dispatchers advised us we might have to force our way into the house. Sure enough, the doors were locked and no one was answering. One of the house's windows had an AC unit in it...we were able to remove the AC unit and I climbed through the window and into the house. There in the kitchen was an elderly man, laying on the floor. Aside from a swollen hand, he wasn't hurt at all. I let the rest of the crew in, we checked him out and he refused to go to the hospital. We tried talking him into going (his hand was REALLY swollen), but he didn't want to go. Well, we couldn't kidnap him and force him to go, so eventually we let him be. Fortunately, a friend of his showed up and stayed the night with him.

We didn't have any more calls after that, and I ended up in bed around 1am. Another "sleepy" Sunday in the books.

A712 @ 2am

THE CALL: Respond for one slumped over the wheel

THE SCENE: Intersection of Powedr Mill Rd and New Hampshire Ave. A guy is asleep behind the wheel in the turn lane of Northbound New Hamp. Ave, with three people surrounding him (they called 911). We get there and they tell us he's been there for "a couple hours" not moving.

HOW IT WENT DOWN:
- DAVE: [Goes up to the man's halfway rolled-down window] "What's up man."

- GUY: [Clearly drunk, but now awake] "hmmmmmm"

- DAVE: "You alright?"

- GUY: "Yeah man, I'm cool."

- DAVE: "What are you doing?"

- GUY: "Driving home." [First mistake]

- DAVE: "Where do you live?

- GUY: "I live in Greenbelt" [He's going Northbound on New Hampshire Ave...second mistake]

- DAVE: "Greenbelt's the other way, homie."

- GUY: "I know. That's why I'm in the turn lane."

- DAVE: "Ok. You been drinking?"

- GUY: "Nah man, I'm cool. Oh, there's my light..." [Guy drives away. The light is clearly red.]

Truck Training Continues

Driver training continues. Today we returned to a certain Jackson Rd. parking lot for more training in backing up the truck. Backing up a tiller truck is tricky, as the front end driver and the tillerman have to work together and communicate. Largely, the front end driver will just "follow" the tillerman as he or she steers the back wheels. But sometimes the front end driver needs to push the trailer a certain way to get the truck where it needs to be. I got to do both today. It had been a while since I'd done any tillering (I'd been focused on driving the front end and all that comes with that). I was able to pick it back up for the most part, but still have a lot of work to do. The key is, when driving either the back and the front, to try and keep your turns as a smooth arc, and not jack-knife the truck into a 90 degree angle. Sometimes you have to get the truck into that type of position, but you'll bring it back into an arc or straight almost immediately. It's hard to describe...it's something that must be "felt." I'm looking forward to "feeling" the truck a lot more as the shifts go on.

The below picture is our truck, stuck in the Snowpacalypse of 2010.

Truck Training

Check Out
- When the truck loses hydraulic power (drive shaft will still be spinning), use the EPU (Emergency Power Unit, "Poney Pump") to stow aerial ladder and outriggers.
- Activate the control you desire, the hit the EPU switch. When stopping, come off the EPU switch first, then release the control. You do this to minimize how much the EPU actually works.
- The EPU can be run for a maximum of 30 minutes and needs at least 30 minutes of cool-down time.

- When you lose electrical power (drive shaft will no longer be spinning; truck will be shut down, may have slight battery power), use the manual controls (Aerial or Stabilizer button, outrigger out/in, jacks up/down buttons)
- Scott showed me that instead of using my fingers to push the buttons (I struggled with this a few shifts ago), use an allen wrench to push the button, because of the angle in it.
- The buttons have a sweet spot. Find the sweet spot and the the outriggers/jacks will go up/down, in/out a lot easier.


Aerial Deployment (Step by Step)
- Parking break
- High Idle
- Aerial Master
- Front Wheel Lock
(Come out of cab)
- Set wheel chock
- Deploy outriggers and ground pads (sloped side first)
- Switch power to aerial ladder via red switch with black handle on the fifth wheel (on both sides of the truck)
(Climb to turn-table)
- Raise aerial
- Rotate aerial
- Extend aerial
- Lower aerial


Spotting Buildings
- Square up to the building as much as possible
- When you can't square up to a building, keep in mind one rail of the ladder will touch before the other. If it's the right rail, make sure you have enough clearance for the water way, then forget about it. If it's the left rail, continually monitor that side for water way clearance.
- When positioning aerial for rescue, try and put the ladder just under the area where you are going (right under a balcony railing top, right under a window ledge or lip. Make it easy for whomever you aim to rescue to get on the ladder.
- When positioning aerial for firefighters, make it easy for them to work off of, or step off onto the roof. Get the ladder a few inches off the roof, or away from the ledge of the building.