Mail Call!!

Well, it's here, the "big envelope." My National Registry numbers and certificate came yesterday. So now I can prove I'm official...12 weeks to learn EMT-B and EMT-I, that's a lot of info in a very short amount of time. Out of my class of 24 that took the exam, only 9 passed the written portion (everyone passed practicals). The scary thing is, those pass:fail ratios are normal. (At least you get 3 chances to pass) I was asked to try and help do some studying with a couple classmates who live nearby.

Lucky for me, we are still doing a lot of PT in the mornings. No I'm not being sarcastic, right now it's a good thing. I have almost completely sweated this cold out. The colds you get in the summer months are always the hardest to get rid of.

The past couple days at the academy haven't been too bad, a lot of time has been spent doing rapid-dress. We did a competition yesterday during PT to see which squad could run 1 lap around the academy while linking their ropes together with a bowline with a safety (type of knot), then rapid-dress and climb up and back down the tower (7 stories) as a group. My squad was not the first to finish our lap, but we were the only squad to have all of our knots tied correctly. As we made it to the top of the tower, 1st squad started catching up-minus one little problem- they weren't all together. We took off down the tower and were the first one's to finish. Our reward? Not having to do any extra PT, other than the 20 pushups each hour.

Later in the day, we grabbed our gear for practicals...pants, helmet, work gloves. We were also told to grab our facepieces and nomex hoods. The instructors set out a few cones and we put our facepieces on with the masks over them-backwards. The practical was to pair us up with a classmate and have us crawl from one cone to the other, then switch who was leading and find our way back to the first cone. All done to simulate doing a search, a lot harder than it seems. A couple groups were so far off track, we had to move out of the way so they wouldn't "find" us. When we go to the burn building Monday, the instructors are going to hide objects for us to find as we do our searches. Most of the people in the class claim they are not claustrophobic, many of those will probably change their minds in a couple days. The building will be full of smoke and will be on fire. Anyone who has ever worn a facepiece with the hood knows how much it decreases your peripherial vision, now add intense heat, smoke, and flames. It should be a very interesting day.

take care 

relaxation time

Good news, one of the answers on the answer key from yesterday's test was marked wrong...And that means I really got the question right- I passed the test after all (70%- not great, but I'll take it.).

Today was dull, ran 4-5 miles this morning, spent a while doing rapid-dress, and worked on knots for the rest of the day. Me and another recruit went up to the 3rd floor to hoist objects our classmates were tying- fans, ladders, ect. I learned very quickly to pull the rope around my back to lower the objects back down. It was a slow day, minus doing pushups on the hour. I'm still sick, but I have managed to sweat most of it out (I hope).

Just a few more days until we go to the state fire academy to use the burn building, and I can't wait. Tomorrow will be rescue information, possibly maze drills, who knows what they have in store for us.

Aaaaa-CHOOOO!!!

Well, today somewhat sucks...that's right, I have a cold in the middle of July. It's been bouncing around my class for over a month and I finally caught it.

YESTERDAY....learned about portable extinguishers, then got to use a couple. We got into full turnouts (were not allowed to be on air or have on our facepiece) and went to the burn pits. Each pit is probably 6 ft in diameter and 4 ft tall. We approached with a dry chemical extinguisher first, then a CO2 extinguisher, all with the aid of an instructor. Now don't get me wrong, I know fire is hot, but MAN, standing a couple feet from it anything exposed will get roasted!

TODAY...instead of normal PT, we spent 2 1/4 hours doing rapid-dress and running around the academy and up the tower. It's rough to get into full gear and be on air in 2 minutes or less, I was able to do it in 1:45. We took our fire extinguisher test, which I hate to say, I fubar-ed (too many conflicts over time in my personal life, I know I could've done better). But I did get some good news, I passed all portions of the National Registry and will be getting the "big envelope". The latter portion of the day was spent learning knots. We now have our ropes, and tomorrow will continue tying knots and will name the rope. Oh, on a side note, these ropes will stay with us until graduation, god help you if the instructors get a hold of your rope...you will earn it back.

I hear cold medicine and my bed calling out to me, the VCR is set to record "Rescue Me", and I've got to get some sleep-unlike last night.

Take care

NPQ-I...week 1 so far

Yep, you read it right, week 1 of NPQ-I class is almost over. Can't say I'll miss it, 1 down-13 to go. So far, we've taken 3 tests (yeah, 3, it's crazy). Not bad scores either, 81,82, and 95%. And I thought EMT-I in 12 weeks seemed ludacris..ha! that now seems as though it was a walk in the park. This week has also had a bit of humor for us, the explorer post for the county is doing their summer camp. It's so funny to watch these kids running around in turnouts...with BLUE reflectors! I caught a couple of the females in the locker room complaining about the PT when I was headed for the shower today. They didn't realize our class had been working out for nearly an hour by the time they got to the academy. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, I know better than that... I also know this PT will literally save my tail on many occasions, but, it's been difficult to adjust to the new routine. In EMT class, we were spoiled, PT was held to only an hour- now it's a minimum of 1 1/2 hours...usually 2. We are also doing a lot more running, and going greater distances. Well, let me tell a quick story...

Day 2...0700....Formation...first day of PT.........

In formation, at "at ease", waiting for our fate to be decided. A quick glance towards the Admin. building, a sudden sinking feeling. **think old time western here** All 6 instructors are lined up, side-by-side, marching in step, with torture on their minds. The closer they get, the more intense they become.

"Atten-tion!"

Now, in range, the slaughter begins. "Yeah, C'Mon! Let's see who's gonna drop first."

Push-up position...lost count..........................six-inches...have no idea how long we went without our feet touching the deck. Running formation! We made it to the B-Shop parking lot to do PT...nosebreakers and more six-inches. Back in formation and on to "Taco Hill." More push-ups. The guy next to me was having trouble getting on his feet afterwards so I tried to help (he's nearly double my size). Luckily, a few classmates saw me and ran over to help. Poor guy was so burned already, he couldn't even get his feet under his body...we were holding him up. A quick decision was made to lay him down. A couple instructors finally came over to see what the fuss was about, they called another instructor at the academy to bring the van to pick my classmate up. He was having a rough time catching his breath and kept feeling like he was going to throw up. **Here's where the instructors frustrated me** After them drilling into our skulls "leave no man behind" we had to get in running formation and head off to finish our run. We made it a good portion of the way to the library before a lot of people started dropping out (walking or stopping to catch their breath). The instructors decided to let them catch up, then head home. About halfway back, the same folks started dropping like flies again. By this time, the instructors seemed to be getting a little pissed.

"If you fall-out, too bad, let's see what the rest of you got....I wanna know how bad you want this!"

Here's where the running pace picked up considerably. As we passed the B-Shop, I got a side-stitch (major cramp in oblique muscle, makes it somewhat painful to breathe deep). I was only 10 feet behind the formation, that grew rapidly to nearly 100 ft. Rounding the backside of the tower, I caught up with the help of a classmate. Once everyone caught up, we ran the tower (7 stories high). Ran to get into formation again, quick stretch, then put at "attention".

Like buzzards circling a carcass in the desert, the instructors paced the formation, trying to get someone, anyone, to break. The longer I stood, the sicker I began to feel. Before you junp on me, NO, I did not lock my knees...And YES, I was doing my best to stay hydrated. I told the guy standing in front of me that I wasn't feeling too good and he shifted so he could keep an eye on me in case I fell out. I was getting dizzy and real light-headed, close to passing out. I bent forward with my arms bracing me (think standing tripod position) to try and breathe a little better. The head instructor saw me bent over, with my classmate holding my shoulder to keep me standing. He must have been in a forgiving mood- I was sent inside to rehydrate and stand in front of the AC. He followed me in and told me to stay until I was recovered.

The rest of the day passed without major incident, but many times the instructors asked if I was OK...I didn't let them get to me. We went through 2 chapters in the book and called it a day at 1530 (3:30 pm).

Right now, I can't wait until tomorrow. Today was spent learning how to assemble the bottle to the SCBA backpack, how to work the PASS alarm (of course, mine just had to have a dead battery so it's going to the shop), and how to bleed the lines with the regulator. Tomorrow, we will begin doing rapid-dress...getting into full turnout gear in under 2 minutes for those that are a little lost.

In a week from Monday, we'll be going to the state fire academy to use the burn building...ours is still under construction. It's amazing to think about just how fast we are moving through the information.

Well, I think this entry is plenty long-enough to make up for some of the ones I've missed....Take care 

happy birthday to me

Today, I finally turn 20! woo hoo! Spent the early part of the day doing practicals for the National Registry...good news, unofficial results, passed all 4 practical stations. I feel pretty good about how I did on the written portion last night, it'll take 3-4 weeks for the official results. Little time to relax, NPQ-I training starts monday.

I know I've been slacking on entries, been running like a chicken with it's head cut off. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch up soon.

Quick note

My 24-hour shift went great Saturday, I'm trying to remeber as much as possible so I won't have to edit this thing a million times. In a couple hours, I have to be at the ER for my 8-hr shift...I plan to come home tomorrow, sleep, pack some stuff, and update. I leave Thursday to go to a large function in Columbus, be back sometime Sunday late afternoon/early evening. My new cell phone will be here early Thursday too. Goodbye POS Cingular phone, hello Nextel!!! Very bad experiences with Cingular for the past 20 months, I will not recommend them to anyone ever again.

Almost time to get official, aka put on uniform, and go to work,  take care and don't let me see you tonight!!