Mayday Training

I'm a volunteer firefighter for our county and over the years have responded to a variety of incidents, such as wildland fires, car fires, a hay fire, and even a structure fire. We don't have many people out here, so we don't have many structures, and fortunately they don't catch on fire frequently. But if one does, I want to know what to do, so I've gone to a variety of training. 

One Sunday the county hosted a Mayday training, which is what to do if you or another firefighter run into trouble. Basically the training was going through an obstacle course on an SCBA tank (breathing air through a mask), with the mask blacked out so we couldn't see where we were going. 

I volunteered to go first and started busting my way through some drywall. That was a lot of fun! (These photos aren't of me, but I looked pretty much the same.)

Then I crawled, following the hose and started feeling "wires" I had to try and keep the SCBA tank from snagging on the wires (hint: roll over and put it in the corner as you move). 



Here's a view from the other end. It sure was a tangled mess!


Another fun obstacle was the corrugated pipe.

It had a surprise inside (which I won't share, because if anyone reading this is doing similar training, it's better not to know what's coming!).

We also went up the stairs, where another fun surprise awaited.


Finally we had to drag a mannequin out of the "house."

I found the most difficult part was maintaining communications. I wasn't used to getting to my radio with the thick gloves and mask on and doing it all by feel since I couldn't see anything. I really enjoyed the training. Probably my caving experience helped!

I'm grateful the county puts on these training sessions so we can stay safer.