Recruits course - part one

Recruits course - the first seven days.

The date was set, 25^th November 2017 – Recruits course in Plympton.

This would mean 12 days of hard core basic training, staying away from home, from my beloved furry children for the first time in ages. Packing took forever, I know I was only down the road, but I wouldn’t be able to leave until after the first seven days, when we would get the weekend off. 

Saturday 25^th November 2017.

I was packed, the dogs were still at home when I left, they weren’t being picked up until 8.30am, and my neighbour was sorting the cat and ferrets for me. I said goodbye to the chaps and headed down the A38 towards Plympton, and my home for the next seven days.

I was first to arrive, then gradually more nervous looking faces arrived, we decided to go into the building and were greeted with a sign to say welcome! Glancing around it wasn’t too difficult to notice that I was the only female on the course, interesting start.

We dropped off our kit and made our way into the classroom, I recognised Ryan, Bill and Mark from the written and fitness assessments, and everyone else seemed really nice.

The morning consisted of ‘ice breakers’ finding out each other’s hobbies, I also found out I was the oldest, double the youngest age!

We were shown around the centre, and I was given the choice of where I would be sleeping, as the only female I could have had the female block all to myself, but I thought I would feel isolated there, so asked the guys if they minded having me in with them, and all said it was okay, I shouldn’t be on my own. Team bonding had begun.

We were put into two teams, red and green, I was red 6, and Instructor Adele (although we refer to all Instructors as 'staff' in training) was heading up our team.

Back into the classroom for the first of our theory input. Knots, hazards and risks, safe person principle and ladders. We then went outside for an afternoon of ladder drills, one of many over the coming weeks. There’s something you need to know about ladders, if you are considering joining the Fire and Rescue Service, they are flipping heavy! Now I know why the ladder lift on the fitness test is so very important, it’s even harder the shorter you are, and as well as being the oldest and the only female on the course, I was also the shortest! Of course, I am also very stubborn and don’t like to get beaten by things, and after a while you get used to the weight.

So much to think about, as we were waiting for dinner that evening we had a good chance to get to know each other properly, it was clear to all that we had our entertainment sorted with Dan aka Danielle, he has kept us in fits of laughter for weeks now. Everyone fitted in, and to my joy there was a vast amount of ‘innuendo humour’ amongst us, I could relax and be myself. These guys were strangers that morning, now I feel I could trust them all with my life.

Recruits course day two.

We started the day with a full English breakfast, and I am so glad we did with the amount of  physical exercise that was coming our way.

We had some classroom input all about Incident Command, tabards, sectors and tactical modes and then we were back out for most of the rest of the day running out hose. I hadn’t really done this before my course, too say it’s hard work would be an understatement. Part of our sign off was to run out 6 lengths of hose and roll up again, in 8 minutes. I was apprehensive about trying this on day two, but everyone else was up for it, so I thought why not! And to my amazement I managed it in 7 mins 25 seconds, happy with that.

We had someone come to talk to us today about ‘defusing’ which was insightful, the Fire Service really do look after all elements of health and well-being of their staff. Having come across PTSD in my own charity work I knew just what the guy was talking about. He showed us some videos of incidents that had caused PTSD to various Firefighters, and sadly some were still suffering, because of the lack of defusing. This I am sure will be of great significance to some of us, in our future careers.

The day was exhausting, we were fully appreciative of our dinner that night, then it was time to do after use checks and boot polishing. Most evenings were all about the polishing of shoes and boots and tying endless knots for practice, oh, and revision for knowledge checks that we had along the way. 

Pumps!

Day three started with another full English, in fact I won’t bore you with it anymore, every day started with a full English breakfast! I swear by it now to get me through a hard day of physical and mental exertion.

Pumps sort of became a bit of a nemesis for me that first week, mainly because I didn’t get on them as much as I should have, I was doing a lot of the running about stuff instead. We learnt how to use the pump on the appliance and we also learnt to use the LPP, or light portable pump.

We were using the LPP to pump from open water, using hard suction hose. More revision, more knots, more polishing and it seemed we were going to bed earlier and earlier by the day. Dan serenaded us all with a little trumpet fanfare as he turned out the lights each night….which was nice.

 

Day Four, a very long day.

Our classroom input was mostly about how to identify rank, we learnt about the very important Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 and went outside to haul and carry aloft hose. Finally all that rolling hitch practice was going to pay off!

Now, I’m a big fan of ladders, I have always liked heights, done lots of rock climbing and abseiling, and as a word of warning, and what this blog is all about, focus on the basics, I made what could have been a vital error on this day, by almost trying to climb down a ladder without it being footed. Never forget how dangerous the job is, no matter how comfortable you are with it, I wouldn’t jump into water without a lifejacket, I learnt that day! It’s easy to become complacent when you are tired, but getting a shout at 2am you will be tired, you have to always be safe, biggest advice I can give anyone on this course, or in the job.

We were all aching by the end of the day, and unexpectedly there were two union reps waiting to meet us while we had dinner, so we sent a couple of guys over who had finished and raced over after our food. 

Union representation is key, I am told; the first rep obviously didn’t want to be there, he gave us an ill-prepared power-point presentation and left as quickly as he could. The second rep sat down and had a nice chat with us, more personal, no rush and he sold it to me. I signed up that night.

We still had polishing and revision to do that night, I think we finally got to shower and bed by 10pm, a late finish compared with the rest of the week. We all slept well that night.

Let the assessments begin……..

Days five to seven were all about the mid-term assessments. Knots, ladders, pumps, hose, combination drills, more ladders, more drills, we were pushed more than ever to get everything spot on.

During those last few days of week one, all we did was 'focus on the basics', and we all succeeded in making it through the assessments, both written and practical ready to come back for the second week.

Sadly during the first week, for family reasons, we lost Mark, who I am sure in the future will get back into training as he was a natural. We were down to eleven.

The final part of the first week was a 1-1 meeting with your Instructor, so mine was with Adele. Constructive criticism that was to disturb me over the weekend, but made me up my game for the following five days. I went back to station and revised the pump and thought long and hard about what she had said. I didn’t want to let anyone down, least of all myself. Time to up it all a gear, this was my chance; I didn’t want to come back and have to re-do it.

If you are considering joining DFSRS, don’t think that it’s a given that you will pass everything first time. Our group worked so hard, individually and as a team, we earned it, it’s a tough job and it doesn’t matter how big and strong you are, one mistake, could make or break it for you. Focus on the basics, and you should be fine.

 Work-work-life balance.

The middle weekend of Recruits course you get a weekend off. I was looking forward to seeing my pets mostly, but being self-employed, I also had a massive catch up with my clients, cramming them into the weekend, as well as revision.

If you are going to do this course, try and keep your life as free as possible around it. I had scheduled all my business social media posts for the full 14 days prior to me leaving, so I didn’t have to worry about it, and I’m glad I did. You need to focus your complete attention to this course; I actually disabled Facebook from my phone for the duration of the course, so I wasn’t tempted by work distraction.

The weekend flew by, and I was ready to return to my new friends, and training buddies - let week two begin.