'Local place for local people!'

 

One of the big differences with being an ‘on call’ firefighter rather than a ‘wholetime’ firefighter is that mostly you are a firefighter in your own town. The town you live, or work, or both, so you know a lot of people, some more than others.

I didn’t grow up in Totnes, I used to live in Surrey until 15 years ago, so all the people I know are through my work in the town, training people in fitness at the leisure centre and at my gym. Some of the crew are Totnes born and bred and know literally everyone!

With this in mind there will be shouts where you know the people involved whether directly or indirectly, and some circumstances a lot worse than others. It’s always something that could happen. The particular shout I want to talk about is a road traffic collision (RTC) on a dark, wet November night last year.

The weather was pretty much as it has been of late, relentless rain and cold. The roads were water-logged and the puddles were lake-like even on the main roads.

I’d just gone to bed and was reading when the beeper went off, the usual race to the station on my push-bike in the most horrific of weather. I think a lot of us try and guess what we are going to, and usually in weather like that you automatically think, RTC. And I was right on this occasion.

It was only my second RTC and Harvey was also on this shout, I think it was his first or second.

Arriving at the scene there was one car, facing the wrong way on one side of the road, not far from a huge puddle.

Me and Harvey stabilised the car, the driver was conscious and seemingly unhurt at this point, but I was told to get into the car to keep her head still just in case of any injuries, before the paramedics arrived.

I introduced myself as I got in and held the young woman’s head still, she said, ‘I know who you are, you used to teach me kickboxing!’ I then realised that this young woman was once a much younger girl who attended my classes when I took them at the local sports centre. She used to come along with her Dad. I kept her head still, but we chatted until the paramedic took over, I think the fact that she knew me made it a little less scary a situation for her. I saw her a few weeks later, she had a new car and was just about to start driving again.

Now, here’s the thing, anyone thinking about joining a fire and rescue service in an ‘on call’ capacity, that could have been very different. That could be your best friend, your Mum, your sister, and the outcome may not have been as rosy as the one Olivia had. It’s something you would certainly need to consider…..imagine rescuing your local dentist or GP in the middle of the night from their house in just their underpants?! Could be quite a sight!

The funny side..........

Following on from my last blog, I felt we needed a light-hearted ‘lift.’

In the time that I have been in the fire service, I have noticed that the time I spend with the rest of the crew, compared with time in my every day life, is more funny!

I’m an old-school diary-keeper, I always have been, and when I write a few lines every night I notice the word ‘laugh’ particularly on drill nights and shouts. I’m not saying that someone else’s emergency is funny, but the humour after a shout (obviously depending on the nature of it) is evident.

In fact, I can honestly say that joining the fire service was definitely a decision to make me happier.

There is a certain type of humour within the team, a lot of innuendo, and that suits me down to the ground. I’ve always been a ‘Carry On’ fan, and I think sometimes I’m worse than the others. It just fits nicely……

So, talking about this I have to mention one incident that happened, it was one of those that just tickled me. No one was hurt, the person involved suffered mild distress for a short period of time, but it has stayed in my head as the most amusing shout to date. It was a lift rescue.

We were called to a property in the early hours of the morning. Four of us entered the building, and we stood outside the lift door. We had already investigated the lift workings and as we stood outside the door, someone suggested that we may try the lift button….just in case?

The lift button was pressed, the doors opened, and the distressed occupant was able to leave the compartment.

Now, maybe you had to be there, and obviously no one laughed at the time, but I can still have a giggle now, that four firefighters rescued someone in the middle of the night, by pressing one button!

It just goes to show, as I said right at the beginning, and what was drilled into us at recruits course, ‘Focus on the basics!’

Keep smiling and laughing, it really does help!

Defusing and support within the Fire Service

With any job in the emergency services, there is a chance that you are going to see, feel, smell or witness events and situations of a traumatic nature, that will challenge you personally, and until it happens, you really don’t know how you are going to deal with it.

Some people go through their service without witnessing anything, they are lucky, but others may see many things in their time with the Fire Service, and luckily, at Devon and Somerset, they are well-equipped with regards to defusing and counselling for any such incidents.

In fact, just last year, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (DSFRS) gained a new employee, by the name of ‘Digby’ who was brought in as a therapy dog. He looks like a great cuddly fluffy comforter, I never want to be in the position to meet him operationally, but he does seem a great idea, if you like dogs of course!

So, last year, I was with Harvey, both of us fairly new at Totnes, both ready to wear breathing apparatus (BA) at a shout early one morning. Obviously I cannot give too much detail on the incident, but sadly we both witnessed a victim of smoke inhalation who could not be brought back to life. We carried the casualty out of the building, both knowing that she had passed away a long time before.

We completed our job on site that morning, put away kit, got back to the station and cleaned our BA sets in silence.

By the time we had finished this, the kettle was on and there was someone on site to take us through the defusing procedure. I say procedure, it was a sit down chat to go through openly the events of the morning and how we felt about it. There was occasional dark humour, but I found the whole experience invaluable for my mental well-being going forwards.

It doesn’t end here though.

I did cancel a couple of clients that morning. I drank tea and watched awful daytime tv, cuddled on the sofa covered in my three dogs for a few hours. Dogs are a comfort, and mine seemed to know there was something not quite right with me that day.

A few hours later I was at work and then onto drill night at the station.

When I got to the station that night there was so much support from the rest of the crew, asking how we were, and saying that it’s okay to not be okay about it. I wasn’t okay, but I knew that I could talk to everyone there about it, and eventually the trauma could be processed and I could move on. Talking about what happened, to others, and Harvey, is what helped the most.

I had a few nightmares, but eventually it passed, the scars remain in the background, as you would expect, I’m only human, but the way DSFRS handle situations like this, is second to none.

It’s not something that happens every day, so if you are unsure of how you would cope with this aspect of the job, talk to your local Firefighters, ask them, before deciding if it’s the right career for you, but I certainly wouldn’t see it stopping me doing my job going forward.

Road Traffic Collision (RTC)

After months of training in RTC I finally had my first shout to one.

There are so many makes and models of vehicles, and different ways in which traffic can collide, it’s very difficult to train for all eventualities!

When we got to the location of the RTC, we saw that the driver of the vehicle had collided with a solid garden wall. Unfortunately the driver had fallen ill, and we joined colleagues from the other emergency services, Police and Paramedics to assist in extricating the driver from the vehicle.

The car was positioned precariously over the edge of a small drop, so we set about chocking the car and using the broken wall to stabilise the front wheel, so that we could eventually move the car back onto the road to safety.

The driver was extricated from the car and taken away by paramedics for treatment, leaving us with the task of making the vehicle, and wall, safe.

Luckily we had Simon and Mark there, two great builders it seems, and they managed to build the wall up enough under the car for us to move it safely into the road.

All skills are valuable in The Fire Service, some are skilled in vehicle maintenance, building, climbing, all valuable to the job. I’m not sure what my useful skill is yet, maybe just being fit and small, you never know, I could come in useful one day!

Confined space.

Last (hot) July, me and Harvey attended another one day course in confined space. The course was held at Headquarters and, it is as it sounds, small spaces, big people!

When we got there, I was pleased to see Dan aka ‘Danielle’ who I did all my initial courses with. It’s always good to see friends again, and Dan is just amazingly funny, so I knew that the day wouldn’t drag.

It wasn’t going to do that anyway, there was so much to cover in a short space of time that our brains were full of information in the first hour.

There were some amusing times during the day, mainly being attached to Dan being pulled underneath the classroom tables! I am not joking, of all the people to pair up for this.

There were also some tough times for some, not everyone is at home in small spaces, and the bigger you are, the worse it is.

The infamous ‘smartie tube’ was a worry to some, it’s basically a small plastic buried pipe that you have to crawl through wearing Breathing Apparatus (BA) to get to another small area where we practiced the ‘entrapment procedure.’

I didn’t have any issues in the smartie tube as I am quite small, and thankful for it too, as it is dark, and as the course says – confined! If you have issues with small spaces and the dark, it’s maybe a good idea to get used to those environments a little before doing this course, but as usual, we are a team, and anyone who had any worries was comforted by the rest of us, encouraged and helped where necessary. The Fire Service is all about Team Work, you are never on your own.

Once in the entrapment area, we were timed as to how long our air would last in an emergency situation. Bearing in mind, we weren’t really in trouble, so keeping our breathing steady and remaining calm wasn’t difficult. I can imagine in a real situation, our air wouldn’t last half as long. Seems my breathing techniques and self-hypnosis paid off and I managed to conserve a lot more air than most. But, as I said in a different situation….who knows?!

I’m not going to write too much about the next part of the course, I want those who are reading this, ahead of joining, to experience the surprise, but as challenging as the afternoon was, it was also really good. Another fine course from the Academy, superb trainers and a lot more learnt to add to the repertoire. Fire and Rescue, so much to learn, it’s not all about squirting water you know!

Flaming June!

It’s hard to believe that this time last year we were in a heatwave, looking out there at a damp and dull morning in South Devon, but, this time last year was stunning, and true to it’s nickname, it was a ‘flaming June’ in more ways than one.

June brought with it my first ‘double shout day.’ I’ve had many since, but both of these were long and trying.

The first was an Incident Command Unit (ICU) shout to a large garage/workshop fire in Torquay.

 Totnes is an ICU Station, so we get to go out a lot further than our boundaries more because of this. CM Hodge was in charge of the ICU, and I was under the watchful eye of ‘Rabbit’ inside the unit, learning on the job how to write the decision log and also communicate radio messages to control.

Totnes prides itself on how well we operate the unit, and I could see why, everything ran smoothly,both inside and outside, and even though I wasn’t there fighting fires, the job we do with the ICU is so important, and Rabbit was a good teacher.

CM Hodge gave me an extremely long radio message to send to control, and I was congratulated after sending it without a hitch. The support from your team mates in the fire service is unlike any I’ve ever had whilst working, encouragement and praise are always there, the same also goes when you mess up, but that’s essential for self-improvement, so you don’t make those mistakes again!

We were out for around six hours in total, which basically meant that I had absolutely no sleep that night, and a matter of hours later, the beeper went again.

This was by far, the hottest day of the year, it’s not the kind of day you want to be outside in full sun in full fire PPE, but there you go, you make our choices!

 I cycled down to the station and off we went to a property out in the countryside that had an extremely out of hand bonfire! Now, what else would you do on the hottest day of the year, but have a bonfire, right? Wrong! I guess that’s why we do what we do, because not everyone makes the right decisions at the right times.

I was with Harvey, we are both at a similar stage in development, so there were a couple of firsts for us, using beaters to help control fire spread, and using work restraint equipment, due to the nature of the landscape.

We had Simon (Harvey’s mentor) and Raif with us, who shared their knowledge and experience. Every day, every shout we learn more.

A lot of water was drunk that afternoon, and I slept like a baby that night, but there was more to come, the summer of 2018 was a busy one!

Development continues at Bovey Tracy

My development training will continue until such time as I have taken several sessions of different elements of training, and then at the end I have to be assessed again on these to become a competent Firefighter.

So, in May 2018 and June, I took part in two Road Traffic Collision (RTC) sessions, adding to my development training file. In these sessions I was with Harvey, from Totnes Fire Station, but also got to see James and Jamie again from my recruitment courses.

RTC training is not easy, all vehicles are different, scenarios are different, but we have to learn the basics during training, how to manage different kinds of glass, cutting and spreading different makes and types of vehicle, and also, imagining situations whereby there may be only one person or multiple casualties in a car.

It’s hot work, being honest, I think I sweat more in RTC training than any other. The hydraulic tools are heavy and have to be held at fairly awkward angles at times, but this is where teamwork comes in. If it gets heavy, pass it on to someone who is a little fresher. No one works on their own in the Fire Service, we all help each other to get the task completed.

These two sessions were no different, I think I managed to get in all of the jobs required in training over these two Saturdays, chocking the car so it’s stable, managing glass safely, creating space to work in, and everyone’s favourite, cutting, spreading and ramming using the hydraulic tools. I also used the hydraulic pump. I love the practical side of RTC training, but as always sessions contain question and answer before we start the practical, and all the way through it, modular training is great to keep that brain ticking over, constantly putting in a refreshing information.

Both sessions ended and me and Harvey headed back to Station 31, Totnes, put our kit back and I headed for the shower! If you are wanting to join, or are currently in training, prepare to sweat doing this, it’s inevitable!

Cubs and the community.

I think that if you have read my blog story so far, you will realise that I love being in the Fire Service. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made, giving me the thing that was missing from my already busy life.

There are so many opportunities to do things, not just emergency work, and doing things in your local community is one of them.

When I was at school, I got a certificate for ‘outstanding helpfulness’ and this was mainly due to the fact, that as soon as anyone said in assembly, ‘Can anyone……?’ my hand was the first in the air, without even knowing what they were asking for sometimes. I just love to be busy, so when asked at drill night, ‘Can anyone help out with the cubs visit on Tuesday?’ I, of course, said yes.

Tuesday arrived, and so did the cubs, lots of them! We showed them around the Fire Engines, told them a little about what we do and eventually got them all lined up outside to ‘squirt some water!’

They absolutely loved it, we showed them the different branch settings to change how the water came out, so maybe some future Totnes Firefighters in the making from that group? Who knows?!

I did let my guard down a little that evening and forgot who I was there with, and Rabbit decided, that with all the kids watching, he would turn the branch on me and absolutely soaked me! They thought it was hilarious, and I’m sure I would have done if I wasn’t going straight out afterwards for a date!

The first insight into community work for me, it’s certainly a varied job.

Development Training

Saturday April 14^th 2018 and I was up early, dressed in uniform, collected my fire kit and headed up to Bovey Tracy Fire Station.

So far on my journey I have trained and worked with my colleagues at Totnes Fire Station. I have trained with the guys who I did all my initial courses with, and now I was on to a whole new adventure….training with others in development to become competent Firefighters.

I’ve said many times through this blog, that we are constantly learning, and the weekly drill nights keep a lot of our skills fresh, but at this early period, regular training and assessment are necessary to ensure that we are all safe and competent in all aspects of the job. This is the difference between being an on call firefighter and whole time. They are constantly practicing their skills, we have to rely on shouts when we are on call.

I arrived at Bovey Tracy and immediately saw a familiar face, Jamie who I did my initial courses with was there, and I met a few others, who I would get to know more over the development period. Being a Firefighter is all teamwork, but the team changes. You could be on a fire ground at a shout with anyone from any station and work with them. My first BA (breathing apparatus) wear was with a guy from Buckfastleigh who I had never met before. It happens.

I also saw Chris Boston, who was in charge of our training that day, the last time I had seen him was at my interview! Now was the time to prove to him that he didn’t make a massive mistake by letting me in!

The training was great. We did combination drills locally utilising the local landscape, open water at the back of the Co-op car park, using light portable pumps and the main pump to get water to a branch and ground monitor. I was surprised at how much information I had retained, and went home happy that finally, the skills are sinking in, becoming normal. It’s that difference in thinking about how to do a job, and just getting on with it because it’s second nature. I wasn’t at that stage, but the more training goes on, it gets better.

Proof, that you can teach an old dog new tricks!

Red alert and team bonding!

I am sure we can all remember ‘The Beast from the East?’

 

I was certain that Devon wasn’t going to get snow, as a rule we don’t get much interruption from snow, it’s there on the Dartmoor for us all to go and play in, but then we go home and carry on with an un-disrupted life. March 2018, however, was a whole different ball game.

We all got the text through, asking if we could possibly spare some hours to be standby on our own stations whilst the snow came down harder through the day. There wasn’t really much choice and not much of anything else that we could do anyway. We packed up bags, grabbed sleeping bags and food and made our way to the Fire Station.

If there was ever a way to get to know your new friends, this was it. I had been going to drill nights before my induction in October 2017, but spending many hours at a time with the crew, you got to properly bond. You also got to know who snores….it became a bit of an issue for a few of us, and if we have to be on standby again, we know who is sleeping in the appliance bay away from everyone else!

For three days, we ate crisps and biscuits and drank copious amounts of tea, as well as watching, among other things, ‘London’s Burning!’ an absolute classic, and the reason I wanted to become a Firefighter back in 1986…..showing my age now.

We did get a shout during this time, we had snow chains on the appliance, tried several different variants on route, but mostly came up against six foot plus snow drifts, we couldn’t believe how much had fallen while we were in the warm safety of the Fire Station. Another station were trying to access the property from a different side and also not having any success, we had to call for some extra help, in the form of a little gator! I had gone home to walk my dogs at this point as the team went back out and froze in the back of the little gator, going down snow-tunnels in the back lanes to eventually get to the property. They still talk now about how cold it was, and I’m not ashamed to say, I’m glad I didn’t have to do that, I don’t do cold very well!

After three days the snow subsided and started to melt, we returned back to our homes and our beds and Devon returned back to normal.

The diversity of The Fire Service.

The diversity of the Fire Service.

I think, that February 2018 was the month that it first hit me, just how diverse our skills as a Firefighter have to be.

We, of course have to learn a variety of skills, and if you’ve read my blog so far, I’ve noted the main courses that we have to do before going ‘on the run.’ That training continues on throughout your career, I am currently in what is known as ‘development’ and I attend regular training sessions (blog to follow) as well as drill nights, and will eventually have to pass more practical and written tests before becoming a competent firefighter.

I wanted to give you a brief insight at the diversity of shouts in my early days as a Firefighter, and it’s not just the job itself, it’s the time and day. You never know when it will happen.

The first was a Monday night at 21.41 hours.

We were called to a domestic fire, at a static caravan, right out in the middle of nowhere. I had not long passed my BA (Breathing Apparatus) course, and there was a chance that I was going to have a wear. Both myself and Mark prepared for this, only to be told BA wasn’t needed when we got there, but it was my first taste of putting on a set and getting mentally ready for my first fire outside of the controlled environment at BA school.

The second was on a Friday morning at 0400 hours.

Something that I would get very used to over the coming months – an AFA – a Fire Alarm at a very large local business.

After lots of walking, inspecting the site, using the thermal image camera, it was clear that there was no fire and that it was just a false alarm. I got home around 6am, around the time I usually get up. It was going to be a long day!

The third of four, was on a Tuesday morning, 00.20 hours!

We attended a fire out in the open, a small fire, warranting a bucket of water, and I was back home at 01.15 hours. After years of undisrupted sleep, a whole new life was evolving around me, where I knew naps were going to be the way forward wherever necessary during the day!

The last of the diversity was a Wednesday at around mid-day.

We were called to a standby at Dartmouth Fire Station. It was just at the start of the snow and Dartmouth had gone out to an RTC (Road Traffic Collision) so we went to their Station and watched the snow get worse. This was my first standby, I didn’t realise that all we did was just stay at the station and wait, until they came back. A small snowman was left with them as we returned back to our home station!

When that alerter goes off, you just never know, but, as they say, ‘variety is the spice of life!’

Water Rescue

Here we all are again, it’s the 17^th February 2018, it’s cold out, but luckily today we have a day in the classroom.

We were all back at Exeter HQ, the last time we were there was for our written test at the very beginning of our application to become an On Call Firefighter.

It was lovely seeing the guys again and the day went well. We, yet again had brilliant instructors, lots of input to take in and a knowledge check at the end of the day.

Before we left that day we got kitted out with a wooly bear suit (yes, they are as cosy as they sound!) drysuit, boots, personal flotation device (PFD) and helmet. We certainly looked the part, tomorrow would be the big test, outside in the River Dart.

Before I tell you about our training, I need to give you a little background into my life…..don’t worry, I won’t get too emotional on you, but the fact is, for years I have had a fear of water. It all stemmed way back to when I was seven years old and being pushed into the pool at a Brownie swimming lesson. Since then I have tried many swimming teachers and techniques, but my fear was ever-present even when I finally learnt to swim.

In 2017 I found the most amazing wild swimming teacher, Kari Furre, she won’t mind me mentioning her, as I have a separate blog documenting my swimming journey with her. I had already had some lessons with her, and also been using a hypnotherapy app to deal with fears and phobias. Being honest, if those two things hadn’t happened, I would not have been able to take part in day two of this course.

I let both instructors know about my ‘water issues’ and the guys all knew about it and were all supportive and amazing about it. Out of all the courses, this would be my nemesis.

I travelled again with Bill to the River Dart Country Park, it was a beautiful, if not a little cold day.

We met up, had a cuppa, gathered our PPE together, I must have gone to the toilet around six times because of nerves, the guys knew how I was feeling and kept my humour up.

It was time to get kitted up and head down to the river, my nerves at this point were actually making me shake, the rest of the team loved it, and the time came for me to get into the river and self-rescue. I did it, all that I had been taught; I performed, and made it to the eddy on the other side of the river. Obstacle one conquered!

More and more of this, and I gained confidence, I may have even enjoyed it a little when I knew how much control I actually had, and before I knew it, it was lunch time.

The rest of the day we did more self-rescue, used throw-bags, learnt about wading by the weir, which was tough. But it wasn’t as bad as I thought, and I passed!

The time now was to say goodbye to the team, the guys who had become close and trusted friends in such a short time, and this blog is for you guys, Rob (Captain Flash-heart), William (Will, Welfare Willy!), Bill (Billiam), Dan (Danielle), Ryan (Rylan), Joey, James, Jamie, Doug (Evacuate!!) not forgetting Johnny and Mark. I couldn’t have done this journey so well without you all as support, not to mention how much you all make me laugh, so thank you.