Breathing Apparatus (BA) training - part one.

Here’s some wisdom from a senior member of the team at Totnes, we were discussing the whole process just this morning, of becoming a Firefighter. He said that, you don’t apply to work at Tesco’s, and a year later almost be qualified for the job.

The difference between what they do in a supermarket and what we do, however, is very different. In some circumstances in our job, it could be a matter of life and death, which is why the training is so intense, and this course, is so important to get right for that very reason.

On 6^th January 2018 I met up with 'Billiam' from our initial courses, we did a lift share and made our way up to Exeter Airport together, where the ten days training would be.

On arrival we saw the rest of the team, with the exception of one, we had lost Johnny. He had a serious knee injury from playing football and so wouldn’t be doing the rest of the training with us. We were now down to ten.

Day one was tough; there was a lot of classroom input, after being introduced to our Instructors, Simon and Scott. We went through the Breathing Apparatus sets, learning what each part is for, how to check it, clean it and prepare it for use again.

 The other part of the day was to get us used to wearing the sets, and putting our trust in them. We did an exercise wearing the BA sets, of trying to ‘out-breathe’ it. Walking, carrying, and lifting, continuously with different objects of shapes and sizes, knowing that however hard you puffed and panted that cylinder would supply with you as much air as you needed to do the task.

It was interesting, having never worn anything like it before, to know that you could put your full trust in a cylinder full of air, and it wouldn’t let you down.

 Day one was an amazing insight, and the rest of the week would be even more eye-opening for us all.

Day two and who would have thought that dance lessons were included in training? We learnt what is called ‘The BA Shuffle!’ In all seriousness though, the moves involved in this are to keep us safe, and help us to find casualties in smoke-filled environments, where visibility is seriously reduced. Foot sweeps and sweeping hand movements, all timed together to make the very best Firefighters.

 We found it amusing when we were all in a lit corridor, waving our arms and legs about at each other, but the next time we were doing it, we were in a smoke-logged villa, trying to locate a ‘dummy’ casualty. You realised just how useful those moves are to find your way.

The cold villa exercise was great, we hadn’t got anywhere near fire and heat at this point, that would come when we were all safe at the basics. 

Days three and four we had more thrown at us and added in, little extras each time, the addition of radios, fire-fighting equipment, more casualties to locate, just a little at a time.

Day four we learnt about ‘Flashover’ and ‘Backdraught’ nothing like the film, and fascinating to learn about. Fire is definitely something to respect, and by the end of the day we had been sat in a ‘hot box’ watching an actual Flashover happen before our eyes. We were all sat there gobsmacked at what we were seeing, almost text book from what we had learnt that morning in the classroom.

The final day of the first week, we did a guideline exercise in the hot villa, and we got to use branch techniques in an attack container. We left that day on a massive high, we couldn’t wait to come back and do more in a couple of weeks’ time.