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!
