Training to be a Mist-Birkenfeld/ FLRC Fire Volunteer

By: Diana Mahar and Gayle Rich-Boxman

 

As a follow-up article to last year’s interview with the Fire Chief and Asst. Fire Chief of the Mist-Birkenfeld Rural Fire Protection District, we decided to focus on training, as it is extensive and one of the key factors in the safety of our community and further into the county.  The interview took place with Mary Lou Busch, Asst. Fire Chief and Diana Mahar, one of FLRC’s volunteers who went through more than a year’s worth of training so far.  Mary Lou will be celebrating her 27th year in this field in March 2007 as well as Fire Chief Dave Crawford.

 

1.      What is the most important aspect of the training?

Mary Lou: Safety; to learn the SAFE way to do anything: yourself first, then your fellow firefighters, then your victim.  If you don’t have the first two elements, you can’t do it safely.

Diana: How to do safe rescue out of buildings (both owner/volunteer); hoses.

 

2.      What is the hardest part?

Mary Lou: #1- there’s the excitement first, then #2-the fear of it; what are you doing if for?  #3-you realize it’s to make a difference.

Diana: I guess all aspects of it.  How difficult is the course?  Would I fail at the “attempts”?  The bookwork.

Mary Lou: A lot of people get killed; driving too fast, backing up over someone…get it there [the fire truck] and get it there safely.

 

3.      What has been the most rewarding?

Mary Lou: A feeling for yourself of satisfaction, because most of the time you don’t get a thank you…you help someone and eventually they will help someone else. You mean, “pay it forward”?  Yes.  And working as a team.

Diana: The interaction with people outside my own community in a training or social environment.

Mary Lou: [After the call], then there’s the “review”, how to do it better; we don’t try to find fault.

Diana: It kind of builds you up for the next call.

 

4.      What have been some of the important courses you’ve been through?

Diana:  The FEMA courses, and most recently, how to tie knots (she laughs).

Mary Lou: FEMA came as a result of Homeland Security.  (FEMA-Federal Emergency Management Agency).  In order to function, we’re like the military; you need somebody to run it. (She points out an organizational chart for the Hood to Coast, as an example; commonly called a Unified Command System).  You make a decision based on what you hear from the 911 dispatcher, then when you get there, you decide if you’re going to make an entry.   Lots of decisions are made quickly when responding to a fire. It is called an Incident Command or Management System and the Incident Commander is the first person on the scene who directs others or would like to do something else and he/she will hand off command to another officer.  Sometimes, because someone is too close to the situation, he/she may get “tunnel vision…” And a suggestion may be made by someone who is standing farther back who can see something from a different perspective?

Mary Lou:  It takes a whole group to make it work. With FEMA, the Governor will declare a county a federal disaster, which allows the county to access resources for different fire districts and the Chief puts in the request.  You have to take care of yourself for about a week.  Part of our obligation is to do extensive training as a requirement or we can’t apply for federal funding.  As part of the grant received, [for example] the volunteers received new turnouts (gear).

 

5.      What is the breakdown of the team?

Mary Lou: Here is an example of a particular scene:

·         IC-Incident Commander

·         Operations: pulling out fire equipment, for example

·         EMS Division: victim, injuries to them or fire fighters

·         Traffic Control

·         Water Shuttle

·         Rehab: if firefighters are tired, putting in replacements, checking blood pressure, etc.

·         Accountability: who is with which fire truck, how many/who are in the building, etc.

 

6.      Let’s talk about knots!

Mary Lou: Knots are important, because it’s how you: hoist rope, fire extinguishers; you get access to the roof with equipment, (this the safest way), rope rescue (if you had to assist in pulling someone out of a building), climbing a hillside as a rescue attempt.  Ropes and knots are real essential.

Diana: The handcuff knot for example—to help someone who falls into a ravine, or a burning floor-- you have to prep the rope, then throw it down to them (if they’re conscious).  They throw it around their crossed wrists to be lifted up.

Mary Lou: You really don’t have much time (seconds) to get someone out of a burning building.

 

There’s a sense of camaraderie that is clearly seen while talking with these two passionate women.  The training is a “confidence builder”, Mary Lou says.  Watching Mary Lou and Diana discuss the training, the excitement starts to build as they trade stories of past successes both in their training sessions as well as actual experiences in the community.  “You don’t want to let anybody down, but you want to set your limits and if you can’t do something, you need your officer to know”, Mary Lou wisely advises.  In watching these two share their experiences, it makes one feel much safer living in this rural slice of paradise.