YouTube videos showcase creativity and ingenuity of departments across the country. Ask any fire department training officer what their greatest challenges are, and you'll likely get responses like:.
For this article, I tackled that third obstacle, looking for tips for how departments can design effective props on a budget. I spent a couple of hours watching YouTube videos that had been produced by fire service personnel who have developed some pretty interesting — and economical — solutions. There are thousands of such videos on YouTube by firefighters and officers. So I developed some criteria part objective and part subjective for selecting videos to include in this article:.
Let's now review each of the seven DIY fire training props that should fit into most department budgets. What grabbed my attention about this one is not the prop itself which was incorporated into a fire training building , but rather how the prop is used and the techniques used for firefighter rescue. This video is part prop and part firefighter rescue training techniques for the rescue of a firefighter who has fallen through a floor or below grade.
The video runs through three scenarios where a firefighter is physically able to assist in their own rescue; a firefighter is conscious but debilitated and requires assistance; and a firefighter is unconscious. This video is pretty sweet!
With all the attention and discussion regarding the control of the flow path in structural firefighting, this prop really nails it. And its portability makes it a great training prop that can be taken anywhere for use not just in firefighter training but also fire and life safety education programs. Norwood demonstrates how to control the flow path through door control. During the demonstration, students learned how to limit the amount of air to control fire spread by opening and closing doors in a structure.
Watch here. Firefighter Survival 2-Minute Training Prop: This is another one that I selected because of its portability and its utility. And the title is very accurate as well: The prop truly can be in use within two minutes of being unloaded from a pickup truck and broken down in even less time!
Although the prop is simple in design and construction, its designers show a couple of examples of how the complexity can be increased depending on the skill level of the firefighters using it. It really looks like the "ticket" for entry-level firefighter training and confidence building.
Check it out here. Rollover and Flashover Training Prop: I was really taken by how realistically this portable prop about the size of a small office desk enables the instructor to show students the entire fire progression sequence — and all without having the instructor and students in PPE and SCBA inside a smoky burn building.
The prop also provides the instructor with a great tool for showing students the impact that a water stream and it only takes an ordinary garden hose has on reducing the conditions preceding a flashover or rollover. Again, all the action happens in a fresh-air environment where everyone can clearly hear and understand what the instructor is teaching.
Watch it here. The Nine-Tire Drill: This was my favorite because of both its effectiveness and efficiency. A nice sharp shovel is my second tool of choice after the Rhino. And filing them sharp after every use will eventually wear them out. Turning an out of service shovel into a Rhino is the perfect way to give it a second life.
Take a tape measure and on the front and back of the shovel, mark some dashes with your soapstone. Make your marking approximately 6 inches from the step of the shovel.
Now take your soapstone and connect the dashes on the front and back of the shovel. This is where you will take your angle grinder with cutoff wheel and cut across the shovel.
Once again i usually make my marks at 6 inches. Now go and get your gear on. Protect your eyes, your and ears, and skin and cut that shovel in half along the soapstone line.
On the back of the shovel you will find what i call the spine. Make two markings, a vertical marking along the length of the spine, and a horizontal marking just short of where the steel is folded over.
Make the same soapstone markings on both the front and back of the shovel. Clamp your shovel down at a comfortable height and make your 2nd cut.
Dont forget to wear your PPE's! Essentially you are turning the shovel blade degrees and welding it back together at the neck. Hold the cut off shovel blade against the neck and get an idea if you need to trim off more steel from the shovel to get the angle you want. I prefer a 90 degree overall bend. Clamp your piece and check to see how much meat you have to grind off the cutoff shovel blade in order to achieve your desired rake. As you can see, I am going to have to remove about 7 degrees.
I ground off some more steel off of the shovels neck. You want to match up the necks in order to get the appropriate angle. After taking some meat off with the grinder, the angles on the neck lined up perfectly to give me my preferred "Rhino" rake angle. They do not cover some of the most basic elements of what is needed to ensure that a firefighter can safely escape, such as the use of the stronger, more durable, and lighter weight ropes that are available today.
Fortunately, you can create your own firefighter bailout kit. Whether you are a firefighter or someone who lives or works on a higher story, you can make your own bailout kit or improve an existing kit. As an increasing number of firefighters find their supplies are no longer sufficient against the risks they now face, an increasing number of them have taken the initiative to purchase their own supplies to reduce the risks associated with the job.
Some fire departments had even stopped including rope in their kits because they were seen as ineffective.
One team spent time researching biometrics and testing different materials to determine what would be a better solution to the outdated materials in their kits. Based on the findings of the expert firefighters, firefighter bailout kits can now be personalized with materials that will better secure a firefighter who needs to rappel out of a dangerous situation.
The materials that go into a DIY firefighter bailout kit are typically stronger and take into account the likely scenarios for a particular department. For example, a firefighter in Kansas probably will not face the same kind of dangers as a firefighter in Atlanta.
This matters because there are different ways to anchor the rope, as well as different types of materials that should be used in the different settings so that the rope does not burn.
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