I feel like I aged 20 years overnight. I got to the firehouse at 0645 for training. We left around 0700 to the house we are using in the next town over. It is freezing cold outside; I have under armour and several layers on, including my turnouts, and I think my core temperature is still right around 90. Damn.
My first drill was on the roof. The house has a very steep roof...and I'm not too fond of heights if I am not tied off. There was about a 6-8 foot gap between the ladder I used to get up on the roof and the roof ladder. Yeah...not so good. I was praying that I would make it to the ladder with my tools in hand, rather than crashing to my death on the frozen ground. I could feel my boots slipping as I inched up the side of the roof. It seemed to take forever, but I finally got the pike pole hooked on the ladder and I was able to pull myself up a little better. Whew. And that was the easy part. I still had to make it to the very top. It wasn't too bad. I sat over the peak of the roof and started chopping away. I chopped with the axe from one side of the roof, over the beam, and to the other side. Then I switched places with my partner and I tore off shingles. Then it was time to power up the chain saw and cut ventilation holes. I have trouble started the chainsaw on the ground...let alone on the roof. It got started and I actually had a pretty good time. The only bad part about being on the roof for about an hour was the wind hitting my face. It was hovering right around 0 degrees and my skin felt like it was burning off. I guess two days in a row out in this weather probably wasn't such a good idea. Oh well.
I went through a station that we pulled ceiling, floors and walls-the same way we would be looking for fire extension and for investigation purposes. There was a mouse in the floor. It came out when I started to pound on the boards with the axe. Yuck.
The next station we broke windows and talked about ventilation. We also breached walls, and dragged a "downed firefighter" across the floor, and up and down the stairs.
I was completely exhausted by the end. My back was tense and I couldn't feel my fingers or toes. During one of the evolutions, when it came time to remove our masks, I couldn't do it. My fingers refused to tighten on the connection, and my officer had to undo it.
I was glad when the time came to pack up and go home. There was lots of cleaning to do at the station, but it only took about an hour or so. Both of my hands are swollen and they refuse to warm up. Hopefully they won't hurt too bad tomorrow.
Now it is time to relax. My mom came into town today and I have to get her settled in.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Women's Fire Training
I got to the fire station at 0500. Way too early in the morning for me. We got on the bus at 0530. There were four of us from my station and three women from other stations in the county (that actually rode with us). I was excited that I was going to be riding in the short bus today, but I was disappointed when a short charter bus arrived. Oh well...window licking is overrated.
It took us about two hours to get to Frankfort, IL. We had a short introduction and then we broke out into our groups. My first group was on saws and torches. I got to use several saws and two different torches. I used a chain saw for the first time. Then I had forcible entry. The best thing I discovered was a device that you put on the middle or lower hinge in the door and it will hold it open. The best one was circular, and it barely let the door close at all; maybe two inches or so from the fully open position. We also discussed a lot of problems that they have with high rises in the city, and of course, customer service.
We had a break for lunch, which included a speaker. She was a Salt Lake City firefighter that won the world-wide combat challenge four years in a row, then retired. Shorly after, another competitor from Houston was killed in a fire-she was trapped when the roof collapsed in a McDonald's. At the funeral, our speaker was approached by the woman's sister who asker her if she would consider competing one more time for her fallen sister. Of course, she agreed, and went on to win once again with a time of 2:22. It was a touching speech, and we saw all the video clips from news programs covering the story.
My next class was SCBA entanglement. This was probably my most informative class. We went through a maze that was comparable to others I have been in-for the first 15 feet or so. There were tight spaces, studs that were only 12 inches apart (I even got through without dumping my pack!), a "victim" that we had to drag around corners and through obstacles, and wires. Yeah, the wires were the worst. I came across a wire. I thought to myself, not to bad. Of course it was dark, so I couldn't see ahead of me. There was a whole section of wires hanging just ahead and one was connected to the floor. I nearly made it through without dumping my pack, but I ended up getting way too stuck, so I dumped it and continued. There were a few more wires and a few corners before the end. I could see the light...and where it was coming from. It was a square opening-about 1' by 1', if that. I got through with no problem. I was glad when it was all over with. My air pack's bell started ringing toward's the end and I couldn't even hear my partner talking (hers was going off too).
My last class was flashover. We had a short classroom portion and then we headed out to the flashover simulator. It was probably one of the coolest things I have seen so far. We watched the fire from the beginning. We lit a small fire in a burn barrel in a corner and let it go. The smoke wasn't very dark at first, but you could see the layering, and the air flow. The air up above was flowing away from the fire, and you could see the smoke just above us getting sucked back towards the fire. Eventually, the room got dark with smoke-we could barely see the fire. Then we could see a slight glow,then the whole room got bright, and I could see flames rolling above us. Within seconds everything was on fire-it looked like a movie. It was awesome; I didn't want to knock it down-even when it got really hot. It was just too beautiful. We let it flash about 7 or 8 times before we finally vented the room. It was probably my favorite class. And I smelled like fire :)
I was back on the bus around 1700 and got home around 1845. I was beat and ready to rest...at least until 0600 tomorrow.
It took us about two hours to get to Frankfort, IL. We had a short introduction and then we broke out into our groups. My first group was on saws and torches. I got to use several saws and two different torches. I used a chain saw for the first time. Then I had forcible entry. The best thing I discovered was a device that you put on the middle or lower hinge in the door and it will hold it open. The best one was circular, and it barely let the door close at all; maybe two inches or so from the fully open position. We also discussed a lot of problems that they have with high rises in the city, and of course, customer service.
We had a break for lunch, which included a speaker. She was a Salt Lake City firefighter that won the world-wide combat challenge four years in a row, then retired. Shorly after, another competitor from Houston was killed in a fire-she was trapped when the roof collapsed in a McDonald's. At the funeral, our speaker was approached by the woman's sister who asker her if she would consider competing one more time for her fallen sister. Of course, she agreed, and went on to win once again with a time of 2:22. It was a touching speech, and we saw all the video clips from news programs covering the story.
My next class was SCBA entanglement. This was probably my most informative class. We went through a maze that was comparable to others I have been in-for the first 15 feet or so. There were tight spaces, studs that were only 12 inches apart (I even got through without dumping my pack!), a "victim" that we had to drag around corners and through obstacles, and wires. Yeah, the wires were the worst. I came across a wire. I thought to myself, not to bad. Of course it was dark, so I couldn't see ahead of me. There was a whole section of wires hanging just ahead and one was connected to the floor. I nearly made it through without dumping my pack, but I ended up getting way too stuck, so I dumped it and continued. There were a few more wires and a few corners before the end. I could see the light...and where it was coming from. It was a square opening-about 1' by 1', if that. I got through with no problem. I was glad when it was all over with. My air pack's bell started ringing toward's the end and I couldn't even hear my partner talking (hers was going off too).
My last class was flashover. We had a short classroom portion and then we headed out to the flashover simulator. It was probably one of the coolest things I have seen so far. We watched the fire from the beginning. We lit a small fire in a burn barrel in a corner and let it go. The smoke wasn't very dark at first, but you could see the layering, and the air flow. The air up above was flowing away from the fire, and you could see the smoke just above us getting sucked back towards the fire. Eventually, the room got dark with smoke-we could barely see the fire. Then we could see a slight glow,then the whole room got bright, and I could see flames rolling above us. Within seconds everything was on fire-it looked like a movie. It was awesome; I didn't want to knock it down-even when it got really hot. It was just too beautiful. We let it flash about 7 or 8 times before we finally vented the room. It was probably my favorite class. And I smelled like fire :)
I was back on the bus around 1700 and got home around 1845. I was beat and ready to rest...at least until 0600 tomorrow.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Snow blower
Yeah. Last night was a good one. I got rather drunk and "drunk dialed" a few more people than I thought I did. At least most of them thought it was funny. I got up at 0900 to start out the day. I didn't accomplish much-just cleaning and getting ready for my long weekend.
I left for work around 1915. The roads were pretty slick; it had been raining all day and now it was freezing. Great. Besides the fact that my car normally slides all over the road-I still have that stupid spare tire on it.
I was about 2 miles away from home, driving about 45 miles an hour. There was a pickup truck in front of me. The pickup truck hit a bump and, in slow motion, something rather large flew out of the back. It was a snow blower. I felt all my muscles tense up; I was preparing for the thing to fly through my windshield and hopefully not kill me. I thought about closing my eyes but it was in slow motion and full speed all at once. I was pissed because it would make me late to work. I slammed on the brakes and watched the metal scrape the pavement. Sparks were flying everywhere and pieces of the snow blower scattered all over the road. My brakes were squealing as I came to a stop-halfway in my lane and halfway in the oncoming lane. I missed it. Whew. Onward to work. The truck never even stopped; like they didn't notice that this huge machine just flew out of the bed. Besides my heart skipping a few beats, I was okay, and so was my car.
The fire house has been quiet. Hopefully we'll get something. I'm up for some good action.
I left for work around 1915. The roads were pretty slick; it had been raining all day and now it was freezing. Great. Besides the fact that my car normally slides all over the road-I still have that stupid spare tire on it.
I was about 2 miles away from home, driving about 45 miles an hour. There was a pickup truck in front of me. The pickup truck hit a bump and, in slow motion, something rather large flew out of the back. It was a snow blower. I felt all my muscles tense up; I was preparing for the thing to fly through my windshield and hopefully not kill me. I thought about closing my eyes but it was in slow motion and full speed all at once. I was pissed because it would make me late to work. I slammed on the brakes and watched the metal scrape the pavement. Sparks were flying everywhere and pieces of the snow blower scattered all over the road. My brakes were squealing as I came to a stop-halfway in my lane and halfway in the oncoming lane. I missed it. Whew. Onward to work. The truck never even stopped; like they didn't notice that this huge machine just flew out of the bed. Besides my heart skipping a few beats, I was okay, and so was my car.
The fire house has been quiet. Hopefully we'll get something. I'm up for some good action.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
My Valentine
My car is a piece of crap. Yeah. I was driving home and I heard a bad noise; it reminded me of the noise the wheels on the cot make when we reach or go over the weight limit. I knew the light I was at was long, so I my car in park and got out-yeah, my tire was flat. I had to drive like a block or so before I could park because there is no emergency lane on that road. Great. I found out today that they can't fix it. The guy at the tire place said that I could refill it and put it back on but it would probably blow off the car in a day or so. That would suck, so I guess I will just keep the spare on and hope it doesn't fly off when I hit 50 mph :)
Wow. This is the first year in a long time that I actually celebrated Valentine's Day. I won't say much more...it has been a good year. Let's just say that I will be going to a spa for a day...
Work was, well, work. We were really slow all day. We did a psych call from the regular psych ward to one run by the government. Then we did a call from our post to the ER for a guy that was sent over for occupational health, but the nurse decided to send him back by ambulance, instead of by car, because he would get seen quicker. Gotta love it. Our last call was from the ER to the psych ward. I had seen the lady earlier in the ER; she was loud, obnoxious and telling the staff to "call the cops." What a wonder drugs can do. She slept the whole way there and barely woke up long enough to slide into bed. Unfortunately, when her meds kicked in, she still had her food tray, and she fell asleep with her head in her plate. Yuck. She smelled like moldy food.
Of course, on the nights that we don't run, I can't sleep. Every time I almost fell alseep I thought I heard the Nextel go off; it never actually did. What a stupid night. I got off at 0730 so I could run some errands before I went to school.
School went well today. My dance classes were pretty fun-especially jazz. We were doing swing and the "Lindy." Good times. There is a thing at the Willowbrook ballroom on Sunday that I may go to. It sounds like fun. I found out in my psych class that I can't make up my test until the end of April. Yeah, that sucks. Oh well, it's one less thing I have to worry about this week. Ballet was good too-but I was pretty tired by the end of it. My body just didn't want to move anymore by 1300.
Good night ahead. I plan on getting drunk...and hopefully not getting any noise complaints from my neighbors.
Wow. This is the first year in a long time that I actually celebrated Valentine's Day. I won't say much more...it has been a good year. Let's just say that I will be going to a spa for a day...
Work was, well, work. We were really slow all day. We did a psych call from the regular psych ward to one run by the government. Then we did a call from our post to the ER for a guy that was sent over for occupational health, but the nurse decided to send him back by ambulance, instead of by car, because he would get seen quicker. Gotta love it. Our last call was from the ER to the psych ward. I had seen the lady earlier in the ER; she was loud, obnoxious and telling the staff to "call the cops." What a wonder drugs can do. She slept the whole way there and barely woke up long enough to slide into bed. Unfortunately, when her meds kicked in, she still had her food tray, and she fell asleep with her head in her plate. Yuck. She smelled like moldy food.
Of course, on the nights that we don't run, I can't sleep. Every time I almost fell alseep I thought I heard the Nextel go off; it never actually did. What a stupid night. I got off at 0730 so I could run some errands before I went to school.
School went well today. My dance classes were pretty fun-especially jazz. We were doing swing and the "Lindy." Good times. There is a thing at the Willowbrook ballroom on Sunday that I may go to. It sounds like fun. I found out in my psych class that I can't make up my test until the end of April. Yeah, that sucks. Oh well, it's one less thing I have to worry about this week. Ballet was good too-but I was pretty tired by the end of it. My body just didn't want to move anymore by 1300.
Good night ahead. I plan on getting drunk...and hopefully not getting any noise complaints from my neighbors.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Lethargy
I slept for the first couple hours of shift. We got our first call around 1200. It was a priority for a lethargic patient. I have had more calls for "lethargy" in the past two weeks than I have in the past year. Anyways, it took us about 15-20 minutes to get on scene. The nursing home that we were going to can only be accessed from the north-bound lanes. Unfortunately there is a concrete median, so you have to pass the nursing home, go to the next intersection, due a U-turn and head back north to the place. I feel pretty stupid every time.
We got on scene and found a 75 y/o female with a history of mental retardation that was usually aphasic, that was now "more lethargic." Okay, I'll give them that. They had her on four liters of oxygen on a simple mask, and they had tried to get a line twice and failed. Of course they used all the good veins and left me with nothing. The RN said that the lady hadn't eaten in a couple of days. She was diabetic. The lady's glucose was 71 at 1200. I took it again and I got 59; borderline, so I gave a unit of glucagon IM. We got her packaged and down to the rig. Her oxygen sats were in the low 90s, so I put her on a non-rebreather, and they went up to about 95%, which I can deal with. I took her glucose again-54. Okay, that's not supposed to happen. Her blood pressure was also only 80/42, and without a line all I could do was put her in Trendelenburg.
The hospital is south of the nursing home, and there is the same problem with the median. On the way to the hospital you have to go north about 1 1/2 miles and do a U-turn to go right past the nursing home again and head towards the hospital. We got about 1 mile from the hospital when things started to go downhill. I didn't even have time to call the hospital back with an update. Her sats started dropping into the 70s and she started breathing rather slow and shallow. I switched over to a BVM and she was back up in the 90s. Whew. I wanted to check her glucose again, but I didn't have enough hands, and we were pulling into the ER. The staff freaked out when we came in. From my report, they knew that her blood pressure was low, I didn't have a line, but other than that, her problems were taken care of for now. I had about three nurses and two doctors in the room with us. We moved her over to the ER bed, a nurse took over bagging the patient while I gave my report, and I got out of the room so that I could finish my report and get out of the way. They took her glucose again-32. Yikes. No wonder she didn't feel like breathing. They got a central line on her, and about 5-10 minutes later her glucose was about 100; they stopped bagging her and she was doing good. Talk about a good first call of the day.
We did a transfer to a nursing home out of the same hospital right away. We got back to quarters around 1600. I did one more call around 2100 for a return to a nursing home from a local ER. It was a boring call. I was just ready to transfer care over to the nursing home staff because he wet himself, probably several hours before we got him, and he reeked of urine. Oh well. Hopefully a quiet night ahead.
We got on scene and found a 75 y/o female with a history of mental retardation that was usually aphasic, that was now "more lethargic." Okay, I'll give them that. They had her on four liters of oxygen on a simple mask, and they had tried to get a line twice and failed. Of course they used all the good veins and left me with nothing. The RN said that the lady hadn't eaten in a couple of days. She was diabetic. The lady's glucose was 71 at 1200. I took it again and I got 59; borderline, so I gave a unit of glucagon IM. We got her packaged and down to the rig. Her oxygen sats were in the low 90s, so I put her on a non-rebreather, and they went up to about 95%, which I can deal with. I took her glucose again-54. Okay, that's not supposed to happen. Her blood pressure was also only 80/42, and without a line all I could do was put her in Trendelenburg.
The hospital is south of the nursing home, and there is the same problem with the median. On the way to the hospital you have to go north about 1 1/2 miles and do a U-turn to go right past the nursing home again and head towards the hospital. We got about 1 mile from the hospital when things started to go downhill. I didn't even have time to call the hospital back with an update. Her sats started dropping into the 70s and she started breathing rather slow and shallow. I switched over to a BVM and she was back up in the 90s. Whew. I wanted to check her glucose again, but I didn't have enough hands, and we were pulling into the ER. The staff freaked out when we came in. From my report, they knew that her blood pressure was low, I didn't have a line, but other than that, her problems were taken care of for now. I had about three nurses and two doctors in the room with us. We moved her over to the ER bed, a nurse took over bagging the patient while I gave my report, and I got out of the room so that I could finish my report and get out of the way. They took her glucose again-32. Yikes. No wonder she didn't feel like breathing. They got a central line on her, and about 5-10 minutes later her glucose was about 100; they stopped bagging her and she was doing good. Talk about a good first call of the day.
We did a transfer to a nursing home out of the same hospital right away. We got back to quarters around 1600. I did one more call around 2100 for a return to a nursing home from a local ER. It was a boring call. I was just ready to transfer care over to the nursing home staff because he wet himself, probably several hours before we got him, and he reeked of urine. Oh well. Hopefully a quiet night ahead.
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Polar Plunge
Today was a real surprise. It seemed quite nice when I left home-sunny, not too cold, and clear. It had clouded up by the time I got to the firehouse, but I still believed that it would be a nice, or at least bearable day. We got all our gear ready and headed up to Wisconsin at 0900.
Once we got to the site at 0930, we suited up and tested out the suits in the water. A few of us were new to the whole "dive/rescue" thing, so we took our time to get used to how the suit feels. It is necessary to explain the suit, because I currently don't have any pictures. They weren't the nice dive suits, because those of us that weren't actually "diving" wore ice/cold water rescue suits. If you have ever seen a level A hazmat suit, these look very similar. They are big, yellow, and hard to walk in. Needless to say it did keep me somewhat warm for the first hour or so. Five of the divers actually did a dive for about 30 minutes under the ice; I was a tender on one of the lines. I don't recall my hands getting cold. Instead they started to hurt. The last of the divers were getting out when the first groups started to jump.
After we cleaned up the dive site we all went down to the beach where the rest of our rescuers were. I was standing/floating in about 5-6 feet of water, helping people get to the shallower area so they could walk out. I was very surprised that nobody got hurt. There were a few older people that I thought for sure I would have to do CPR on, but all went well. The last of the jumpers went around 1430. Of course, the jokesters we all are, we had to be dancing with the music in our suits, playing with the rescue board (including a few people taking it about 50 feet out where the ice started), and jumping.
About 5 minutes after the jumping started, it started to snow and get colder outside. By the time the second or third group was going it was practically a white-out. Even though the dry suits were nice, they didn't prevent my face from getting splashed with every jump and being covered in snow for 6 hours. Oh well, it was a good time and for a good cause (special olympics).
Me and one other firefighter decided to do the plunge...in our dry suits. More info about the suits. When you put them on they are really baggy, but as soon as you get in the water, the air rushes out and you are left with a relatively skin-tight outfit. Generally, when you wear these suits, you walk into the water, allowing the air to gently escape through the top of the suit by your head. Let's just say it doesn't quite work that way when you jump into the water. When we jumped in, we both blew up like something inside the suit inflated. I really wish I could get the pictures on here for full effect. We looked like we were all shoulders-having had all the air out of the entire suit violently forced into the chest and shoulders with no escape; we had both fastened the top of the suit that covers your head and part of your face. It was really funny.
I was sopping wet by the time I got out of the suit. Three of us looked like we peed in our pants. The suit can get rather uncomfortable if you wear the face/neck zipped up for too long, so most of us unzipped it a small amount. That wasn't such a good idea. The water ran all the way down from the top of my suit, and I could feel it running down my leg within seconds of dipping too far in the water or rolling over because my ankle weights weren't keeping my feet weighed down enough. Every time I would try to move my legs would float up from below and try to flip me. Back paddling, I learned, was the only way to go. Damn. I wish I would have learned that before hand. At least I wasn't the only one that was soaked.
After we were all cleaned up we went back to the station to clean the suits, our vehicle and other assorted diving gear. Then I headed home to dry my clothes and get back to the station by 1700 for shift. We didn't run any calls; we only picked up some supplies from a local hospital that we needed for one of our ambulances. I studied for a couple hours and it was time to go home. Now that I am home, I plan on getting some sleep. I will probably pop a few Advil and call it an early night. My face is really wind-burned and rather puffy. Hopefully it won't look so bad in the morning, otherwise I feel sorry for my patients.
Once we got to the site at 0930, we suited up and tested out the suits in the water. A few of us were new to the whole "dive/rescue" thing, so we took our time to get used to how the suit feels. It is necessary to explain the suit, because I currently don't have any pictures. They weren't the nice dive suits, because those of us that weren't actually "diving" wore ice/cold water rescue suits. If you have ever seen a level A hazmat suit, these look very similar. They are big, yellow, and hard to walk in. Needless to say it did keep me somewhat warm for the first hour or so. Five of the divers actually did a dive for about 30 minutes under the ice; I was a tender on one of the lines. I don't recall my hands getting cold. Instead they started to hurt. The last of the divers were getting out when the first groups started to jump.
After we cleaned up the dive site we all went down to the beach where the rest of our rescuers were. I was standing/floating in about 5-6 feet of water, helping people get to the shallower area so they could walk out. I was very surprised that nobody got hurt. There were a few older people that I thought for sure I would have to do CPR on, but all went well. The last of the jumpers went around 1430. Of course, the jokesters we all are, we had to be dancing with the music in our suits, playing with the rescue board (including a few people taking it about 50 feet out where the ice started), and jumping.
About 5 minutes after the jumping started, it started to snow and get colder outside. By the time the second or third group was going it was practically a white-out. Even though the dry suits were nice, they didn't prevent my face from getting splashed with every jump and being covered in snow for 6 hours. Oh well, it was a good time and for a good cause (special olympics).
Me and one other firefighter decided to do the plunge...in our dry suits. More info about the suits. When you put them on they are really baggy, but as soon as you get in the water, the air rushes out and you are left with a relatively skin-tight outfit. Generally, when you wear these suits, you walk into the water, allowing the air to gently escape through the top of the suit by your head. Let's just say it doesn't quite work that way when you jump into the water. When we jumped in, we both blew up like something inside the suit inflated. I really wish I could get the pictures on here for full effect. We looked like we were all shoulders-having had all the air out of the entire suit violently forced into the chest and shoulders with no escape; we had both fastened the top of the suit that covers your head and part of your face. It was really funny.
I was sopping wet by the time I got out of the suit. Three of us looked like we peed in our pants. The suit can get rather uncomfortable if you wear the face/neck zipped up for too long, so most of us unzipped it a small amount. That wasn't such a good idea. The water ran all the way down from the top of my suit, and I could feel it running down my leg within seconds of dipping too far in the water or rolling over because my ankle weights weren't keeping my feet weighed down enough. Every time I would try to move my legs would float up from below and try to flip me. Back paddling, I learned, was the only way to go. Damn. I wish I would have learned that before hand. At least I wasn't the only one that was soaked.
After we were all cleaned up we went back to the station to clean the suits, our vehicle and other assorted diving gear. Then I headed home to dry my clothes and get back to the station by 1700 for shift. We didn't run any calls; we only picked up some supplies from a local hospital that we needed for one of our ambulances. I studied for a couple hours and it was time to go home. Now that I am home, I plan on getting some sleep. I will probably pop a few Advil and call it an early night. My face is really wind-burned and rather puffy. Hopefully it won't look so bad in the morning, otherwise I feel sorry for my patients.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Hazmat
I actually woke up rather early this morning. Well, early for me. I drove to a neighboring (sort of) town to pick up an application for the municipal ambulance service. Hopefully that will work out. Or at least something will.
I have decided that I will most likely be transferring into the city. They get better calls (and more of them) down there anyways. I am not looking forward to the 65 mile commute, but I guess I have to do what I can until I turn 21. I think the traffic will be less stressful than the situation I am in currently.
I went for my spyrometry (I don't think I spelled that right...) and auditory tests today. The spyrometry was okay. I thought my head was going to pop off by the third go around. I don't know if you've done it before, but they make you take a deep breath and then make you exhale as quickly and much as possible. It made my lungs hurt.
Then I waited about 15 minutes for the auditory exam. This was the best part. I haven't had one since I was in grade school. And when they did it then, you went in a quiet room with practically sound proof headphones on. Those I actually think worked. This time it was a joke. I was in a regular exam room. They gave me crappy headphones; I could hear the traffic outside, the secretary on the phone...it was ridiculous. I just sat there and hit the button at random intervals. The woman handed me a form to bring back to the fire house. It said, "passed." What the hell? I thought for sure I had failed-I think I only heard the sound once or twice; and those times I thought my ears were just ringing. Great test. It was loads of fun.
I had my Hazmat awareness test tonight...again. Second try is a charm, right? I'm not so sure how I did. There were 57 questions...I finished in 15 minutes. Yeah, so I hope I didn't fail again. I don't think my Chief would be impressed.
I have decided that I will most likely be transferring into the city. They get better calls (and more of them) down there anyways. I am not looking forward to the 65 mile commute, but I guess I have to do what I can until I turn 21. I think the traffic will be less stressful than the situation I am in currently.
I went for my spyrometry (I don't think I spelled that right...) and auditory tests today. The spyrometry was okay. I thought my head was going to pop off by the third go around. I don't know if you've done it before, but they make you take a deep breath and then make you exhale as quickly and much as possible. It made my lungs hurt.
Then I waited about 15 minutes for the auditory exam. This was the best part. I haven't had one since I was in grade school. And when they did it then, you went in a quiet room with practically sound proof headphones on. Those I actually think worked. This time it was a joke. I was in a regular exam room. They gave me crappy headphones; I could hear the traffic outside, the secretary on the phone...it was ridiculous. I just sat there and hit the button at random intervals. The woman handed me a form to bring back to the fire house. It said, "passed." What the hell? I thought for sure I had failed-I think I only heard the sound once or twice; and those times I thought my ears were just ringing. Great test. It was loads of fun.
I had my Hazmat awareness test tonight...again. Second try is a charm, right? I'm not so sure how I did. There were 57 questions...I finished in 15 minutes. Yeah, so I hope I didn't fail again. I don't think my Chief would be impressed.
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