First Things First

I figured my first post (after the intro of course) should be something about one of the first things you should be doing when you show up to your station.  I had to think back a long time to my first day, it seems like it was only months ago.  Maybe that's because it was.  I had been assigned to one of the busiest trucks in the city, which I found out very quickly.  I had been on shift for maybe five minutes when we got our first call.  As the truck raced to the scene, I realized I didn't know where anything on the truck was.  Luckily for me the call turned out to be nothing, but you can bet your ass I was going over every inch of that truck when we got back.

That's exactly what every rookie should be doing.  Its one of the most basic parts of the job.  Every fire truck is basically a big tool box on wheels.  Whether you ride an engine, tower, rescue, squad, or whatever else your department has, they are all big tool boxes.  It doesn't matter how proficient you are with those tools, if you can't find them, you can't use them.  Not to mention our jobs rely heavily on time and speed, the longer it takes to get equipment, the longer that fire has to grow, or the more time the condition of a critical injust has to worsen.

So how do you learn your truck?  It seems like common sense and it really probably is but I'm going to give you some pointers anyhow:

1.  Inventory  Get a notebook and write down everything that is in each compartment.  For one, your getting the visual of where everything is and writing it down reinforces what you are seeing.

2. Hands On  Take the equipment out of the truck and get your hands on it.  Get a feel for that halligan bar, or get comfortable with starting the fans and saws.  If you don't know how to work something get someone to show you.  Make sure you put everything back how it was when you are done.

3. Get Tested  Have someone quiz you on things.  They can ask for equipment and you can see how fast you can get it to them.  Most guys on your crew should be more than happy to do this with you.  The better you can do your job the better the crew will function on the fire ground.

4.  Learn Other Trucks  If your station has more than one truck get your butt to the other trucks and do the same for them.  You never know, maybe one day you'll have to ride with them.  Most likely you'll be working fire grounds together and you may have to get equipment off of them as well.

5.  Continuing Ed  Chances are, once you learn your truck and start running calls you'll know where most things are.  Don't forget to occasionally go over the truck, it'll help you remember the tools you have that you don't use as often.  This is especially true if #4 applies to you.  You won't be on those other trucks as much so it'll take a little more effort to know their ins and outs.

Thats all for today... remember you have the best job in the world.  Stay safe!