Tuesday, December 16, 2008

FEMA USAR Structural Collapse Class

Trailer on Site
Shoring Class - Raker Shore
Certification stickers on a helmet
Air Bag lifting to pop the water balloon.
Raise the offset unbalanced irregular concrete up and pop the water balloon.


Raise the 4x8 slab, build a bridge, and trundle "Big Mo" over the obstacle under the slab.

"A-Frame" for lifting "Big Mo" over a Stokes basket without spilling a cup of water.

3600 lb. " Big Mo" is almost home on the O Course.


Chip hammer in action after drilling overhead exposing the rebar in a confined space.


Cutting Rebar overhead in a confined space after a dirty breach.


After two days in the rain and numerous concrete breaches -The gear is filthy.


Breaching the wall we found a Telephone pole in the middle of the vault


Cutting our way through


Entrance to team 2's Search area after the 3500 lb. block was removed and entry was made


Inside the vault showing Breaches that we completed to get to the victim


The Collapsed Structure for the final Exercise


Recovering a victim from a confined space

The Pink Blocks are our 6 Victims that we located and recovered.

The North Carolina Department of Insurance - OSFM offers many Fire and Rescue Certifications. In addition to the Rescue Technician VMR, there are several Rescue Specialties including: Rope Specialty (Chapter 6), Trench Specialty (Chapter 11), Surface Water Rescue(Chapter 7), Confined Space (Chapter 9), and Structural Collapse (Chapter 10). Check this link for a listing of the hours required for each.
RESCUE TECHNICIAN SPECIALTY CLASSES

Landis Fire Training Captain David Barlow just completed the
97 hour FEMA USAR Structural Collapse Class that satisfies the NC Structural Collapse Specialty requirements. There were 12 students in the class and it was held at Cleveland County Community College. The Cleveland Volunteer Fire Department in Shelby assisted Captain Barlow by providing a place to stay during the 9 day class.

The class was instructed by Battalion Chief Kevin Gordon of the Charlotte Fire Academy, Captain Brent Gordon CFD Truck 13 Haz Mat, Captain Tom Billig CFD Rescue 3, Captain Ken Hogue Engine 5 CFD, Jodie Blanton of the Gastonia Fire Department, Battalion Chief Barry Wilson of the Gastonia Fire Department. They were also assisted by a Captain from CFD on Rescue 10. This class was one of the more "Hard Core" Rescue Classes experienced during Captain Barlow's 31 year fire service career. The other students in the class were all members of the Gaston County EMS S.T.A.R. Team


The FEMA USAR Structural Collapse Manual and FOG Manual were used along with the USAR Shoring Guide.

FEMA USAR Pages are a wonderful resource for this type of Rescue.

DISASTERENGINEER.ORG has a complete selection of manuals for use with Structural Collapse including the FOG Manual, Shoring Guide, HERS Manuals for download in their Library.

RESCUEDIRECT.COM For purchasing Hard Copies of the Army Corps of Engineers Field Operations Guide (FOG Manual) and the Shoring Manual.

Captain Barlow was selected by the instructors to have his name sent in to NASA for the Annual DART Class. Since 1992, NASA Ames Research Center has offered a six-day 60+ hour collapsed structure rescue class at the Ames Research Center in California. This annual class is sponsored by Ames Research Center's Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) and is designed for firefighters and Urban Search And Rescue specialists. Annually there are only 24 students in the nation that attend this class in California. One of the Instructors - Tom Billig from the class is one of the NASA DART Instructors. Check out their website to find out more.
NASA DART STRUCTURAL COLLAPSE CLASS

WHAT'S IN YOUR POCKET? 6 Tools in One


While visiting in a Fire Station last week in Cleveland County, I saw a new Tool offered for sale that is made by CHANNELLOCK. This is the new CHANNELLOCK 6 in 1 Rescue Tool. The website that announces this new tool is www.therescuetool.com There is a pretty good short video that describes all of its features.

This looks to be a pretty good item to carry in your pocket as a Firefighter or Rescue Technician. This tool, a Knife, some webbing, a short section of Rope, and a battery wrench would be a pretty good compliment to almost anyones gear.

Looking online, the price seems to vary a bit. I have seen it as high as $65 and as low as $40 plus shipping. If you have someone in your department that runs a Hardware store or is in the tool business, you might find that you can get one for around $36 dollars.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

NCDOI Certification Classes and Hours


NC SOCIETY OF FIRE RESCUE INSTRUCTORS
Linked below are the Fire & Rescue Certification Classes offered by the State of North Carolina. North Carolina has more certifications than most states. North Carolina is a member of the IFSAC ACCREDITATION CONGRESS. The International Fire Service Accreditation Congress currently has 32 Member States. States using IFSAC allow Reciprocity with other member states. This means that if your certification is current in NC - you can file for it to be good in another member state if you relocate. The other accreditation agency in use in the US is PROBOARD.

NC Certifications class hours and FIP Numbers (Course Numbers) are listed on this document.
FIREFIGHTER I&II, HAZ MAT, DRIVER OPERATOR, EVD, PUMP OPERATIONS, AERIAL OPERATIONS, FIRE LIFE SAFETY EDUCATOR, RESCUE TECHNICIAN, ROPES TECHNICIAN, TRENCH TECHNICIAN, STRUCTURAL COLLAPSE TECHNICIAN, CONFINED SPACE TECHNICIAN, SURFACE WATER TECHNICIAN

RESCUE TECHNICIAN CROSSOVER LISTING

Other certifications and Special Schools can be found on the
NCDOI Website
. Examples are:

FIRE RESCUE INSTRUCTOR
FIRE OFFICER I,II,III
HIGH ANGLE RESCUE SCHOOL Levels I,II,III,IV
GRADUATE MOUNTAIN RESCUE SCHOOL
NORTH CAROLINA BREATHING EQUIPMENT SCHOOL
LP GAS QUALIFICATION COURSE
LIVE FIRE QUALIFICATION COURSE
UNIFIED COMMAND AND CONTROL COURSE

Keep working toward certification in as many areas as possible. In this day and time Fire Rescue personnel can not be over qualified. Remember, our career and avocation is a never ending continuum of learning - and you will never know it all.

"Beware of those who don't think they need to train!"
"Failure to prepare is preparing to fail."