If you allow yourself to walk a mile in someone’s shoes, it generally enlightens you with knowledge.
So how do people learn about firefighters and the everyday trials and sometimes misconceptions that exist about the profession? Strap on the gear and train like a firefighter for a day.
A host of politicians, area mayors, councillors and Premier Dwight Ball did that at the Kenmount Station fire training facility of Friday.
“The IAFF has been struggling with how we can get the public and politicians and the media more in touch with what firefighters do,’’ Craig Smith, president, St. John’s Fire Fighters Association, Local 1075 – IAFF said Friday.
“These simulations for the politicians and media we have here today were designed to be consistent with what firefighters do, whether it is here in St. John’s or somewhere around the world,’’ he added.
Smith said consistency is critical to allowing firefighters, no matter where they are housed, to act and think the same when dealing with any first-response situation.
“We (IAFF) are an international organization. The programs that are developed are designed so they can be offered anywhere,’’ Smith said.
“By suiting up these people and letting them see what we do, hopefully they and the public will have a better idea of what firefighters do,’’ he added.
Participants faced four exercises throughout the day including a search and rescue component in a smoke-filled building, confined space with limited vision, an EMS medical where firefighters deal with a simulated overdose scenario and administer CPR and a defibrillator, and extrication exercises from a variety of staged accident scenes.
The participants were also shown a high-angle rescue scenario.
It was certainly eye-opening for the participants, Ball included.
“I certainly got a greater appreciation for what firefighters go through every day,” he said.
“Take the confined spaces exercise. As part of their regular duties, firefighters have to form partnerships and know where everyone is.”
Ball said it was important to appraise the situation in addition to knowing where everyone was in order to determine a plan of action for the scenario they had entered.
He said that was difficult based on the surroundings, a close, confined space, limited vision in a smoky area and the urgency of completing the task quickly in order to limit damage and in many cases save lives.
The premier said he had a bit of trepidation before embarking on his exercise.
“You always have to be worried a bit … because you have never done this before,’’ he said.
“You are wondering, what will I find. But this was well organized. The people here that led us through did a great job and people out there should appreciate what firefighters do every day.”
He said not knowing what you will find or what happens if you don’t execute properly keeps you on your toes. Success depends on everyone on the team, he said, so organization and execution of the plan are critical.
Being able to execute those plans was on display through the four teams of politicians throughout the day. You could see the wheels turning by expressions on some of their faces before and after completing their jobs.
Hanlon said she didn’t know what to expect just before going through the door for her exercises, so nerves were in play.
“I am thinking to myself, ‘oh my God, what am I doing?’’ Hanlon said.
“I have never done anything like this before. It seems so realistic because you can’t see your hand in front of your face,’’ she added.
Working through the scene, stumbling on items like chairs and other furniture and looking for people certainly heightened her anxieties.
“You are reaching around in the dark and then you find the scorched doll. You know it is only a doll, but it was just like you have found a child,’’ she said.
“It certainly puts in perspective what these firefighters face on a daily basis. This was an exercise for us, they do it for real every day.”
