Nursing the Trucks

Up until a few months ago we had training once a month, on the third Thursday. And we still do.

Our second Thursday training session was suggested a few months ago by Mike as a supplemental training session, and what a good idea that has turned out to be. We really need more than once a month of training, and the trucks and equipment need attention more than once a month.

So last Thursday we did nursing, and the attendance was very good, along with Scott who attended for the first time.

There are situations where you need a water-filled truck to hook up with another firetruck to supply water to it, and that was what we figured out how to do. Watching the several wizards work to hook everything together is a lot of fun, but the first trial hooking a 2.5" hose between trucks and attempting to actively pump from one to the other didn't work so well.

So the wizards thought about it and tried again. This time it was a 6" hose, and they let the second truck pull water through the hose as needed, and that worked very well indeed. I admit I'm not completely certain I could reproduce what they figured out but that's why they're the wizards and I'm not - I do understand the essentials though, which is - just tell me what to do.

Training isn't always cut and dried - maybe it's never cut and dried. It's someone noticing that we REALLY need to figure out how to do something that might arise, and then just doing it. Sometimes it's just a thought and other times it comes about because of a previous call where it became obvious we needed to know how. With the watermaster, learning how to use it most effectively has become more and more a part of training, and that's the way it should be.

And then we did the chores, which was to make sure the tanker was filled with water before we left for the evening. A good hot time was had by all.

Tomorrow is our next training session. You should be there.

-- Wayne