Innovation

In this 1-2 day Train Your Replacement facilitated conversation we bring experience and education, then let you set the direction for how to pass the baton.

The scenario is a husband and wife are snaking the basement floor drain and the husband sticks his arm down the drain hole to clear some debris when the wife turns the snake on. The husband becomes entrapped in the snake and the drain. So we have to cut the concrete to get the pipe out... then dissect the pipe... then cut his finger out of the auger.

This is a pretty compact jig for cutting wedges on the scene or at the firehouse. Several pictures, a video, and the drawing for this jig are below.

Unfortunately, the young lad won't be going to the regional qualifier because other students presenting on basket weaving and the aerodynamics of horseshoes were selected instead.

My frustration was building after trying various sized screwdrivers and not having a screw out tool handy.

Ryan Houghtlen has been working on putting together a few more Quick Sh!t sheets. He is making it pretty easy to add them to the blog with little editing. Be sure to check out the Quick Sh!t Page regularly to see the library grow.

We had the opportunity to break the new sleeves in by lifting and moving some 3,500 pound concrete blocks. This will be the first of a couple posts showing their use and challenges.

One of the greatest keys to forcible entry is practice and repetition. We had a great training tonight with the members of the Berlin Township (OH) FD with my homemade prop that is nearing 800 forces. This prop has been key to teaching forcible entry techniques over and over, especially on commercial doors.

After using it on several jobs, they say it seems to be providing a very adequate grip and the surface isn't breaking down. The plan is to lengthen the grip surface with addition holes.