BST Completed

Over the past two days I have done fire fighting and water survival in the ocean. Its been rather exciting and quite challenging. Now I am done with everything, and I passed it all! I got an 85% on my PSSR exam (the first one on ship terms, regulations, and general emergency stuff), 100% on my CPR, AED, and First Aid Exam, I passed the fire fighting exam but I'm not sure what % I got (it wasn't as good as the other exams), and I got 100% on my water safety/survival exam today.

Yesterday we began the fire fighting practical at 7am and ended around 11:30am. I completed the search and rescue task in which we (my partner and I) searched a smoke filled tank with little to no visibility and after finding the victim (165 pound dummy named "Buck") were required to move him and then safely exit the tank, put out two class B fires (one liquid fire, one gas fire), put out a class C (electric fire), and lastly control a class A fire inside a tank. The hardest tasks were the ones that included the SCBA (self contained breathing apparatus), which was the search and rescue task and the last task; controlling the class A fire in the smoke filled tank with little visibility. The SCBA was a little bit too big for my small face, so it had to be tightened quite a bit in order to keep smoke from coming inside the mask through the gaps under my chin. Because it was so tight it ended up putting quite a bit of uncomfortable pressure on my throat. Breathing with the SCBA was very different and difficult to get used to. Its easy to panic and feel as though you are not getting enough oxygen. The SCBA, flash hood, and helmet also made it very difficult to hear directions that were being shouted to me inside of the tank. But over all it was a fantastic and exciting experience. When Rachael and I were inside the tank with the class A fire, the temperature at the top of the room reached 1,000 degrees. It was insane.

Today at 4pm we left for Tyler for our water survival practical and We finished arounf 8pm. We began with a test to see if we could remain afloat (treading water) in water without any floatation device for one minute. This was ridiculously easy. Second, we learned how to don a type 1 PFD (pretty much your classic life jacket) and had to don it correctly in under a minute. Easy. Third, we were tested on our ability to jump ship (or step off a diving board) correctly with a PFD on and swam 6 meters in them. Fourth, we learned how to get into a life raft while wearing a PFD. Not as easy as it sounds. :-P Fifth, we learned how to toss the emergency sea anchor from the life raft. Sixth, we learned how to properly don an immersion suit (enormous red suit showed in the picture) in under two minutes. Donning an immersion suit is not easy. I was wearing the smallest one available, and the suit was beyond way too big for me. But nevertheless, immersion suits are quite incredible. Their bouyancy is fantastic, and the insulation, even better. Very important for survivors. Seventh, we jumped ship in the immersion ship. My chest and head didn't even go into the water after I jumped! My body sprung back up out of the water almost as soon as I hit the water. The suit has to be the most hardcore PFD ever made. Then we practiced huddles and trains, which are excersizes that keep large groups of people stranded in the water together and/or warm. Eighth, we got into the life raft when wearing the immersion suit. Again, kinda difficult. I wish I could describe what wearing the immersion suit was like, but I don't think I can. Lastly, each of us were required to flip over an over turned life raft, which weighs A LOT. You had to climb onto the underside of the life raft (which is of course now exposed, so this isn't that hard), grab the ropes underneath, and pull (fall) using all of your weight. If done correctly, the raft should flip upright on top of you as you fall into the water, which is some what terrifying. But I did it, amazingly! It took me longer than everyone else because I had to try a different method than the others due to my small stature, but I did it.