A long first day of Breathing Apparatus training. Today was mostly theory and endless acronyms which none of us can remember; we have to sit an exam in the morning. Late afternoon was a thrilling session of forced marches round and round the perimeter of Paddy's Flat wearing full kit, masks, tanks, the works, including flash hood balaclava and Level 2 helmet. This was to get us accustomed to being hot, sweaty, claustrophobic and anxiety-stricken prior to tomorrow's Dark Frightening Smoke Filled Room Of Terror exercises.
During our forced march, we were made to take turns carrying the Oxy Viva resus kit, a heavy metal box. The idea was that the person in front carried it for a bit, then handed it back to the next person in line, then it would work its way back up again. Amanda was my team buddy and we were towards the back of the queue on the march, so when it came time for us to carry it, I immediately just handed it back to Bithun and Tyler, then they handed it straight back to me, so I handed it back up the line to Paul and said, "Just pass it on until it reaches the guys at the front, they won't know we haven't been carrying it" so he did and Guy ended up being the bunny while Amanda and I barely carried it at all. This is what we call teamwork and group awareness, the "buddy system" ("if you can get your buddy to do the hard work by cheating, go for it").
Then we watched some reassuring videos showing rooms exploding into flaming infernos without warning, and some charts outlining how horribly you will die as your oxygen supply decreases, followed by dinner at the pub. Was it a deliberate prank on the part of the kitchen staff to serve burnt chicken parmagiana portions?
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