We are not fond of waiting.
Now, think of charged batteries as a full can of your favorite beverage. In this case our can was empty of beverage, squeezed by hand, thrown on the ground, and crushed flat by a truck. These batteries were DEAD. It's going to take some time to rebuild that can before we can refill it. Now what the heck cased this major fiasco?
Reviewing the service records for the day we find that radio maintenance installed a new radio head swivel in the cab. Dead short from new install? Possibly. At three minutes the inside cab lights come on. We're making progress. At six minutes we roll it over and it starts. Recall by command. So, what did we learn?
Trust no one. Do your checks as required. Maybe even start the apparatus just like we exercise the tools. Know your apparatus- even the silly things like where the battery is located. And continue working as a team. None of us will forget this episode for a long time.
OK, so my bad luck string has been extended. MVA with entrapment and we are rolling out the doors before the dispatcher took his finger off the transmit button! We got it knocked. Two cars a couple of good injuries, fire up the Hurst tools (yeah we have two preconnected), door, dash, seat. Record time! In fact I think the firefighter using the tool actually put it down and raised his hands like a cowboy riding a bronco. That's when the engine guys started to reposition their hose line. I sense that this is not necessarily a good thing.
I turn around toward my rescue and see smoke coming form the tool compartment. Not a wisp but a full blown column of smoke. Part of the truck is now out of sight because of the smoke. The officer and a firefighter are already there trying to figure out what is happening. As I am taking in the less than positive drama that is unfolding in front of me I detect some movement out of the corner of my eye. The engine crew is sighting in the compartment and my guys for a super enema. I casually step in front of them and after a brief verbal altercation obtain a consensus that water flowing at 100 PSI would not be the agent of choice for this particular happening. I refuse to use the word emergency because that's more paperwork.
After years of electrically rolling up the Hurst hose the springs that fitted over the end of the hose to avoid a kink had slammed into a plastic relay cover just enough times to finally break it and have the spring metal make electrical contact. Maintenance was summoned repairs were made and other rescues are now getting a quick review of their electrical components and their locations.
I am working hard to figure out if this was actually number two or if I can think of another issue that gets me out of the "you know they come in threes" bonus. Maybe it's time to take some personal days.
OK, so my bad luck string has been extended. MVA with entrapment and we are rolling out the doors before the dispatcher took his finger off the transmit button! We got it knocked. Two cars a couple of good injuries, fire up the Hurst tools (yeah we have two preconnected), door, dash, seat. Record time! In fact I think the firefighter using the tool actually put it down and raised his hands like a cowboy riding a bronco. That's when the engine guys started to reposition their hose line. I sense that this is not necessarily a good thing.
I turn around toward my rescue and see smoke coming form the tool compartment. Not a wisp but a full blown column of smoke. Part of the truck is now out of sight because of the smoke. The officer and a firefighter are already there trying to figure out what is happening. As I am taking in the less than positive drama that is unfolding in front of me I detect some movement out of the corner of my eye. The engine crew is sighting in the compartment and my guys for a super enema. I casually step in front of them and after a brief verbal altercation obtain a consensus that water flowing at 100 PSI would not be the agent of choice for this particular happening. I refuse to use the word emergency because that's more paperwork.
After years of electrically rolling up the Hurst hose the springs that fitted over the end of the hose to avoid a kink had slammed into a plastic relay cover just enough times to finally break it and have the spring metal make electrical contact. Maintenance was summoned repairs were made and other rescues are now getting a quick review of their electrical components and their locations.
I am working hard to figure out if this was actually number two or if I can think of another issue that gets me out of the "you know they come in threes" bonus. Maybe it's time to take some personal days.
No comments:
Post a Comment