New Baton Material

For the past several years we’ve been using PVC pipe with caps and a radiator hose clamp for the baton. After a visit to Trusty Cook’s factory, (described in an earlier Blog) a better solution emerged: Polyurethane. This is the same material that is used to make the dead-blow shot mallets. Unlike PVC, it will not break when dropped. Plus, the color runs through the entire thickness so they require no maintenance. They are virtually indestructible.

The prototypes were used at the FDIC event and several suggestions were made for improvement and incorporated into the current design. With a square design, the radiator hose clamp is removed. This is good because the stainless steel tail was sharp and could cut the ungloved hand or turnout coats. The square design will not roll. The overall length is the same ≈12” (30cm). The weight is 9 ounces.

When we see an opportunity to improve the Firefighter Combat Challenge, we do so, especially when there are no negatives and only improvements in safety. It would be foolish to wait until next year when the clear benefits to everyone could be made immediately.

We are ordering up a supply and will sell these for $20 in the store as soon as they are made available.

Don’t Leave Home Without It

Advocates for increasing bicycle use in metropolitan areas resist the notion that helmets are an essential part of the riding ensemble. Meaning, that if we tell people that they must have a helmet (which is a law here in Montgomery County, MD) then that infers that cycling is dangerous.

The helmet was broken in four places- exactly what it’s supposed to do

I have intimate and personal knowledge of the effects of collisions with both concrete and asphalt. This weekend marked the third helmet that was totaled from a crash. One was a top of the line Bell Star, full coverage motorcycle helmet. The point of impact was the back of the helmet, thereby marking the end of my illustrious career as a cross-country motorcycle rider.

Bicycles have considerably less velocity. But, a crash can still kill. Late Saturday afternoon, I was only about 1.5 miles from home when the front tire fell into an unseen groove. In less than a second at ≈20 mph, I was on the ground. The photos tell the rest of the story. Fractured ribs and clavicle will take about 6 to 8 weeks to mend.

I hate to think what might have been the outcome without the Specialized helmet. I don’t know what your protocol is for blunt force trauma, but ice packs are probably the most effect immediate treatment.

Another view of one of the major cracks of the Specialized helmet

My son commented that I now look like a cage fighter- or perhaps I went a few rounds with Mike Tyson

The displaced clavicle is pretty evident; hurts the most, but heals the fastest

Visit to Trusty-Cook

I thought it would be interesting to visit the factory where our steel shot, dead blow hammers were fabricated. And since they’re conveniently located here in Indianapolis, I reached out to Joel Trusty for a visit to his plant. The photos below provide you with a perspective on the process.

The “Skeleton” of the hammer consists of the handle and the head; the handle is welded to the head. Note the steel shot in the bin. This is what makes the dead blow hammer so effect- much more so than your typical hammer.

After a freeze plug is affixed on one end of the container, the steel is added. The steel material is recovered from blasting, such as in nautical applications. Then, the other freeze plug is added and the contents are “capped.”

Joel Trusty is holding the framework for the hammer model that we use for the Firefighter Combat Challenge before it’s put into the injection mould. The hammer works best at room temperature- not in freezing conditions. Also, as in our setting, rotating the hammers adds a lot of life, because heat causes the hammers to change shape. 

This is one of the moulds for the short hammer, a perfect solution for stubborn gate valves or steamer connections on an engine. A much better solution than a bowling pin- if you can believe that. 

Now, the skeleton, first seen above is placed in the mould. The pins hold the frame in perfect alignment.

The frame of the hammer is held precisely in place with the positioning pins before the lid is affixed.

The mould is now ready for injection of urethane. The hammers can be made in a variety of colors. 

This is the vat of liquid red urethane. The injection process can produce bubbles. These simply cosmetic and have nothing to do with function. 

The pump injects the plastic into the mould, hence the term ”injection moulding.”

After curing with infra-red light, the hammers are ready to be trimmed and labeled. 

Hammers of all sizes and weights are fabricated daily and shipped to dealers and distributors around the world. One overlooked application is the 14 pound sledge, the perfect tool for forcible entry. One sack and you’re in! We’re picking up the line for use on engine and truck companies. The hammer will be on display at our store and on our website. 

Alaska Shield 14

Fifty years ago, on March 27, the second most devastating recorded earthquake took place in Alaska. In four and a half minutes of shaking, the landscape changed forever. A Tsunami of 40 feet would follow and the shock waves were felt as far South as San Francisco. 

As a college freshman, I remember well looking with dismay at the photos in Life Magazine. The enormity of this catastrophe is difficult to wrap your head around. The relatively small numbers of deaths is largely attributable to the fact that Alaska was so lightly populated. The magnitude of the shaker (9.2) and the fact that this fault line is still very much active attests to the fact that another earthquake is only a matter of when. The Anchorage Museum’s display with film and photos was impressive as were the live testimonials of survivors. 

Subsequently, a massive disaster preparedness drill entitled Alaska Shield 14 kicked off this week in Anchorage and other cities, and will continue through till next Friday. I was an invited member of the Harvard Medical School’s Disaster Medicine Fellowship team with a role of observing and providing comments whereby an evaluation of the hard spots and lessons learned might find their way into future protocols.

Captain Tom Oxnam, Anchorage Fire and Paul Davis at Alaska Shield 14

The enormity of the drill is difficult to absorb since parallel activities are presently taking place across this vast state. Documenting the drills of the last two days are photos below with some captions. Some of the public safety and military organizations include the California FEMA Urban Search & Rescue (USAR) Teams, the Alaska National Guard, the Alaska Militia, the Air National Guard (Hawaii and Oregon), the Oregon National Guard, the Anchorage Urban Search and Rescue Team, scores of civilian role players (who responded to ads in Craigslist), the AFD’s HazMat team as well as members of FEMA. 

The Washington National Guard, originally scheduled to participate in the drill were dispatched to the mudslide. As in life, contingency plans had to be made and the Oregon Guard was dispatched.  

I was honored to have Tom Oxnam, senior captain of the AFD as my liaison with the department and gain access to the simulation site. The AFD has what is typically referred to as “The Rubble Pile” of broken pieces and parts of junk, much as one might expect to see in an urban collapse. Their training academy encompasses well over 10 acres of property adjacent to the Municipal Airport.

Alaska National Guard members participating in Alaska Shield 14

All of the equipment needed to create a field hospital is palletized and moved to the Alaska State Fair grounds from the joint Army-Air Force base.

The Command and Control Operations Center at the AFD Fire Academy

The Exhibit Pavilion at the Alaska Fair Grounds was used as medical management center. Assets provided by the Guard. The photo shot above shows some of the transport assets of the Alaska Army National Guard, staged at Palmer, about 30 miles north of Anchorage. Note the exquisite scenery in the background. 

Samaritan's Purse,  a NGO provided a working MASH unit

In the surgical suite of the MASH unit is Dr. Lance Plyler (R) is Samaritan's Purse's Emergency Medical Response Advisor. Also pictured is one of the Harvard Fellows, Dr.

Back at the AFD Training Academy, our "Role Players" and their inanimate associates (aka Rescue Randy®) are staged to triage and transport. The boxes are not coffins, but are the shipping containers for the mannequins.  

Looking like the cast of the Walking Dead, this assemblage of Role Players responded to ads on Craigslist. 

The most important part of disaster response starts with communications; without which, nothing will happen. This is one of FEMA's assets, a satellite down-link. 

The Oregon National Guard had an amazing array of equipment, brought in via C-135, C-17 and C-5 aircraft

Members of the Air Guard, in full MOPP (Mission-Oriented Protective Posture- i.e., hazmat protection) suits remove a "victim" from "The Pile" 

Hard to believe the role that computers play in all emergency and public safety operations. The large bay of the AFD's Academy was ideally suited for the command post. 

Internet Overload

If you’re like me, you find the volume of information on the Internet to be overwhelming. I probably get about 100 emails per day that get through the spam filter. And, they in turn, generate a lot of interesting links that I’d like to pursue. But, alas, there’s work to be done. Like keeping fresh content on this BlogSpot.

So, shorter is probably better than longer. Which is my point. I try to generate about 36 posting of what’s happening at Challenge Central each year. So, in a nutshell, this is the direction that I see things going...

We did Las Vegas for WCXXII. TV on CBS Sports. Challenge Invitational at the Cotton Bowl and an opening for the Daytona 500. And more to come. Like the FDIC next month. My point is that we’re moving on up. And to respond to these kinds of invitations takes us outside of the historic spring/summer/fall paradigm. I mean, would we turn down an invitation to do an event at the Super Bowl because it’s in February? I think not. I’m just sayin’.

This is one of the best places to checkout what’s happening and on the horizon. We want to be in front of more people. As the ad hoc, international traveling ambassadors of the collective North American Fire Service, we believe that we fulfill a vital role for our stakeholders. So, when we have exciting things to tell you about, we will start sending you short HTML blasts to your email address of record. That will save you the trouble of having to keep checking in. Stay tuned.

The Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge: More than just entertainment

I asked Chief Bill Sturgeon if he would provide a first person account of his participation in the Challenge at the Daytona 500 last Saturday. We constantly remark that the Challenge is a competition with a purpose. I believe Chief Sturgeon’s comments validate our claim. This is the first of several postings from the first event of the 2014 season.

Several of you witnessed a personal and professional accomplishment Saturday February 22, 2014,  when I completed my first Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge in the over 50 division with a time of 6:19. For my first event, it was just about finishing. While I missed the 6:00 minute mark by 19 seconds, I was elated (and a little oxygen deprived) when the Pit Crew began to helped me doff my gear.  I have been a career firefighter since 1982 when I entered the United States Air Force as a firefighter. 

I remained on active duty for several years before I transferred to the USAF Reserves. After leaving the Air Force I was hired by the City of Deland as a Firefighter and completed my first physically demanding firefighting course in 1985, Smoke Divers at the Florida State Fire College in Ocala. I also attended paramedic school during my tenure with Deland and then left that agency to become a firefighter/paramedic with Orange County Fire Rescue. 

During my 24 year career with Orange County, I rose through the ranks and became the Division Chief of Training.  During my employment as a firefighter, I never really paid much attention to my wellness and fitness (until recently) and I ballooned to a weight of 302 pounds. I felt unhealthy and very unfit….. In 2013,  I was appointed to the Fire Chief’s position at the City of St. Cloud and I have spent the last several months preaching “leadership by example.” What I quickly learned is that being a fire chief is a tough an stressful job and I knew I had to do something to change my paradigm related to stress and fitness. Enter Patrick Hogan; my personal trainer who four years ago weighed over 350 pounds himself. Right away, we bonded and began a strengthening and fitness regimen.  He told me I had to have a goal, I chose the Firefighter Combat Challenge as my goal to improve my fitness level. I now weigh 270 lbs and have lost three pants sizes since September of 2013.

On the day of the challenge, I brought my own support team (wife Linda, my Trainer Patrick, and his wife Christie). I do not know who was more nervous, me our my crew?  I drew the number “6” and had to run (ok… walk) the heat by myself. I was in the ready position and ran through my strategy in my mind one more time (take three deep breaths on each landing and prior to each station) As I climbed the tower I felt pretty good (but my vibralert was sounding [I quickly checked my air and it was good]), I reached the top and began the hose hoist and realized that I had underestimated the difficulty of this event, but I completed it and even managed to chase the hose down the stairs when I missed the “box.” 

I chuckled, put the hose in the box and proceeded down the stairs (touching everyone as required). I arrived at the sled (my favorite event) and proceeded to move the block in the proper direction until the buzzer sounded. I then proceeded through the obstacle course and picked up the charge 1 ¾ hose line and advanced it towards the target. I can remember one of the staff members telling me I am going to feel a tug, I do not remember the tug because being a big man in motion has its advantages. I knocked down the target and proceeded to the “longest 100 feet in the fire service.” I picked up a very stiff 175 lb dummy and rested him on my wrist and that lasted for about 25 feet and then I dropped him. 

Now, I am starting to get foggy and could here staff members and the crowd yelling “come on chief you can do it!” That inspired me to go another 40 feet, then I dropped the dummy again and the next thing I know Grand National Champion Louis Boiteau is in my face saying “come on chief, 30 seconds, you got this.” I grabbed the dummy and stumbled across the finish line….. mission accomplished. However, the highlight of my day was on the shuttle on my way back to the parking area when a fellow firefighter looked at me and said “Hey chief, you gained the respect of a lot of firefighters today.” Thank you brother !!! That meant a lot!

My after action review:

1.      Train beyond what is required of you in the challenge.

2.      Legs, legs, legs

3.      More aerobic capacity development

4.      Have a peaceful mind during the Challenge

5.      Have a strategy to complete the course

6.      Practice with a 175 lb dummy (Louis told me to practice dragging the dummy 150 feet)

7.      Be prepared for anything-make sure your air is all the way on…..rookie mistake

8.      Practice your technique for the sled. Hands together.

9.      Set a goal and work towards it….

Chief Bill Sturgeon

City of St. Cloud, Florida

Daytona 500

Daytona Speedway, February 23 & 24, 2014

Over 450,000 people will attend Speed Week at Daytona this year. We’ll be the pre-race show on both Saturday and Sunday. Once again, we have a fantastic opportunity to increase the public’s awareness of the skills, dedication and prowess of our Nation’s first responders.

We have made every effort to ease the logistics of attending this event. And, while we recognize that this event takes place well before our traditional kick-off, over 100 of you responded positively you would be interested in attending this event. The added sweetener of a free $110 ticket to the race was intended to reward you for coming out of hibernation.

Parking is available for a limited number of cars and a cursory search of lodging has found accommodations within the range of normal, assuming that you were out about 20 miles from the race course.

I am guardedly optimistic that our response to this auspicious occasion will provide our sponsors with the needed “umph” to show that we have an event worth watching by the masses.

Call if you have any questions you needed answered. We’re here to help.