SCBA confidence course

[festavusfortherestof]

That was great guys! Keep training hard!

[calfire1911]

Nice, but Cal Fire has one that is far much more difficult. Ba mask is blacked out and the interior is completely blacked out. Two story building and I sucked down my entire bottle almost. Implement real life scenarios suck as blacking out the ba mask.

[shingleful]

nice set up, glad i did not have to throw it but wish i had the training

[richeykw]

I had to do several courses just like this for Fire Academy in Michigan. Except we did it in the dark...and just to make sure if any light came through....they put wax paper over our masks....it was very difficult....getting tangled in wires, dealing with confined spaces...and collapses on top of you.....it can get very hetic...but you keep cool, and work your way through it....great training tool. good job guys!

[xXBirDEXx125]

im an explorer and i was wondering what the difference in the helmets are, the one i wear looks like th "traditional" (i thinks thats what its called) so then what are these ones?

[TheSlantedFew]

@xXBirDEXx125

I'm also an Explorer, and we have the same helmets their using.

[sorcererx]

Do you have plans to build this prop?

[sorcererx]

Do you have plans to build this prop?

[kb7obm]

@hollywoodridgerunner, i didnt post any comments about 90 degrees, that was a post from heatwave2012. and interior attack is extremely hot, and as a seasoned firefighter i can tell you i have felt heat through my gear and its not fun, 1200 degrees is pushing the threshold of your gear, you best be carefull as gear can only handle extreme temp for a short period of time. training is training for real life senarios!!! stay safe!!

[jrsyff86]

and it showed just that Firefighters learning to be confident in their SCBA as well as confiner spaces....Great post! i love this type of training

[jrsyff86]

i know that blacking out their masks would be ideal but all the firefighters on this page career or volunteer know that some people (including firefighters) are people as well and they might or might not have their own fears to over come such as clastrophobia or thinking that breathing through the mask (with out air) is difficult and are going to kill them. I know some firefighters that had to overcome their fears of heights before they could get on a ladder. this was a SCBA confidence course

[xXBirDEXx125]

0:36, that is a sick pic

[cusano120]

Great video and even better looking course, I'm apart of a 240 class currently i would love a chance to go through this course or any like it, we had a house scheduled for a burn, we did practicals before burning it, we smoked it out and did search and rescue, forcible entry, RIT Team's, radio trafficking and Maydays. This is one thing i wish we had a chance to do... we did have to go through a wall at that house, all in all it was fun, great job and be safe!

Dwayne - 240Hour Fire Trainee

[CorgiRunner]

Would love to go through your course looks sweet, I haven't done any confidence training or mayday training yet.

[GrimeyTube]

we just did ours this past thursday....shit was no joke...and hot as hell! that mask gets super steamy! and the sweat in the eyes is a BITCH!!! and im fat, so getting between the wall beams took some EXTRA effort lol....good shit tho!

[planbkid23]

i always have issues keeping the mask on nice and tight...so usually the air will leak and give me less time to use the scba and i cant always tighten up in in time

[cusano120]

@planbkid23 try using a smaller mask or tightening the straps maybe? or possibly your hair gets under your seal when you put it on

[planbkid23]

@cusano120 nope...i just tighten the straps as much as i can and im usually fine...i used to have a major issue with draining my tank in 10mins but im trained to get out of a situation like that...thanks anyway:)

[cusano120]

@planbkid23 ok kool, just thought i would give u an idea to help

[trentsmillmansion1]

Awesome course....y'all did a great job! Keep up the training! 

[blues207]

I say good job...Not every situation we go into will be a total blackout. We go in with flashlights, ventilation is performed. I think the whole "blackout" train, while important, is at times over preached.

[firefighterscott20]

nice job guys! i read some comment on here, also another good way of training that we do with our scba maze drills is taking your flash over hood and putting it backwards over your face and then put your pack and mask on it works very well. also a good experience is we put a piece of sheet rock at the exit that each pair has to break through in order to get out

[firefighterscott20]

nice job guys! i read some comment on here, also another good way of training that we do with our scba maze drills is taking your flash over hood and putting it backwards over your face and then put your pack and mask on it works very well. also a good experience is we put a piece of sheet rock at the exit that each pair has to break through in order to get out

[NoCoFire]

Nice Job! The important part is that you are training! Keep up the good work!

[instructionalluke]

I like the prop, I can see alot of good training coming from it. Did yall build it yourselves? I would love to have some more detailed pictures of it so that I could construct on of my own. I am always trying to find new and interesting ways to train firefighters.

[instructionalluke]

I really like this prop alot, I see alot of great training coming from it. I would like to see some more pictures of it, if you still have it. Who built the prop for you? If you built it yourselves would by chance would you share the plans. I am always looking for new and better ways to train folks.

[Zachass4795]

When I did something similar to this when I first started in the fire service, I was Blindfolded, Had bags of Absorbant thrown at me, was jumped on by some of the other guys.

[pipeman1822]

@Zachass4795 That's good incase those flying people attack you in a house fire. : /

[Zachass4795]

@pipeman1822 Yeah, gotta watch out for them flying people.

[ilovecopenhagen09]

thats a pretty cool course

[firefighter3198]

i like this alot

[firefighter3198]

i like i but that part where u flip over though the whole up side down looks veery tough but awesome train and wax paper to cover the mask is a great idea

[hollywoodridgerunner]

its not real training there eyes aint covered and that so easy

[kb7obm]

@hollywoodridgerunner wow i have been getting alot of grief about the eye pieces, however i didnt get alot of them pics in this video, we did run some through first without them blacked out as they are rookies and also said possible clastrophobic so we do this both ways and we also do it in the dark and black tool box liners cut to cover the face piece.

[hollywoodridgerunner]

@kb7obm 90 degreses istn anything bud try going into a structure fire thats burning around 1200 degrese but when i got on my deot my first meeting i ever attended to they put me in the smoke stacks which is alot harder than that im not trying to gloat or anything but thats not that bad

[heatwave2012]

@hollywoodridgerunner i agree. he did say they are rookies but no excuse. i am just an explorer and the first time i went through this crap was my second meeting. pitch black. 90 degrees outside. no ac in the building. not on air in much tighter spaces than that. and we had to find a downed man than rig him up so we could pull him out of there with his pack.

[johnguillen68]

great training, blacking them out is the way to go. It changes everything. It gets your other senses working hard. this video had my heart racing, pretending its me going through the maze. Great job..

[50nazowade]

i like it its great but man you cant always rely on blacking out a mask... cause there are other things need be focused on other the being comfortable in one mask. theres a lot of work tha goes into it. just taking away one sence may enhance others but you gotta add in the other effects with rookies. you nee teams going in from every angle radio traffic real or hollywood smoke water flowin vctims entrappd.. you need the whole 10 yards. we tarin the way we fight so that we fight the way we train.

[kb7obm]

@50nazowade thanks for the comments and you are correct we do run them with a tool box foam that is inside the masks and you cant see nothing, no light at all, but when firefighters are rookies and possible clastrophobic we need them to get courage first and build them up it really is smart practice, stay safe!!!

[engine12f]

@kb7obm i agree as a jr volunteer fire fighter i practice by crawling behind my couch very little room so i think ill be fine just as long as my air dosnt cut out again



[heatwave2012]

@50nazowade we usually have a hose that we have to follow and at some points it tangled, we have to untangle it in the dark

[heatwave2012]

my explorer post just did something like this except it was pitch black, and it was like a 3.5x3.5 box tunnel with stair that we had to climb up, our objective was to find a downed firemen by using left/right hand search and listening for his no movement/low psi alarm

[bizzo518]

i apologize i didnt read before...my bad....i do agree about building confidence...At the NYS academy i attended...the went right after guys and weeded people out...i had no prior fire service training...and if i wasnt as calm and level headed as i am...i probably would have freaked out too....it is a scary thing to be BLIND and hav to navigate any mask confidence course...nice vid keep up the good work train hard...and make it home to your fams..god bless!

[bizzo518]

What!!!!!....why arent their eyes COVERED...what good does it do if they can see...WEAK

[kb7obm]

bizzo518, you didnt read any comments on this video before you made your comment. this was a group of rookies and they go through first without black out masks, then we change it up, we have tool box foam that is cut out to completely cover the inside of there face piece. its better to start some firefighter out without so u build their confidence as people tend to get clastrophobic!

[kb7obm]

bizzo, this course was used for rookies during this training in the video, we let them go through without if they prefer first, then we do black them out, and we change the course up a bit and we entrap, entagle and such, but its better to build confidence, especially when some new firefighters tend to be clastrophobic in the airpack! if you read some of the comments you would see i have commented on that before.

[lolavon]

@bizzo518 we got to do this the other day in a young firefighters association thing and we were blind folded + we had to rescue a casualty (btw im from the UK)

[hhsmccolloughj]

i hate using MSA's my department uses survive air. good thing about MSA is they dont pop off as easy.

[junkforever]

NORTH DAKOTA FOR THE WIN!!!!!

[thorny82much]

great training exercises, looks like they were doin a great job using their tools to pull through the maze! great job guys, hard work pays off

[attnondeck]

you are absolutly correct when you say its not just physical its mental! I just took the class and we used an awesome maze! i got to a dead end and couldnt find the exit. i started to get very mad because i couldnt figure it out. sometimes you have to just stop and think.

[iJimUnderwood]

i like that course, but it seems a little simple since you can see what youre doing. With ours we use wax paper in the mask which isnt 100% blinding, but might as well be. and follow the search rope or hose but still a cool course

[kb7obm]

jim, this course is more for basics, we let the more inexperienced firefighters go through without bein blacked out if they feel more comfortable, and we have blackout pieces we add later, or if they feel comfortable, its better to build them up then push past their comfort level and have them always fearfull

[bushybeaver69]

do you have the specs for the test? how did you build it? i would like to do something like this with my department

[hajakahajaka]

you should check out the confidence course in singapore, a big room with longer maze, no light and with smoke release. We alway finish a 5 station test and do the maze, only to pass if cleared all station and with air remaining in BA set

[sledneckzl600]

portland maine?

[kb7obm]

Portland North Dakota

[sledneckzl600]

o ok thanks JW im going to college in portland for fire science

[CUMMINSMAN59]

what song is this?

[kb7obm]

i cant remember, i had to do an audio swap and i dont recall what it was. i will try to find it on the site if i can remember.

[kb7obm]

ok i found it, the song is Falling down, by Breaking point.

[CUMMINSMAN59]

thank you

[reef9932]

Nice one, i see you guys over the pond go down head first into the small hole. Is that the norm, or was it just for that training rig?

[kb7obm]

they go through the course both ways, and we practice with them having to take there packs of in some situations without compromising the facemask.

[kb7obm]

oh forgot to add that no matter what direction they go they are taught to always sound the floor beneath them before descending. and as they go through the course.

[reef9932]

I see, over in the UK, well London, they all ways teach to go down feet first. Keep up the good work guys.

[attnondeck]

they teach the opposite here. if you go feet first you're going to get turned around alot and be going through the maze backwards! not easy... expecially the up hill slippery parts!

[reef9932]

How come the lights were on, would of maid it a bit more sporting with the lights off!?!?

[kb7obm]

we do alot of training with them blacked out and yes some of the pics the guys didnt go through with there facemasks blacked but they did the second round.

and we do it with the lights out too.

[Firefighter2897]

I hope my dept will do somthing like this.

[chopmop08]

portland pussies here in illinois we do this practical blindfolded... good shit though..

[kb7obm]

some go through without the facemasked darked out but we do send them through later totaly dark and we change it up. its just a comfort thing for some firstimers

[maxsta63]

Are those RIT bottles? they look a little big for the standard 30 miniuters

[kb7obm]

which bottles? we have 3 different types of packs in the video. we have msa's and had isi's but we no longer have them, went to high pressure 4500 so they bottles are about the same size, they are composites but they are 30 min bottles.

[maxsta63]

oh ok. we have smaller 4500 psi ISI bottles that are standard 30 mins

[kb7obm]

yah i no we thought new packs where goin to be smaller but they arent much smaller than old ones and packs are heavy still as well.

[AFDfirefighter13]

When we did this, we had to navigate through, than when we got done with that, we had to go into another room that was lights out, along with being blacked out, and look for a victim (role player of course :P) than once we found them, drag them back out :P

[AFDfirefighter13]

Very nice, Im in Abercrombie Vol. Fire and Rescue in Abercrombie, ND. I remember doing something like this my first day on the department

[kb7obm]

thanx for the comments. I hope to get another vid of the mayday and confidence course as we have alot of updates since this vid was put together. did u guys attend the parade in casselton? Stay safe, Everyone goes home!!!!

[AFDfirefighter13]

Aber did attend, I wasnt there personally but some of my trucks were there. Im not old enough to drive the trucks yet (policy says I have to be 18 before I can drive them and Im 17 at the moment :P). But I heard it was a great turn out, were you guys there?

[ridefsx]

that course lools pretty cool all its missing is wires! and the tunnel at 2:32 looks pretty sick. Ive never seen that one done. great ideas. good job. and kb7obm its good practice to have all personal do the scba mazes blacked out. no one is exampted during a real emergancy. rookies or senior personal just my view on that

[kb7obm]

yah, the tunnel is what scares them the most, but its mainly mental, and yes we run them blacked out usually from the start, however some people are really clastrophobic so its better to not send them into complete panic in training, we build there confidence with making it more difficult, like taking there packs off without facepiece compromises to get through some really tight spots. thanx for the comments

[SmallTownFireGirl411]

I've totally done this at the college and omg it is a mental thing to lol because i was saying there no fuckin way im breachin that wall look at me and look at that lol its tiny i huge! lol but i just believed i could do it and i fuckin slid through like butter lmao .. it was so cool though after i was thnkin i can do it lol :)

[swatson1190]

We send them in blacked out to start with because in the real thing you don't know what will be in the dark.

[kb7obm]

ok like ive said before, only the rookie and the people who dont like the tight spaces go through this course first with the black outs in their scba's then they do it with them. some guys are blacked out the first time in this video but some pics dont show this.

[poelingoer]

thanks for posting this mate. i got all this to look forward to in november

[hunterpardue]

Do it blind folded !!!

[kb7obm]

there are some guys in the video with blackouts in there scba's. just the rookies and the really claustrophobia guys go through it first without the blindfolds. we also run this course at night in the dark.

[handboox]

I am in training and love doing this kind of stuff. Our entanglement course has stuff hanging from the ceiling, and we go in blacked out the first time. Seems to easy to not do it blacked out. One of the neighboring departments has a course through their burn tower, and it was an amazing course. A lot of people have problems with the claustrophobia though. Especially blacked out.

[kb7obm]

yah this training is crucial for firefighters, keeping fresh in this training is important no matter a rookie or a veteran. the rookies seem to have issues with the claustrophobia and not being able to see, but this is training and it could be alot worse in a real situation. stay safe and train to live!!!

[ishtech101]

Strongly agree on the claustrophobia, my first time I thought I was gonna be all bad ass and show everyone how its done, LOL, we had our masks in complete blackout and when my tank got snared I freaked the fuck out, trying to get loose and had no idea what the hell is holding me.

[CCFRPUMPER111]

Nice... u have NSA SCBA's? We use Scott... but nice course... we had to do ours regular then blacked out... whether u felt comfortable or not...

[kb7obm]

we had ISI and then we had some newer MSA's during the time of the video, we have now upgraded to all MSA's and they are all 4500psi, so they are given us alot more air time.

[kb7obm]

yah we have them run it without being blacked out if they feel comfortable then we send them blacked out.

[badaxe48]

My department makes us do it blacked out!!!

[whatfield2232]

I know that shit aint easy, when my dept had our confidence course we had a guy freeze up when he went thru the barrel cause of clostaphobia. IT AINT EASY PPL. lol

[Countryfa15]

KCFD has a fun course...awesome

[Waterboy3399]

Great course, I just went through our Academy and got 5 weeks from graduation because I couldn't get past the anxiety of doing this. I've been invited back if couseling can get me past this. It weird I have no problems when I can see but blackedout, different story! Great Job, God Bless and be safe!

[kb7obm]

did a audio swap with music that you tube has available so now its not in copyrights.

[helipilot099]

what is the name of the new song?

[kb7obm]

Sorry had to remove the audio, Copyrights flagged it and so i removed audio. Sucks but laws are laws. seems so trivial when its only for a non paid nothing gained but i suppose the artists want money to have there sounds with our asses.

[TakenByARockStar]

I had to do the SCBA Maze in my academy in the dark. We had to take our SCBA's off and push them through while still breathing air then strap them back on. It was rough but so much fun.

[sniperben12]

ive done that in the dark

[nyff320]

That is not 1/10 as bad as the Mask confidence that FDNY probie school does in WEEK 3. Blacked out, all emergency procedures need to be preformed with instructors SCREAMING at you to make the environment as stressful as possible.

[groverredneck111]

just got done with my class today, same class. how long did yours take? ours was 2 days, tuesday night and today.

[brewfighter]

Great training guys. Stay safe.

[pipersmitty87]

black out the masks....

[kb7obm]

we do, some people are not quite ready to go through at first with them blacked out, so we let them go unmasked and then we send them with it blacked out

[twizzted69]

lol hell ya mental i freaked out and got pissed the first time

[kb7obm]

next training we have in scba course will have to get pics of the them taking off the packs and the other stuff we put them through, tangling, pinning, trapping etc.

[agentuna]

cool....now try it in the dark with rope, webbing, and hose strung a crossed every where. With strobes and noise going off. Welcome to my confine space training.

[mjc11788]

We've been going over Low profile and full escapes from our SCBA. Would have loved to see them do it in this maze. Those studs are a lot harder then they make it look though.

[kb7obm]

just because its not in the video doesnt mean that they didnt have to take off there packs, there is spots that the packs have to come off! and taking off the pack while keeping facemask intergrity is part of our training.

[eirechris]

Nice course, but where's the low/negative profile problems. You won't always have room to keep the SCBA bottle on your back.

[Nickpec10]

iv done a type of this but no scba i did it a MFRI maryland fire and rescue institute its realy intresting but i wanna try it with scba

[juznordinarykid]

Awesome Video! We are going through this class right now. Scba using and confidence training including mayday procedures as well.

[bigluke93]

yeah scba was easy until the blackout mask!!! especially when you have the guys throwing heavy shitt on your back and changing the obstacle every 10seconds its not easy takes hardwork and dedication

[noer1996]

lol im going to become a fireman next week

[kb7obm]

we send them through with blindfold after they are comfortable in the packs and course

[Sarifan]

This reminds me a lot of my department's maze, but we had to do it blindfolded. We have less obstacles though.

[youtfireman91]

whats the name of the song?

[kylebower224]

crawling by linkin park

[dvwart]

Awsome! low cost, effective, great learning experince! Well done.

Do you have plans you are willing to share on how you made this up??

[hunterboy46]

how did you make that? do u have blue prints for it or a set of plans? if so could you send them to me

[k9ffmike]

Great job! Keep up the quality training

Stay Safe

[munkeyonfire]

That was an amazing course that you had to go through. Looks confusing as hell but probably worth it in the end or I would hope so.

[xReVinEvo8x]

Great work guys. Glad to see a dept. with training like this. Stay safe out there.