Swift Water Rescue

In the middle of April, 4 guys from the station took a weekend course in Swift Water Rescue Training. They had classtime all weekend, but spent a good portion of the weekend days in the warer. The first day they were in the river that goes through downtown Tilton. The river was still flooded a little from the recent rains and snow meltings. Since the river had so much extra water coming through, it was going pretty fast. It was quite chilly and rainy that day too, so it made for a great training session.

Here are two of our guys in the water. One is the victim while the other has to fight the current to swim to the banks of the river. I was so cold just watching them!

Throwing out the rope bags to people in the river. The trees made it a little hard to always get it to them.

One of the training tools was putting a thick PVC pipe into the water. It acted like a branch or a log. This was to show them how to try to swim under or over it. A couple of the guys got a face full of the pipe.

Diving into the water to head towards the tree pipe!

A group of the guys treading shallow water with a victim in the middle. They all had to step and act as one.

This is a cool shot of three guys floating down the river. Just letting the water take them.

The second day they had in water training was on a much nicer day with much slower water. This time they were working on being in a small inflalable boat. They also worked on knots and how to tie the boat safely to shore while there are people in the boat.

A couple guys paddling in the boat. They had to work hard keeping the boat centered in the river while it was tied to trees on either side.

All done with the training and heading back to the station to fill out the paperwork. I just really liked how they were all walking away together.

Water Pump Training

The end of April we had some water pump training. This is a great way of doing some hands on training instead of just reading how to connect the pumps from a book. We went to a small pond inlet close to the road to use as our water supply.

Here is some of the guys (and an explorer) hooking the hose to the pump on Engine 3. The water gets pumped into a tank in the engine and is sprayed out a hose on the top of the engine. Kendall showing the Exploreres how to operate this pump. They each had to take turns connecting it up then starting the engine. Starting the engine isn't easy. It was one that you had to pull a rope to start it.

The water from Engine 3 getting pumped up through to the sprayer nozzle on the top of it. It was able to get really high.

I really loved this photo of both trucks spraying water at the same time. The truck closer normally has a hose attatched to where the water is coming out, but they just wanted to play with the bigger nozzle.

Everyone packing up to head home.

Extrication Training

In the beginning of April the New Hampton Fire Dept had a product demonstration and training for extrication tools. So one of the firefighters brought over some junk cars for the guys to cut up. It was one of the coolest trainings I have seen.

Here are the guys watching the product representative demonstrate how to open a car door with a air powered tool. One of the guys had his wife act as our professional victim. She did a good job! I would have been scared to sit in the car like that.

One of the Explorers learning how to cut into the windshield. The Dept has some pretty cool tools to help rescue people.

This was the roof from the first car. Everyone took turns cutting until the roof was off. They made the first convertible station wagon!

My younger brother Jake sitting in the passenger seat acting like the victim. This is part of the extrication training. They are going through the back windshield to put him on the backboard while holding C-spine. This is really interesting watching how they would rescue someone stuck in a car.

One of the other cars that "flipped" over. They are all assessing the situation while being timed to see how long it takes them to rescue the victims.

Getting the backboard ready.

Getting the driver out of the passenger seat. I can't believe she was able to crawl into that car.

Doing a fistpump after the rescue was over.

The leftovers of what was once a car. It is scary to think that this could really happen to someone. I'm so greatful for these guys who do this for their jobs.

Haylie & Kaelyn Turn Two!

Kaelyn and Haylie both turned 2 in April. Of course when I went to their parties I had to bring my camera! I really can't believe these girls are growing up so damn fast. They are starting to look like little kids, not even toddlers any more!

Kevin rented a bouncy house for Kaelyn's party. It was such a hit for everyone, kids and adults. Kaelyn and Kevin really loved bouncing in the house together!

Last year Kaelyn got a powerwheels, but this year she got a bigger one. They gave it to her inside the house. She wanted to ride in it so badly. One of Kevin's friends was holding onto the back wheel so she didn't drive into the TV. Since it wasn't working right, she went to look under the hood to figure it out. She is so her father's daughter!

She was all about getting into the cake as soon as possible! I think she remembered stuffing her face into it last year. Or she just couldn't wait to eat it.

Maybe she was just really hungry? The cake was really good.

At the end of the party she was able to get outside and try out her new wheels. This even had a real working radio. Kids these days have the best toys!

Here is Princess Haylie with her Grammy! She is such a cutie-pie!!

She was so cute when she was opening her presents. After everyone she showed someone and said "Thanks!" This one she is showing Dad a new CD she got. She was even dancing when she showed it!

I've never seen a 2 year old so excited over presents. This bag was so big that she crawled right into it to get the stuff on the bottom.

Mom and Haylie blowing out the candles. This cake was the best birthday cake I've ever had! I think they got it at a bakery in Manchester.

Not as messy as her cousin, but she still dove right into her cake!