From my experience, in my former life in California, is straight up, be prepared. The last thing a firefighter will want in a time like this, is to take on a additional responsibility of a another life. Clearly the Incident Commander or the P.O. will appraise you in a moment and deem whether you are prepared or not and/or worth the risk of taking along. I’ve worked along side, by invitation with the California Department of Forestry, and I can tell you they respect our profession, so respect theirs, be prepared, listen to their instructions because the ass their saving could be your own.
Always, always check in with the P.O. and/or Incident Commander. Wear bright fire-retardant clothing. Bring, wear a scarf to cover your mouth. Yes, you can scar your lungs from heat exposure.
Bring a hat, wear a long sleeved, cotton, shirt. Wear pants, no shorts. Wear thick rubber soled boots. No tennis shoes. Emphasis on the thick rubber, because tennis-shoes for example will begin to melt in hot areas. Beer is a
BAD IDEA. Why? Alcohol dehydrates you and in the kind of heat the firefighters are in now this is the last thing they need. Bring them Gatorade (or something like this) instead.Bring lots of water, bring energy bars, candy bars. I would also recommend bringing “emergency-c.” I never travel without it. You can buy it in most health-food stores. It’s packaged 1000 mg of Vitamin-C, with trace minerals — the kind of stuff you sweat out and that your body requires during stress, high intensity heat, or exposure to God knows what when you’re traveling.
Make sure the canteen you bring along has enough water to last and drink it prudently.
Is your car comfortable? You might have to sleep in it. Bring camping gear. Bring an ace bandage(s).
Bring a flashlight or two. Bring a Mag pen light too, its light, attaches like a pen and it will come in handy to read maps/your notes/camera stuff during the dark hours and could help other fire fighters.
Make sure you have duplicates of everything. One of the most admirable things I learned in working with firefighters is that they always think in terms of other human beings, of of saving others, so they have double of everything.
Make sure your press credential is visible. Bring your cell phone. Off the top of my head, these are just a few things that come to mind. I know some of my suggestions are probably things you already have packed in your PJ bag in the trunk of your car, but you never know, sometimes the most obvious are the most over-looked. Oh yea, bring extra pens and pads for reporting. Good Luck!
via RSS
via email
