The First Day of School

RIT School that is. As promised, here's a continuation of my little adventure down in Tuscaloosa. It was a 3 day class, so I think I'll break it down into a post a day. Here's the post for the first day. Before that though, I don't remember if I specified what makes RIT so important. When people need help, you send in the firefighters. When firefighters need help, you send in RIT. It starts with learning how to rescue yourself, and then proceeds into how to rescue your buddies.

To start off I got into town Sunday evening about 9pm, and I was feeling a little down when I checked into the hotel. I had a bit of a stomach bug, but I figured that since the first day would be in the classroom, I'd be fine. I stopped on the way to class and picked up a little Pepto, and that started to help out some. Class started at 8am, and by 8:15 I found out that we would be in full turnout gear by 10 am. Well, so much for starting slow!

The first thing we did was what they called the 'consumption course'. It was designed to make you use all the air in your bottle and see how you react when you are tired. I think it was really to consume all your energy for the day! The stomach bug didn't make things any easier, and I really thought hard about quitting. I made it through, but it was not my best performance. Things would have been tough even if I was feeling good, and there were a few touch and go moments with my stomach, but I survived. I was pretty drained for the rest of the day as a result though, and we still had more to go!

The consumption course (as they called their obstacle course) was laid out as a lap around the drill field. You started out by crawling across simulated attic rafters. From there you picked up a sledge hammer and hit a 6X6 they had laying on the ground for 2 minutes straight. Next up you unrolled and re-rolled 50 feet of hose. The next stage was raising a tire on a rope from the ground to a height equivalent of the second floor 3 times. Go on to the tractor tire and drag it about 20 feet, around a cone, then back to the start, then climb through a prop that is designed to simulate going between the studs in a wall. Climb up and down 4 flights of stairs, then climb through a 30' length of pipe that is only 36" in diameter. Pick up 100' of hose, toss it over your shoulder, then climb up and down 2 flights of stairs. Pick up a 24' tall ladder and move it 20' to another window. That was one lap. They wanted 2!

It was every bit as difficult and draining as it sounds. I ran out of air halfway through the second lap, which was acceptable, but I had to stop at the top of the 4th floor stairs and cool down. I got really hot and my stomach was not doing well. The instructor asked if I was ok, and I was afraid they were going to drop me from the class. When we finished that, they let us go to lunch. I hadn't eaten much the night before (we had an early dinner before I left home) and no breakfast at all. I wasn't hungry but I needed the energy from some food.

After lunch they had us doing some cool stuff that the average person would never get to do. We bailed out of a 2nd story window onto a ladder head first, then spun around and slid down the ladder. We got to lower ourselves out of a third story window with nothing but a rope looped under our arms (you go out head first and flip yourself over before lowering down. VERY unnatural feeling!). We finished off by sliding out of a third story window on a hose like a fireman's pole (hang out the window from the waist down, grab the hose with your feet, move one hand to the hose, then quickly move the other because you are heading down as soon as you let go of the window). That was pretty cool. However, if you've ever wondered what kind of a bruises you get when you depart the third story window and strike the first story window sill with your elbow, I can tell ya, they are U-G-L-Y!

The funny thing about all the bailouts is that you end up so focused on the task at hand that you don't realize how high up in the air you are. If you asked me right now to sit on a 3rd story window sill and hang a leg out or just hang my legs out while laying on my chest, I'd tell you that you were crazy. But by having a task you don't realize how high up you are until after you're on the ground. It's actually kind of neat how it works. Plus, with a line of guys waiting to go, you don't want to be the one to chicken out haha!

By the time I got home from the first day, all I wanted was a shower and a quick dinner, then into bed. I had to ice my elbow from where I struck the window sill, but the worst bruises were yet to come! I later learned that the first day, especially the first half of the first day, is just a gut check. They want to make sure you really want to be there, and that you are able to think and function when you are well past the point of exhaustion.

Stay tuned for day 2.