What not to do

As we were driving in the rig today, we were discussing various fire and emergencies we have been on.  Then the conversation turned to “What not to do at an incident.”  We started to make a list of all the stupid things we have seen firemen do.  Here is a list of some of them. 

• Don’t put your head in the ventilation hole while the other firefighter is swinging his axe.
• Don’t open a door without a glove that has been exposed to fire for the last 20 minutes.
• Don’t open a dry chemical extinguisher on the rescue workers and paramedics when they are trying to extricate a patient.
• Don’t squirt the rescuers with the protection line while trying to extricate a victim.
• Don’t throw a bucket of water on a grease fire.
• Don’t close all the windows when you are trying to evacuate all the smoke.
• Don’t trip over your axe.
• Don’t trip over your hose.
• Don’t forget to straighten the wheels of the gurney before removing it from then RA.
• Make sure the apparatus is all the way out of quarters before closing the doors.
• Don’t go short when cooking dinner.