Each month your NBVFD members gather on the fourth Thursday for a  company drill. Training takes place constantly at Company 1, but the fourth Thursday brings members together for specific topic. April’s topic was Search.

Search is one of the most intense and stressful fireground operations. It requires full competency in operating with limited senses, working in unknown surroundings, and survivability compression due to a victim’s exposure to toxic smoke and heat, and uncontrolled fire development.

Members were divided into two-person teams for the evolutions. They had their vision obscured, and were then inserted into various search scenarios with and without gloves. The purpose of the two different exercises was to develop a “muscle memory” of what common room items feel like so those items will be recognized faster when an actual search is conducted with full protective clothing. This memory helps the searching firefighters quickly orient to the room’s layout when visibility is zero, cover a room more effectively, and locate victims faster for rescue.

We train to serve you to the best of our ability.

Photo credit: Abbi Webb