Day two in Padre Las Casas saw our crews get down to work.
It was a tough day for Firefighters Without Borders – Canada Bomberos Project crews – as we hit the local firefighters with the important, but mentally draining materials. The firefighters were divided into two groups and covered medical training, knots, fire chemical reaction, stages of fire and firefighter safety.
Each group had three hours of learning the material before switching with the other group.
It was a long day filled with lots of technical information along with videos, descriptions and of course translation.
While in medical training, the instructors made sure the locals were comfortable with CPR and choking procedures from the previous day before introducing basic care for burns, breaks, bleeds and heat stroke.
Local firefighters practice a new skill during training. (Photo: Amanda Smith/Quinte News)
Truck checks at San Francisco Vincentillo as part of the Firefighters Without Borders Dominican Republic project. (Submitted photo)
The firefighters were engaged the whole time and were sponges soaking up all the information we were throwing at them.
The other group meanwhile was learning how to be safe at a fire scene to protect themselves and their fellow firefighters, how to do a scene size up to understand what they are potentially walking into, fire behaviour to help them tell how far along a fire is and everyone’s favourite thing, knots.
All the instructors were thrilled with how engaged everyone was and eager to learn.
It gave us great pride knowing they are absorbing what we are teaching.
Even the smallest eyes are paying attention to the skills being taught as part of the Firefighters Without Borders project in San Francisco Vincentillo. (Submitted photo)
For fun, every once in a while an instructor would either call out “Fire! Fire! Fire!” and we would see how quickly the firefighters reacted, or an instructor would just fall to the ground and the firefighters would have to practice their medical training.
Following a short stop after we wrapped up for the day, the instructors and our guides headed up the mountains for a quick stop at El Palero Piscina Amury. The view was absolutely breath taking and we were quite content to sit and stay for a little while.
The Padre Las Casas crew went to a mountain top following training ad took in the beautiful countryside and some breath taking views. (Submitted photo)
Day two was another success and we are looking forward to taking the practical knowledge learned today and putting it to the test on day three.
Ryan Laliberte shows how to tie a knot during training for Padre Las Casas firefighters. (Photo: Amanda Smith/Quinte News)
Padre Las Casa firefighters show off their new skills during a training session. (Photo: Amanda Smith/Quinte News)
