Chief Salka has recently added a brand new program to his long list of seminars. The new program is titled "Are You A Survivor?" and is based on the research and information from several excellent human survival books.There are many skills and abilities that firefighters need to operate safely and effectively at structural fires. Many of these are tactical skills, things like search ability, forcible entry skills, staying oriented. But there is another group of skills that firefighters often ignore, or maybe don't even know about. Survival skills also include how you will respond when faced with sudden and deadly situations. How will you react when you discover you are lost, really lost? How will you react when you run low or out of air? What will you do when you become entangled and can't quickly free yourself. Well, there is another set of abilities that we all have that can help us survive. Join FDNY Battalion Chief John Salka as he discusses and examines some of the physiological reactions that humans display when faced with danger. Learn how to best train yourself and your crew to remember and react properly to sudden hazardous situations. Find out what "muscle memory" is and how it can save your life. Firefighter survival is not always about jumping out a window or finding your way out. Sometimes it is as simple as thinking.
Program elements;
1. Mental Preparation- Are you prepared for something to go wrong? Will you be able to take immediate decisive action when faced with danger?
2. Tactical Preparedness- Are you completely familiar with your SCBA and all of its features and hardware? Do you know the two basic SCBA emergency procedures and how to perform them successfully in real emergency situations?
3. Muscle Memory- Do you know what "muscle memory" is and how it can either save you or doom you?
4. Training to Survive- Does your department or company have a specific firefighter survival training program? Do you know and practice firefighter survival tactics on a regular basis?
5. Physiological Responses- Did you know that there are several specific predictable responses that people display when faced with sudden life threatening situations? Did you know that when your heart is racing because you are distressed, it may negatively affect your ability to see and hear?
All of the above listed issues are discussed during the interesting and informative program. Once these concepts are learned and understood, a firefighter faced with a life threatening situation will have a much greater chance of emerging from the event alive.
