Fu#$ Yeah…

Today we got to totally destroy a nice car to practice some extrication…

Man that was fun… We took the Fire Fighter’s big tools and rip that poor car like it was butter.

Then we played a bit trying to extract ppl from cars with different lifting device we have. It take’s a bit of practice to master but it was fun practicing.

I wish we had more days like those… out of the school and classroom..

Here are a few pic of that fun day at work

Click on thumbnail to go the library.

Ho, I almost forgot… we just finished a series of 3 test this week!!

Llike all the previous exam,  everyone passed without too much problem.

Good job Course 43

A few weekend ago we went climbing in Squamish for a weekend…

We had blast over there, even trough we did not make it to the top of “The Chief” since we started too late that route… Next time we go there will be the one

Here is a few pictures of the weekend:

Click on Thumbnail to go to the library.

Today was a great day… We got the chance to test Entonox (laughing gas)

Entonox is a pharmaceutical drug mixture of 50 % nitrous oxide and 50% oxygen
It is used as an analgesic, especially during pain management.

So here is a few footage of the Gong show

Good Times…But now it’s time to go back in the books

 We all came from different background and a Few of us came from the Combat arms.

For the past 5 months it had been the 2R22R turn to go in Kandahar, on OPERATION ATHENA.

 Bruno, Pat and Alex worked in that unit before remustering to SAR Tech.

That’s why they sent the course Cap to their good friend Sam, to tell him and show our support to all those guy OVERSEAS that are in combat units.

Sam, it’s not too late to apply for next year bud!!

One more check in the box for Course 43 with Ground Ops done!

What a feeling going back at Jarvis Lake… Last time we where all there was during selection in Jan/Feb and it was a totally different game let me tell you… The staff was max relax and totally fair with us during our stay. We even had a few beers together at the end. We had access to a brand new  student building so that we could cook our food, wash our self and our clothing and even chill out there from time to time. Too bad the Sat Tv was not working yet on the 52″ Tv… (yes we are spoiled).

So yeah we spend the last week at Jarvis Lake near Edmonton to learn how to use a bunch of equipments the SAR tech uses and to refresh our self a bit on navigation skills. We had good hands on training with building stretcher with different material , building improvised raft, tree cutting , night nav on boat (Witch was a blast), gun shooting and last but not lease, nav with a casualty in the bush with a nice 1km lake crossing with all our kit and the casualty… Ho we had hail on top of it all crossing the lake… what a blast (at lease for me, maybe not all the boys hehe…)

Funniest thing we did is probably one of the PT we did witch consisted of spring up a hill a few times, a few Km uphill after that and then the “heart breaker” hill (300m Monkey face dirt hill…) And what did we get at the top of that hill… a Beer that had to be drank in 3min max (1min and we were all done, because timing are critical as our NCO say’s) Then it was back down the hill and we swapped for our bathing suit and went for a cold swim across the lake. That is exactly the kind of PT i like Thanks again to the Staff for that one.

(cilck on the picture to go to the phase library)

Paramedic phase start on tuesday…

If you like Power point, you would love the HAI course… We did not like Power Point so maybe we did not like that phase?!….. who knows….ill let you guess

This phase is for Aircrew members to experience Hypoxia in a controlled environement so that we can discover our own symptoms of low oxygen. The chamber brings us to 25 000Ft,  and then we do some maths questions until things go wrong (LOL). Some went a bit further than others (AKA Kurtis…) that totally lost it and could not pull the red leaver and switch to 100% O2.  Too bad the chamber only lasted 45min out of 4 billion hours of classes and power point presentations. The instructors were cool (for the most part) and we got some time for much needed  naps during lunch.  

 (Phase picture will be put online in the next few days sorry for the wait)

We are now leaving for Jarvis lake for some freash air, cold water (and beer)… Keep you posted next week.

The CS200 is FINALLY Done !!!!!!!

The Anatomies and Physiology phase is the first medical exam we have to go true if we want be able to carry on with PCP course.

So for the past 2 weeks, there was a lot of tension in the classroom, since the big magority of us are not coming from a medical background, and didn’t know what to expect for that first exam.

It  was a intense and repetitive 2 weeks, that consisted of PT in the morning , study all day at the school (with 10 min posh-up/chin-up break here and there) and study all evening type of thing.. lot’s of fun again (not for me trough haha…)

Fortunately, we had some good revision with the Rob, JIBC instructor, and especially our Course NCO , Sgt Elms, during the last few days before the test… thanks again for that.

So it’s with no surprise that Friday morning, 9am  all of us 13 tiered little boy’s, passed the exam without any problem!

Good job Course 43!!!

A big thanks also to Bruno and Marie for all the cooking and the millions of  Carbs they made this week, it really helped my Cerebrum to work at 100% (well more like 43% but still).

Next phase start Sunday 5am direction CFSAT Winnipeg  for the High Altitude Indoctrination. I think we are all exited and looking forward for some time off the books before the PCP phase start

Now if you excuse me, it’s time for me to get even with my books (and then some)….they will feel what I have felt in the past 2 week , TRUST me…

Nah I’m just kidding, ill go drink with the boy’s at Brad’s place, and forger everything I’ve learned instead… It seems easier 

RESCUE

Wow already Week 2 done, time sure does fly by when you study 80% of the day and do those nice PT trainings in the morning Click here for proof!

So yeah, this Friday, we had some University of Alberta teachers, researcher and 2 Fu$@#% NICE (not to say HOT) analysts to road test the new version of the SAR selection PT test, 2010 space odyssey version.

Let me explain, they (Who actually?) tried to replace the current Selection PT test for quite some time now with a more complex (almost to the women level!!) and more representative of our line of work.

So to cut it short here is what they came up with this year …You start by walking and running (Sprinting in my 5 foot 7 case) with a light 50lbs backpack on a 15 Degree incline on the treadmill. There is no fun at ALL doing that part trusts me, it just drains you.

You then move to the 20Feet rope and climb it twice (that part is actually good for recovery). Then the “Piece DE resistance” … You run 40m with a 110lbs barbell then 2 55lbs dumbbell and one bare ass..

Then you repeat 4 times… That part is no fun either haha… I Am still sore on the trapezius 3 days later. After that you jump in the pool for 750m of swim with those new High Tech fin’s…. And your done!

It is quite a nice PT Test i tell you.

After that we got a couple of dozen donuts from then (Thanks Again!) and we went for a big BBQ with the Staff!

That was a nice Friday

Kudos to UofA for creating a challenging test that cover all aspect of your trade.

Here are the Test and BBQ pictures, for your own pleasure, cuz no one had any during that crazy morning:

(Click on Thumbnail for more pictures)

Here is an official course picture taken at CFSSAR this morning…

I Don’t know what happened there but all the guys look so serious on that picture…

Ho wait… now I remember!! The Course NCO told us to STFU that’s why!

HAHA just kidding, he hasn’t told us, he just look at us and we understood right away. Man, I sure hope they teach us that awesome communication skill during the course it could come in handy from time to time at the Bar for a refill… It might be QL6a skill vice Ql5a trough.. so please don’t quote me on that.

So right now we are nose deep in the books trying to assimilate as much as we can before the Justice Institute teachers show up on Monday for the clinical science 200.

Lot’s of fun…NOT

Click on the Thumbnail for FULL size version (2.3MB might be slow to load)

Wouwou !!

First Day at the SAR Tech School… and Fist check in the box done, lot’s more to go haha.

We started with the PT Test this morning right after a quick welcome by our course NCO.

The test consist of: 2.4km , 31 poshup, 33 situp , 8 chinup, 22x 20m shuttle run and then 2x 20feet rope climb… IT seam’s easy , but euuu it’s not haha…

You need to do it all without break and under 17 min witch is more than enough really… but who want to do it border line… so the average time is 14min.

Then  you jump in the pool and swim 27 length and your done… that easy

It was a nice day after that, CWO and PSP staff Briefing,  tour of the school by the course NCO, talk about his/our background etc… Nothing crazy.. Yet!

Here are some pic’s for you.

PS: Big thanks to 19w Public Affair Officer Capt Alexandre Cadieux for the pictures.

Click on the Thumbnail to go to the library