Ever have a memory just pop into your mind? Not a PTSD type that haunts you, just a memory of the old days & ways of the NFD. The other day I was on my exercise bike & a couple of training memories popped up. This post is about the first. It involved mask training back in 1978.

The SCBAs used by the NFD back then were MSA demand regulator masks. For those who were never exposed to the old MSA demand mask, here’s a quick description. The tanks were steel, pressure gauge went from 0 to 2200. They were usually filled to 1800. If the pressure went below 1500, you were supposed to change the tank. They had a rubberized face piece & a hose w/a spring in it to prevent it from collapsing (an upgrade from the original I was told). The hose screwed into the regulator at your waist. There were no PASS alarms. During training they taught buddy breathing. It’s not taught today because you really can’t do it w/a positive pressure mask.

The training evolution went something like this: You run out of air or something is wrong w/your mask while you’re in a smokey atmosphere. What do you do? You go to another firefighter, signal your problem, then unscrew your breathing tube. They unscrew their breathing tube. You put your tube on their regulator, take a breath, remove your tube, and they take a breath, This is repeated as you walk to safety.

When we were doing our first practical mask training, I was working w/Captain Steinbach (my uncle’s first captain at Five Truck). I have the mask on & it’s properly sealed. Remember, the regulator delivered air when you breathed in, otherwise no air flowed.

While I’m standing breathing through the mask, DC Morgan (an old Rescue guy) walks up behind me & shuts off my air. My next attempt to breath brought the face piece into my nose (so it’s still away from my face quiet a bit). Naturally I reach back to turn the tank back on, but Chief Morgan stops me & asks, “What do you do now?” We’ve had one lecture on masks & in the middle of it they mentioned buddy breathing.

Now I’m standing in the back of the old Academy classroom w/no air flowing & this chief asking me a question that I really don’t have a quick answer to. I instinctively continue to breath, but this only draws the face piece up to my nose. He sees I don’t get what he’s driving at, so he pulls me over to another recruit while he says, “You go over to him & do buddy breathing.

After this little lesson is taught, he turns to Captain Steinbach & the ball-busting begins.

"He would have stood there until he passed out trying to figure it out.”

"That’s what you’d expect. He’s German."

This from a guy named Steinbach!