Thread by @DisasterKenya

@MikeSonko @NMS_Kenya 165M spent, 10 Fire Engines & Ambulances to save lives, but the personnel to save those lives are a useless razz matazz ? Thread @Anon1KENYA @ajfactual52 @BasilioCC @chothep @solo_ambuku
@mlimakenya @WWabaya @moalbrecht @Hitlerlaw2
kenyans.co.ke/news/43730-son…

Fireman training is an important component of fire rescue & safety. You can claim Nrb's Firefighters are trained. Yes, they are. However, it is what is called OJT or On the Job Training.
Based on the Gabbage In Gabbage Out-GIGO principle, what does that say of their acumen ?

With the Nrb OJT do they learn new skills & techniques to make their jobs safer. Or train to enable them respond more efficiently, reducing the property damage & know what do do in situations where life & fire damages could be great. Or just how to run with a hose ? @SimbaTirima

In 2016, I attended a fire on a 20th floor of a residential building in Sao Paulo. It was contained to 1 apartment, but tough smoke conditions & multiple elderly victims made it an extremely challenging fire. It was my first such fire having transitioned into Helicopter response.

In hindsight, I identified several seemingly obvious things I could have done to improve my performance that day. Around the same time, I read a piece of research on the decision making on the fire ground. 80 % of the officers’ decisions were based on personal experience.

They weren’t long deliberations that sized up the tactical needs of the situation & weighed several options against each other. They were gut decisions, based on previous fires attended by the officer (Cohen-Hatton & Honey 2015).

I realized my previous experience shaped the way I approached this fire. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, I took on this fire as if it were a single-family dwelling or a two- or three-story apartment fire, since that is where all my previous experience lay.

I was aggressive, causing me to rush. I even missed the fire blowing out of the apartment window because I was focused on where I should position the Chopper. In the fire service, experience is vital in making quick, correct decisions, but so is proper training. @brian_chunguli

Back to Nairobi, Waithaka Fire Station is a 1.6M $ investment & not a circus ground thus. So is the @MikeSonko Govt & their new bosom buddies @NMS_Kenya sending in, trained professionals up to the tasks ahead or just the normal clowns we are used to ?

The lack of proper training, is a handicap for Kenya's Firefighters, & we cannot bank on experiences either. Whilst experience can make us better firefighters & better decision makers, it’s impossible for us to distribute it evenly across the circus fire grounds in Kenya are .

There are so many chance factors when it comes to the number of emergencies you attend throughout your career. The best answer we have is to train, but it’s not just about putting reps on the board. Training must be progressive.

Station level OJT training is vital to maintaining basic, essential skills. However, when firefighters attend proper professional training, where they are met with tasks that test their abilities & challenge their preparedness. That is the training that counts on D-Day !

The more situational stress we put on firefighters as they perform their training tasks, the more tacit knowledge we give them to draw on when it really counts. So hiyo ya Nrb, if at all they do it is shadow @brian_chunguli @WaNduta8 @NairobiJiji @Hitlerlaw2 @SolomonKarori2

Stress refers to the brain & body’s response to arousal. If you’ve ever felt a surge of adrenaline, then you’ve experienced an arousal response. Ever heard a fireman screaming their size-up on the radio? It’s most likely not their knowledge or skills that are letting them down.

But their body’s arousal response taking over. It’s not hard to become stressed, either. Stress could arise from something as simple as trying to force a door, everyone offering their friendly advice all the while fire conditions are deteriorating behind a locked door.

In short, what I am trying to say here is... Why invest in all that infrastructure, but ignore its most important component. That of the personnel, after all are they NOT the firefighters in real sense ? @solo_ambuku @johnnjenga @alaminkimathi @RasnaWarah @threadreaderapp unroll