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October 21 The final episode Wow....it's been a few days since we've all been home. I think I can
speak for the group when I say that we really miss being in Colombia
and all of our local friends. There is just something exciting and
wonderful when you spend time with a group of guys/gals who not only
really want to further their education in what they do....but will also
drive many, many hours to accomplish their dreams and goals. We've
finished up the 3rd International Training in Jamundi and I have to
admit....it was a great year! We were fortunate enough to have several
returning, and very talented instructors, such as Bill Klein, Rick
Norwood, David Solano, Hannah Dummer, Karen Whitney, and Mike Stanley. However, we
furthered the effort with addition of several talented individuals such
as Mike Nelms, Steve Clapham, Angelica Solano, Paul Hurford, Michael
Laden, and Capt. Vivis from the City of Yumbo. It never ceases to
amaze me that people with so much talent are willing to take time out
of their busy lives to spend it helping out our brothers and sisters in
another part of the world. The end result of this year's program was
nothing short of exceptional. No matter how you look at the program...it is successful because of the ideas and talents of the individuals that participate. Not only the instructors, but also the participants around Colombia. Many thanks again to Captain Eduardo Sierra and Captain Octavio Gutierrez pulling together the program in Jamundi and for all your hospitality. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fantastic translators that we had this year. Honestly, I believe they have the most difficult of all the jobs in that they have to attempt to understand what we are saying...and then re-phrase it to work in a different language. You all have provided the best translation that we have seen in any project and during any year. We'll be looking forward to next year when we leave the US on October 5th and will be returning on the 15th (there....now you know the dates!) for the 4th International Training in Jamundi. Make your reservations now! BW October 15 We´re almost home! Here we are....almost ready to head for home. Rick and Mike Nelms left
this morning, Karen, Bill Klein, Miranda and I will be leaving in the
morning. The rest of the gang will be leaving on Wednesday. It´s been
a great adventure this year.....and we´re looking forward to next year. The great pumping exhibition in La Union came off without any major glitches. The end result....27 engines, using 4400 kilometers of hose (I´ll convert this later on!) pumped 300 gpm at 100 pounds per square inch for a total of 10 minutes. Quite a feat and something that would be difficult to get a bunch of US departments together to do. The area of La Union is absolutely beautiful. Lots of wine and grapes....and is picture perfect. We´re getting ready to head out again. Sorry this is so short as my days have pretty much run from 0700 to around midnight every night. When I arrive back home, I´ll post a bunch of photos of the trip, the gang, etc. More to follow....really....I promise!! October 13 The closing ceremonyWow...another successful, yet short, mission to Colombia has been accomplished. The bomberos of Colombia have obtained new heights as today´s closing ceremony was attended by the Commandante of the National System of Bomberos (the entire country), the Coordinator General of Colombia (Capt. Alverez), as well as a few other ¨top¨ ranking officers and the medical director of Emergency Service Training from the University of Cali. All of this year´s certificates are recognized and tracked by number on a national basis. Needless to say, this is a huge step forward. All EMS education is now associated and tracked through the University of Cali. Although this may not sound like much...but they are huge logistical steps forward! As I say every year...and this year is no exception....there is no way possible for us to pull these repeating feats off without the dedicated assistance and desire of the OESP instructors. These folks are just.....well.....downright fantastic!
There were a few new members of the Bomberos of Jamundi and presented with the Knights of Fire...the highest order that is possible for a Colombia Bombero to obtain. This year..Steve Clapham, Mike Nelms, Michael Laden, Paul Hurfy, and even Travis....Paul´s traveling companion. Even though Trav is not a firefighter....he´s been a ton of fun and extremely helpful to Paul. More like...he guides Paul back to the hotel each night! Okay...I have to say this because he´s been bugging me to write something about him. MICHAEL LADEN IS IN COLOMBIA and is actually doing something!!!! We´ve been kidding Michael all week and calling him M-2. He thinks it stands for Mini-Mike (2 m´s)...but we haven´t told him if that is correct or not. Anyway...he´s doing a great job and a lot of fun. Now....Laden family....please take him home!!!!! (just kidding)
Here is the funny part of the awards this year. I was promoted to Captain....which now makes me equal to Stanley. I have been listening to his crap for a year about how he öutranks¨me. Ah ha!! Not only am I a Captain...but a Captain that is recognized throughout the country. Stanley....merely a Captain of Jamundi. I´ll have to find some scrub job for him to do for me for a bit. hehehehehe
OESP was almost dispatched to a gold mine disaster today. The last we heard, there were 24 that perished, 15 were transported to local hospitals, and possible over 100 missing. OESP immediately sprang into action, prepared Jamundi´s apparatus with neccesary equipment to function while their main equipment was sent to the disaster site. Their initial request was to travel to the site to assist with operations and medical support. Once more information came in, the request was changed and OESP prepared to augment the fire/rescue and EMS staff within the city.
Pretty exciting day??? Absolutely! Now we´re heading off for a 2 or 3 hour drive to witness the Colombian bomberos attempt to break the world record for pumping water the farthest with relay pumping. More to come later.
All are doing well...and we´re off to the bus!
BW October 12 Day 4Wow...time is flying...and I have about 14 minutes before the internet place closes for the day. We have successfully completed all four days of class. Last night...the bomberos put on a display of their skills....that they designed...what was pretty amazing. They had fire, patients, explosions...the whole 9 yards! I think we were all impressed with how in-depth it really was. Obviously...they had put a lot of planning into the event and it was spectacular to watch. The neighborhood was alive with people watching as the demonstrated their skills.
Today, Mike S. and Hannah had designed some MCI type scenarios for them to practice their skills they have learned. Although the drills were not as visually intense as last night...it was every bit as much of a challenge for them. The first scenarios was a chlorine leak at a pool with several patients and it went ökay¨. The second was some form of an explosion and again...many patients. The second scenario went off very well. Obviously...they learn from their mistakes and make improvements. We were all impressed. There are always things to learn....and theý´ll have a few items to work on.
Tomorrow is the closing ceremony and then we´ll be off to a location about 3 hours south of Jamundi. This will be for the great pumping exhibition. Should be fun and interesting...and we´ll be spending the night there.
I have to go....as the lights are going out! More to follow later!!!!
October 10 Class Day 2Okay....another day in the bag! The nice part about today is that it didn´t rain. The bad part about today is that it was HOT! Even though I used sunscreen....I still turned out looking like a lobster. Alas...the least of my worries. Things went very well in all the classes today. Capt. Beavis (spelling?) was the guest instructor for the Officer class. The first day of Wildfire class happened today with Paul Hurfy, from AFIRE of Australia and he made great strides...considering that he and Travis arrived at the airport in Cali last night around 10:30pm. The First Aid/CPR class for the community made huge strides today as one of their ¨students¨was the head of Emergency Services for the local area. From what I understand...he was absolutely thrilled with all that went on in class! But of course....why wouldn´t he be??
Mike Stanley and Hannah took part of the day and planned out the events/evolutions for Friday´s exercises. This will be an all day even where all classes will hopefully come together and use their skills that they have learned. It´s actually pretty amazing to see how much progress has been made in the past couple of days.
I should probably get off of here and head to the Estacion de Bomberos Jamundi. I hear they are having a band come in and play tonight, as well as a Spanish speaking comedian. This should be interesting since we´ll hear the delayed jokes via a translator! Ah....what the heck....it´s all good....right?
More to follow tomorrow!
October 09 Class Day 1Well.....we finished up the first day of class. It is amazing how much things have changed in the past year. The streets of the city have new sidewalks in many places, roads are ¨paved¨ and Jamundi is now up to 3 full sized fire engines. This year´s class is a little bit smaller in size from last year....only because they raised the cost for participants to come to class. I had no idea that we were that valuable! The class room arrangements are much better as there is plenty of room and limited interruptions and noise. And the participants...as always...are extremely excited to be spending time with us as we are with them.
We spent yesterday making sure that most details were in order. Of course...it wouldn´t be right if class actually started on time and they did not disappoint us this year either! All in all...it was a good plan to arrive earlier and have a day to pull the last strings together.
We all woke up to a nice rain shower this morning. A little unexpected, but it did put a bit of a crimp on our outside activities. However, this was nothing like the rain/wind storm that we experienced during our first year when the rain was horizontal and several buildings were destroyed by the wind/rain/falling trees. Speaking of showers, I really was not looking forward to another week and a half of cold showers. As much as I love coming here...the thing I dread the most are the cold showers. With a little ingenuity....we came up with the Portable South American OESP shower. It consists of a 42 cup coffee maker that is set to turn on from a regular time, such as a light timer. Every morning, it turns on and 27 minutes later...we have perculated hot water! The water is poured into a 5 gallon camp shower and cold water is added. The fun part...is we have one...and Mike Stanley has something similar. As we walk to ¨work¨ at the fire station every morning....I complain about how I thought the water was to hot....or that it almost burned me. The rest of the group...who know nothing of the showers...think that we are kidding. Little do they know how great it is to take a nice, warm shower. Granted...the water pressure isn´t great...but I´m okay with that!
The classes are going well. I think most are averaging around 15 or so per class...which is a nice number to handle. Paul Hurfy will be flying in tonight and we´ll pick him up in Cali in a few hours. The after hour events have been scheduled and we are well on our way. The interesting part will be driving about 3 hours south of Jamundi to attend a water pumping exibition that they planned. I believe the idea is to connect 35 - 40 fire engines together and pump the water as far as they can. Each engine will be connected to another...in single file fashion. This will be fun to see how far they can go!
If you need to get in touch with anyone here, we have a mobile phone with us that was nicely arranged for by Capt. Gutierrez. The number to dial from the US is 011-57300-783-7753. Should you need to contact one of the crew...please dial that number. The phone is manned by our Logistics wizard, Miranda Detore´. She´ll either take your message and deliver it, get you and the phone in touch with the person you need to talk to...or come up with Plan C.
More follow soon. We´re having a ball, working hard, and so far...all are doing well.
BW
October 06 We're on our way!We're off! The 3rd International Training in Jamundi is just around the corner. Bill Klein left Saturday and the rest of us are leaving Sunday morning in the wee hours of the morning! We'll all meet in Miami and make the final flight leg to Cali together. Tuesday we'll pick up Paul Hurfy...our resident 'go anywhere, do anything' Aussie. We'll take Monday to organize and on Tuesday...."Let the games begin"! More as we know more....probably sometime Monday evening. BW October 02 3rd Internation Training in Jamundi, Colombia, 2007Here we are...getting ready for the 3rd International Training in Jamundi, Colombia....and time is getting short before we go! This year we have instructors from Washington, Colorado, Australia, and Colombia. Our classes will cover Hazardous Materials, Engine Company Driver/Operator, Various firefighter skills, Company Officer class, Community Emergency Response Team (C.E.R.T. for the Red Cross and Civil Defense), First Aid and CPR for the citizens of Jamundi, Wildfire firefighting, and a revised version of the First Responder course. Needless to say, I believe that we are all ready to leave NOW as we have fantastic memories of the previous two years in Jamundi. It's hard to believe that we began in 2005 with around 50 or 60 participants. Last year's participation grew to somewhere in the 120-130 range and who knows what this year will bring. No matter what...we are looking forward to spending time with the great friends that we've made over the past couple of years. We'll be arriving on the evening of the 7th and probably will not have a chance to post again until sometime on Monday the 8th. Class is scheduled to begin on the 9th and run through the 12th. The closing ceremony is scheduled for the 13th. Reportedly, we'll be traveling south of Jamundi on the 14th to attend an attempt by several fire departments to set a record for the Guinness Book of World Records. This should be pretty exciting! Keep in touch for more information as it happens and we'll talk to you soon....from Colombia. Esté bien, mis amigos. ¡Los tiempos emocionantes son sólo a la vuelta de la esquina y me cuesta esperar! If you would like to visit the website for the Bomberos of Jamudi, visit Bomberos Voluntarios de Jamundi More follow as it happens! Bill |
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