Recently, we conducted a RIT drill. This was the culmination of more than two years of RIT drills within our department, with each RIT drill building on the skills and knowledge of the previous one.

A brief outline of the current RIT drill:

  1. The RIT team was to enter the structure on air and locate one down firefighter. Only one firefighter was down.
  2. The first obstacle was a small 2 x 2 opening in a cinderblock wall. Either a low profile maneuver or bottle removal was to be used.
  3. Once through the wall with our crew, we had to navigate a few twists and turns ending in a tunnel-like portion. This tunnel was 3 x3  and about 25 feet long. Inside this tunnel was an approximate 18-inch dropoff. This would present the greatest challenge in the rescue.
  4. This was followed by more twists and turns, through a door and about 100 feet in the structure, where we located the down firefighter.

The firefighter was communicating but their mask was compromised. After changing the mask, a quick assessment, and report to the IC, we packaged the firefighter for removal.

My crew and I decided to connect the waist belt under the legs, making the SCBA a harness we could drag. By the design of the drill, with its tight spaces and limited mobility, it was difficult getting much more than two firefighters in place to move the down firefighter.

Getting the firefighter up over the 18-inch raise in the tunnel was the hardest part of the rescue.   After this task was completed, we checked the crew’s air. I made the assessment that we could make it out of the structure with the down firefighter.

So why does this matter?

Let me backtrack.

I was one of the last participants. While I had heard mostly positive firehouse chatter about the drill, there was consistent talk about the difficulty and challenge – “a great workout,” “you’ll be tired after,” “that’s the only workout you’ll need,” or “I was done after that.” I also heard a lot of discussion about air management, but we will return to that.

Rethinking Your Training

Let’s turn our attention to the first set of comments. I’ll come right out and say it, knowing the unpopularity:

  1. If this drill was a workout for you, then you need to rethink how you are training!
  2. If this drill was too hard, or you “hid” in the background, then you need to rethink how you are training!
  3. If you couldn’t do or finish the drill, then you need to rethink how you are training!
  4. If you were shot after the drill, then you need to rethink how you are training!

We need to train for our reality. If, God forbid, I ever deploy as RIT to rescue fellow firefighters, my fitness will not be the reason for failure – I owe that to each and every one I serve with.

Through my life’s journey in fitness, I have learned a few lessons. One such lesson comes from Brazilian Jiu Jistsu. When an opponent beats us, we are taught to be grateful; they reveal a weakness. They have tuned our compass, focusing on our training. Similarly, the purpose of a drill is to expose weaknesses. This guides us in our training efforts. This RIT drill exposed weaknesses in me, and I share my thoughts on how to train closer to our reality.

First, learn to manage your output and keep your heart rate down. Firefighters often train at excessively high heart rates, influenced by modalities like CrossFit or H.I.I.T workouts. While these training modalities do have a place, they can’t constitute our sole training. Our bodies will learn to ramp up the heart rate in response to physical activity and stress.

​​The Goldilocks Zone

We have unknowingly trained a response to stress, and stress equals max heart rate. This is counterproductive on the fireground. This trained response of a maximal heart rate plays host to many problems on the fireground. Instead, we want to operate in the “Goldilocks Zone,” typically around 120–150 bpm. Without going into all the science behind it, here are a few benefits:”

  1. Increase strength and endurance due to hormone response, mainly adrenaline.
  2. Increase visual and auditory processing speed.
  3. All movement patterns, including fine motor movements, are available.
  4. Communication is clear and precise.

How to train this? Two simple ways:

First, use a heart rate monitor. Learn what “Goldilocks Zone” “feels” like. Teach your body output levels and how to perform in this zone. Second, breathe through your nose. This will limit your output, increase oxygen utilization, and increase CO2 tolerance. There are many more benefits of nasal breathing, far too many to list here. Remember, we are training for our reality.

We Need to Train Air Management

Let’s turn to air management. We as a department have failed our members in this arena. RIT training after RIT training, but there is no discussion or training on how to manage air supply. What breathing techniques should we use? What exercises are there to improve? If air management is the biggest limiting factor, training should focus on air management the most. Once again, train for your reality.

Here are two simple (but not easy) exercises to train the breath:

  1. Workout, at least three times a week, breathing through your nose. This is a win on two fronts: heart rate and air management.
  2. Practice box breathing, but with a twist. Start with a 4 x 4 box for 10 mins, 3-5 times a week. Every week or two expand the box by one; e.g., 6 x 6, 7 x 7, and so on. Do this until reaching a 15 x 15 box. Yes, that is one breath a minute for 10 minutes. Just 10 breaths in 10 minutes. There are too many benefits to count here, but you will be one efficient breath MOFO. Make the bottle last so you can kick ass.

Taking ownership of our personal failings is crucial to preventing them from becoming our crews’ failings. I never want to question whether my fitness stopped me – “Did I fail because I wasn’t in shape?” This is owed to every firefighter who wear OFD on their backs and to every firefighter out there.