The phase of the training today with the Civil Defence is probably the most demanding physical activity I have undertaken in like the last two months. I have never been so tired mentally, fatigued, exhausted and worn out in my NS thus far. I drenched in sweat from head to toe, sweat that soaked right through my 3 layered pocket to the outside. I sweated so much that my whole uniform took on a very dark shade of blue. Even the ends of the long sleeves were wet! No kidding.
I had to strap on a 20 kg Breathing Apparatus, Air Tank, Back Holster, Face Mask, Fireman Overalls and a Safety Helmet for today's exercise. It involved finding my way through a maze no higher than half a metre high by 70cm wide at the widest edge. The maze is 4 stories high, with drops, ladders, sudden left and right turns and dead ends. The exercise is performed in total darkness, with instructors watching through night vision goggles. I had to push myself up, climb down ladders, up ramps, drop into dark holes, navigate through narrow hatches and squeeze through a very tight tunnel. The tunnel was very tight indeed, it was no wider than 45cm, and I had to crawl through with the air tank strapped to my back.
All this was done with the temperature raised to about 40-50 degrees celsius (to simulate a fire) with a 100% humidity. Naturally, with all the equipment, I was already sweating buckets outside, inside, it was way worst. I think I sweated till I got dehydrated. And something I can't stand about our climate, it is just way TOO HUMID! 99%! It sucks! You sweat can't dry, just stick to you, makes you hot and sticky and when it dries, leaves a stickier residue that dust is attracted to. When I finished the maze, I literally felt so tired that I had problems breathing. Thankfully, my squad mates are kind enough to remove my equipment for me, get me water, put me in the shade and pour ice cold water on me. The water was VERY cold initially, but after a few seconds, it reached my body temperature and I could not feel it anymore. Thank God that at least a few of my squad mates are more than willing to go out of their way to assist me.
I was so tired, I slept in the dirty civil defence storeroom for about 1/2 hour. After that, I was whisked away with the others to Mandai for the additional 2 exercises. The first, which was very easy compared to the maze, involved walking through a totally dark passageway, navigating obstacles whilst carrying a fire extinguisher. I was paired up with Nico and he gladly agreed to carry the 9kg water extinguisher, leaving me with the lighter, 4.5kg carbon dioxide extinguisher. We navigated quite well as this exercise was done standing up, instead of being in a prone position on all fours.
I encountered the room meant to simulate a burning room. It was so smoky that my eyes watered, my nostrils stung and I had to turn back for a while. The instructor just asked me to put a blast of the extinguisher in the room and get lost. Something which I gladly did.
The final exercise involved a team rescue effort. I was teamed up with a group of 5 other people, 3 regulars, Rahmat and Ismail. Our mission was to go into the room that simulated a vessel in distress, the doors was similar in shape and size to a ships water-tight door. Mission was to go in, put out 2 fires, rescue 2 people. I was assigned the task of being one the rescuers. We strapped on our BA and then just waited.
And waited. We waited so long with the BA that the instructor asked us to disable our demand valve for a few minutes in order to avoid wasting air. The air in the tank is very dry, to avoid the moisture condensing on the visor. When I removed my demand valve, my whole visor started to fog up rapidly. And it was HOT.
When the go ahead was given, we went in, and I managed to pull out one of the injured with Rahmat. We impressed the Captain in charge with our quick timing. Within another minute, the next victim was out. Both fires were extinguished. I was happy.
It has been a very tiring day for me physically, but somehow I don't feel tired when I type this. My mind is tired, but is still able to function. My body is fatigued, but is pushing on. Truly. when my strength and heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion FOREVER. Without God, I wouldn't even be able to complete the 3 activities. Honestly, I felt like giving up halfway in the maze when I was too tired. This was a pretty desperate stage as I and Nico had gotten nowhere, getting stuck and lost and Nico was so low on air that his warning whistle sounded.
Funny, I feel that God often likes to hide the way He helps us with alternative secular reasons. Perhaps to test us to see if we are willing to attribute the job done to Him or to some other factor.
I could say, "my tuition teacher, teachers helped me get good grades", but without God allowing first, it wouldn't be possible right?
"I ran my 2.4 in a good time because people were cheering me on", I think God sent those people
"My dad gave me a new computer because of my good grades", well perhaps God gave dad that thought to reward you?
I'm just thinking aloud. Very Honestly.
I had to strap on a 20 kg Breathing Apparatus, Air Tank, Back Holster, Face Mask, Fireman Overalls and a Safety Helmet for today's exercise. It involved finding my way through a maze no higher than half a metre high by 70cm wide at the widest edge. The maze is 4 stories high, with drops, ladders, sudden left and right turns and dead ends. The exercise is performed in total darkness, with instructors watching through night vision goggles. I had to push myself up, climb down ladders, up ramps, drop into dark holes, navigate through narrow hatches and squeeze through a very tight tunnel. The tunnel was very tight indeed, it was no wider than 45cm, and I had to crawl through with the air tank strapped to my back.
All this was done with the temperature raised to about 40-50 degrees celsius (to simulate a fire) with a 100% humidity. Naturally, with all the equipment, I was already sweating buckets outside, inside, it was way worst. I think I sweated till I got dehydrated. And something I can't stand about our climate, it is just way TOO HUMID! 99%! It sucks! You sweat can't dry, just stick to you, makes you hot and sticky and when it dries, leaves a stickier residue that dust is attracted to. When I finished the maze, I literally felt so tired that I had problems breathing. Thankfully, my squad mates are kind enough to remove my equipment for me, get me water, put me in the shade and pour ice cold water on me. The water was VERY cold initially, but after a few seconds, it reached my body temperature and I could not feel it anymore. Thank God that at least a few of my squad mates are more than willing to go out of their way to assist me.
I was so tired, I slept in the dirty civil defence storeroom for about 1/2 hour. After that, I was whisked away with the others to Mandai for the additional 2 exercises. The first, which was very easy compared to the maze, involved walking through a totally dark passageway, navigating obstacles whilst carrying a fire extinguisher. I was paired up with Nico and he gladly agreed to carry the 9kg water extinguisher, leaving me with the lighter, 4.5kg carbon dioxide extinguisher. We navigated quite well as this exercise was done standing up, instead of being in a prone position on all fours.
I encountered the room meant to simulate a burning room. It was so smoky that my eyes watered, my nostrils stung and I had to turn back for a while. The instructor just asked me to put a blast of the extinguisher in the room and get lost. Something which I gladly did.
The final exercise involved a team rescue effort. I was teamed up with a group of 5 other people, 3 regulars, Rahmat and Ismail. Our mission was to go into the room that simulated a vessel in distress, the doors was similar in shape and size to a ships water-tight door. Mission was to go in, put out 2 fires, rescue 2 people. I was assigned the task of being one the rescuers. We strapped on our BA and then just waited.
And waited. We waited so long with the BA that the instructor asked us to disable our demand valve for a few minutes in order to avoid wasting air. The air in the tank is very dry, to avoid the moisture condensing on the visor. When I removed my demand valve, my whole visor started to fog up rapidly. And it was HOT.
When the go ahead was given, we went in, and I managed to pull out one of the injured with Rahmat. We impressed the Captain in charge with our quick timing. Within another minute, the next victim was out. Both fires were extinguished. I was happy.
It has been a very tiring day for me physically, but somehow I don't feel tired when I type this. My mind is tired, but is still able to function. My body is fatigued, but is pushing on. Truly. when my strength and heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion FOREVER. Without God, I wouldn't even be able to complete the 3 activities. Honestly, I felt like giving up halfway in the maze when I was too tired. This was a pretty desperate stage as I and Nico had gotten nowhere, getting stuck and lost and Nico was so low on air that his warning whistle sounded.
Funny, I feel that God often likes to hide the way He helps us with alternative secular reasons. Perhaps to test us to see if we are willing to attribute the job done to Him or to some other factor.
I could say, "my tuition teacher, teachers helped me get good grades", but without God allowing first, it wouldn't be possible right?
"I ran my 2.4 in a good time because people were cheering me on", I think God sent those people
"My dad gave me a new computer because of my good grades", well perhaps God gave dad that thought to reward you?
I'm just thinking aloud. Very Honestly.
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