When Things Go Bad – 5 Disk DVD Training Set

This product review is in no way, shape, or form influenced or swayed towards one side or another.  It is strictly my perspective on what I believe in this product.

“When Things Go Bad, Inc. is a firefighter training company that has committed to deliver realistic training since 2005. WTGB teaches throughout the country at conferences and fire departments alike. All instructors share a level of energy that is motivating and contagious to the students. We here at When Things Go Bad are passionate about FIREFIGHTER RESCUE & SURVIVAL. The motivation for these Train-the-Trainer DVDs are to get this paramount information to as many firefighters as possible. Let us not allow our brothers and sisters to perish in vain. We do not rise to the occasion; we sink to the level of our training. Learn practical Firefighter Rescue & Survival tactics from experienced instructors on the When Things Go Bad training DVDs.”

 

I have known some of the instructors at When Things Go Bad for quite a while now, some of which are on the job in the same county as I am and are fellow F.O.O.L.S. brothers of mine.  I’ve known them for a few years, but only recently have they become involved with Paulie Capo and his company.  I personally called Paulie to ask for something unrelated to this when he mentioned he was looking for “the right website” to do a product review for his 5-disk DVD set based on Rescue & Survival.

After speaking to him a little about our site and what our mission is, he politely asked if Station-Pride would do it.

I told myself, “When you have someone like Paulie Capo asks for you to review his product, you had better say yes!”

So there it was, a few weeks later, staring at me in my mailbox. The DVDs arrived in a manilla envelope with a personal letter from Paulie.

I opened it up and found the 5 DVDs, which were separated in their own individually photographed DVD sleeves and shrink-wrapped. Each topic/chapter was labeled on the back for ease of searching.

Each chapter skill was created by When Things Go Bad to remember and honor someone that was in a situation of needing its use.  Just to name a few, some of the included skills are window lifts & ladder carries, the Denver Drill, high anchor/hauling, flat & peaked roof removals, firefighter stuck in a roof, the Nance Drill, the Naked SCBA Drill, Calling the Mayday, Disentanglement & Low-Pro Maneuvers, Rope & Ladder Bail-outs, What’s In Your Pockets, and Drywall Ladder Climbing.

This DVD set is by far one of the best resources available for training at the firehouse.  We have all had our share of “Fire Porn,” but this feels like more than a training video.  From senior members to rookies, I have found that every person I had shown this to brought something valuable away from it.  When I got time to start the video in my firehouse, it took a few shifts to get through all five disks. Not because of length, but because of the lack of available time we had to sit down and watch them.

On the first shift, we got through the 3 Rescue DVDs. The rookie I had that day told me he was incredibly lucky to have learned some of the techniques in the academy, but he still just took away more than half the material for the first time. He was excited to get out to the engine room to practice putting some of the material to use.  He was able to quickly learn, retain, and repeat the hands-on skills he just saw on the DVD set. With excitement, he realized that he could move victims and firefighters quicker and with less effort than ever before in his short career.

The second shift we watched Survival. I had a different firefighter with me who has a couple of years under his belt. I got the initial feeling that he wasn’t too sure if this was his cup of tea. He didn’t give me the vibe like he was going to take anything away from it. After the first chapter, he got into it and started some conversation with me about some of the calls that the skills were created for. I told him about the importance of having an open mind when you train in these type of scenarios. Sometimes we get into the mind frame that we will never have to find our air pack in an IDLH atmosphere, reassemble it, and then don it. I get where he is coming from… We will usually not have to enter a burning structure and locate our air pack. But, we may have to locate a downed firefighter that just had a massive event occur, and they need help troubleshooting their SCBA due to a displaced bottle or a loose connection with an air leak. This is why we train. This is why we do this. Disentanglement props are only as good as we can imagine them to be. Yes, we can cut every wire and not have any entanglement hazards. But this video gives us four different ways to escape from this scenario. Open minds will win versus closed ones. Open minds about training will prevail and make you a better firefighter.

After seeing these two firefighters learn from these videos, I realized that I learned just as much.  What I knew already, I was able to reinforce in their minds by setting up the hands-on portion. The items that I learned, I take with me each time we roll out the door to the next emergency.

These five DVDs are an absolute asset to your training cache. It isn’t “just another training tape.” It is formatted and taped in a manner that makes it interesting and professional. When Things Go Bad has hit the nail on the head this time and I know they have much more to share. Their cadre of instructors are making a name for themselves and have taught at events such as Firehouse Expo, FDIC, Fire Rescue East, Wichita H.O.T., Fort Lauderdale Fire Expo, & Orlando Fire Conference.

Interview Questions with Paulie…

What made you start When Things Go Bad?

• “I took firefighter survival/rescue classes and got a passion for the level of competence needed in that realm. After a lot of self studying about it, I had a local fire instructor ask me to come up with a presentation”.

• It began with a couple guys without any official t-shirts teaching at someone else’s firehouse to starting a company.

• “I didn’t intend to start a training company, the training company started itself. I just named it.”

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Who are some of your biggest mentors?

• Jim Carino 33 year Squad Driver in City of Clearwater

• Jim Crawford – Assistant Chief of Operations (Retired) – Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire & Founder of http://www.rapidintervention.com (no longer in service)

 

What are some of the classes you provide?

• Rescue & Survival classes – two entirely different entities. We have classes for each separately.

• Tricks of the Truck – Truck Company Ops Class – Classroom & Hands-On (Forcible Entry, Search & Rescue, Ground Ladders, Vent…along with many, many, many tricks)

• Engine Co. classes

 

Who are some of the most important people to help you get to where you are today?

• “I’m a student of the job – learning so many things from so many people.”

• my wife, Kristie

• my two children

• and my late father, Mike, who taught me the business side of life that I had no idea of as a fireman.

  

 

What conferences has your company attended? (Just to name a few…

• FDIC Class & Hands-On instructor for the last 11 years

• Keynote speaker at this year’s Orlando Fire Conference and “Nitty Gritty Engine and Truck Workshop” with Bill Gustin.

• Wichita HOT

• Colorado Chief’s Conference

• Along with many, many more.

Discount code for anyone that purchases from our link

10% off use code: stationpride

whenthingsgobadinc.com