Repetition is the mother of success...

Repetition is the mother of success...For some reason this past Sunday was the first time I have ever heard this saying, and it rang true. Repetition truly is the mother of success. I've often heard "luck is given to the prepared" and to an extent I believe this is true.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with a combat medic who spent some time in Afghanistan treating trauma patients in worse shape than any of us could ever imagine or have the opportunity to run in our careers. We talked about things he had learned and how he operated considering he didn't truly operate under medical direction or protocols for his stay in the desert. He was forced to adapt and overcome many truly austere situations utilizing the resources he had all the while, avoiding death.

One topic in particular we talked about was the gear he carried on his person. He stated he carried up to 15 CAT tourniquets at any time and made all his men carry almost just as many. However the part that interested me most was what they did with the tourniquets. Get this....they trained on them. Now some of you are probably turned off to this because I haven't spoke the fire language yet but hang with me for a minute.

Imagine these guys in the field, on the line, doing it to it. In their hands they have a CAT tourniquet, which once you learn it is really a simple application. But in the midst of all the stress of combat and when you'd think they wanted some down time, here they were, training. Left arm amputation, right leg amputation, light off, on your friend, night vision goggles on. They learned what they had to learn initially and continually trained on it, over and over and over, until they had it down, then they practiced some more. And it wasn't on advanced tactics. It was on the basics!

We need to be like this on a day to day basis. On or off work, the basic skills are what will save our life when SHTF. Pulling hose, air management, SCBA awareness, nozzle operations, forcible entry, calling a mayday, etc. These are the things we need to be (and dare I say) perfect on.

"We learned them in the academy and trained last year on  calling a mayday, why should I practice?" Take a listen to any number of mayday calls online. You'll see why. The things we thought we knew  go out the window when it all goes bad. We need to be able to almost act without thinking.

Remember, "In the heat of battle, you will never rise to the occasion, but only fall back on training".