Emergency Vehicle Operations Course
http://www.gpstc.org/calendar/calendar-coursedetail.jsp?gpstccode=BTD012
Sounds easy enough, right? And I had had lots of practice. The department had set up a cone-course for me and I ran through it easily 50 times. Plus the day-to-day driving of my patrol car. I thought that would be the least of my worries this week. Not so much.
Monday was strictly classroom instruction. It wasn't too much of a yawner and there was some good, interesting information.
Tuesday was practice. And again this morning. What, you might ask, were we "practicing"?
First of all was the cone-course. It was very different from the one the department had set up for me, but I do think the department's was beneficial. There is a LOT of backing involved. And you can't hit any cones. You could during practice, but if you knocked one during the real thing, it was a failed attempt.
Second was the braking exercise. You had to get up to 35 mph, in your lane, and when the light at the intersection turned red, activate the anti-lock brakes and swerve to miss the "mayor", then get back into your lane. Sounds easy enough? You had about 100 yards to get up to 35, and of course you have to stomp the brake to get to ABS.
Next, we have the skid pad. This is a big parking lot with lots of sprinklers. You get in the car with the instructor and they lock up the rear wheels and you gotta steer out of the skid.
Yesterday, we had a "skills" course where you had to practice more backing and parallel parking. Today, it was off-road recovery. We started at 45 mph and went to 55 mph, and finally 65 mph. You dropped either 2 or 4 wheels off the pavement - depending on what the instructor told you to do. This time, in about 200 yards. 65 gets pretty hairy! But we weren't tested on these two things.
I woke up with a stomach ache this morning, and my IBS kicked into high-gear. Like it always does when I'm stressed out.
We started this morning with a written exam on Monday's teachings. I got a 93%. Some of the questions were kinda tricky, but I studied! I missed 3 questions. We had one person fail. If you don't pass, you don't go forward.
Then we had a little practice session with the cones and braking exercises. When our groups got around to the skid pad, we were tested. You get ten (10) attempts and have to recover 8 skids. For some reason, if you don't go into a skid, it doesn't count. Seems to me if he tried to skid me out, and I didn't skid, that would be a good thing, right? But I passed. Two down, two to go.
Next, they took us out for the braking exercise tests. You got two attempts, and if you failed, you went to remedial after lunch. By sheer luck, I passed on the second attempt. It is hard for me to stomp the brake hard enough to activate the ABS because my patrol car doesn't have ABS. So it has been ingrained on me NOT to stomp the brake. So, sheer luck! Three down, one to go.
After lunch we started testing on the cone-course. Also known as the Precision Driving Course. I was the third to go. You get a total of four attempts to pass, miss two and you go to remedial. After that you get another attempt, more remedial if you don't make it. Then one last attempt. Oh yeah, this is also timed. Minimum time is 2:45 minutes. Maximum is 3:30. I hit a come on my first attempt. So I went back to start. Bumped a cone the next time. They sent me to remedial. I ran it twice more as practice, the first time not so swell; the second okay. Third for-the-money attempt, I was cruising! I had that sucker! Until I backed into the final space. If you don't get your front wheels past a certain point, you gotta back up which uses up your time. I was afraid I hadn't gotten all the way in there and hit the cone at the back of the car. My classmates were sitting nearby on the bleachers, and they said there was a collective breath-holding. I said, all the air was sucked into my car. And I was CUSSING myself out! I was so mad at myself, I could have cried! I did my next three remedial runs, did them all perfectly. So here comes my LAST shot at it. I said a prayer and let it go. Perfect! Time? 3:15. Hallelujah! There was one other guy that had to go that far. He was a long-time officer in Savannah who was repeating it before going to Instructor Training. I told him he messed up just so I wouldn't have to be out there by myself.
I passed! And I don't EVER have to go again unless I screw up.
Sounds easy enough, right? And I had had lots of practice. The department had set up a cone-course for me and I ran through it easily 50 times. Plus the day-to-day driving of my patrol car. I thought that would be the least of my worries this week. Not so much.
Monday was strictly classroom instruction. It wasn't too much of a yawner and there was some good, interesting information.
Tuesday was practice. And again this morning. What, you might ask, were we "practicing"?
First of all was the cone-course. It was very different from the one the department had set up for me, but I do think the department's was beneficial. There is a LOT of backing involved. And you can't hit any cones. You could during practice, but if you knocked one during the real thing, it was a failed attempt.
Second was the braking exercise. You had to get up to 35 mph, in your lane, and when the light at the intersection turned red, activate the anti-lock brakes and swerve to miss the "mayor", then get back into your lane. Sounds easy enough? You had about 100 yards to get up to 35, and of course you have to stomp the brake to get to ABS.
Next, we have the skid pad. This is a big parking lot with lots of sprinklers. You get in the car with the instructor and they lock up the rear wheels and you gotta steer out of the skid.
Yesterday, we had a "skills" course where you had to practice more backing and parallel parking. Today, it was off-road recovery. We started at 45 mph and went to 55 mph, and finally 65 mph. You dropped either 2 or 4 wheels off the pavement - depending on what the instructor told you to do. This time, in about 200 yards. 65 gets pretty hairy! But we weren't tested on these two things.
I woke up with a stomach ache this morning, and my IBS kicked into high-gear. Like it always does when I'm stressed out.
We started this morning with a written exam on Monday's teachings. I got a 93%. Some of the questions were kinda tricky, but I studied! I missed 3 questions. We had one person fail. If you don't pass, you don't go forward.
Then we had a little practice session with the cones and braking exercises. When our groups got around to the skid pad, we were tested. You get ten (10) attempts and have to recover 8 skids. For some reason, if you don't go into a skid, it doesn't count. Seems to me if he tried to skid me out, and I didn't skid, that would be a good thing, right? But I passed. Two down, two to go.
Next, they took us out for the braking exercise tests. You got two attempts, and if you failed, you went to remedial after lunch. By sheer luck, I passed on the second attempt. It is hard for me to stomp the brake hard enough to activate the ABS because my patrol car doesn't have ABS. So it has been ingrained on me NOT to stomp the brake. So, sheer luck! Three down, one to go.
After lunch we started testing on the cone-course. Also known as the Precision Driving Course. I was the third to go. You get a total of four attempts to pass, miss two and you go to remedial. After that you get another attempt, more remedial if you don't make it. Then one last attempt. Oh yeah, this is also timed. Minimum time is 2:45 minutes. Maximum is 3:30. I hit a come on my first attempt. So I went back to start. Bumped a cone the next time. They sent me to remedial. I ran it twice more as practice, the first time not so swell; the second okay. Third for-the-money attempt, I was cruising! I had that sucker! Until I backed into the final space. If you don't get your front wheels past a certain point, you gotta back up which uses up your time. I was afraid I hadn't gotten all the way in there and hit the cone at the back of the car. My classmates were sitting nearby on the bleachers, and they said there was a collective breath-holding. I said, all the air was sucked into my car. And I was CUSSING myself out! I was so mad at myself, I could have cried! I did my next three remedial runs, did them all perfectly. So here comes my LAST shot at it. I said a prayer and let it go. Perfect! Time? 3:15. Hallelujah! There was one other guy that had to go that far. He was a long-time officer in Savannah who was repeating it before going to Instructor Training. I told him he messed up just so I wouldn't have to be out there by myself.
I passed! And I don't EVER have to go again unless I screw up.
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7 comments:
Yay Darya! You go girl! You ROCK! Drop those bad guys' d*cks in the dirt and make them confess! jood
Wow, I'm exhausted just reading about it. How stressful. I knew you could do it. Way to kick a*$!
Congratulations Darya! I just love the way you tell a story......
Way to go girl. You are amazing. So far, succeeding at everything you try! This is tough stuff, too. I am so proud of you!
Sue
Congrats Darya! Keep up that determination and don't sweat it. Way to go!!!
jan
Way to go Darya! Sounds hard as heck but you did it! Be proud of yourself and now you can breath ;-)
Whew, reading your description of the course just about did me in. I would have immediately failed at parallel parking. I'm a suburban gal and have never really mastered parallel parking. I figure if we were meant to parallel park, G-d wouldn't have invented parking lots.!!! I'm so happy that you never have to go through this again.
Judy
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