[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

An idea came to my mind. Tejas, why don't you conduct only the exam for these experienced offroaders, who also act as marshals during events. With the exam, following points will be cleared -

• After the test, they will understand / appreciate if the course is worth attending?
• Where they stand wrt international offroad practices?
• The participants too will understand / appreciate if they are in the right hands during an event?

The exam can be conducted regionwise for e.g. Mumbai region, Chennai region, Bangalore region etc. I would suggest, if the exam is conducted on different dates, the question papers should be set differently each time. And if possible, the results must be published with individual scores.

But one thing is quite obvious, in order to drill through the ego of "senior offroaders", you will have a hard time.

What say?

Cheers
Spike

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Lol, what an idea sirji! I'm game if you get them to agree.

First they'll put me to a test to test if i'm qualified to test!

On a serious note, i don't want to force someone or show anyone down - that's never been my objective. Let my first batch pass out. I'm training an entire batch in Goa from the DOT offroad track. They will have an event there in June and let the results speak for themselves. Hopefully by then i can conduct an advanced level also for them.

[desertfox]

If you want a trainer then let me know please

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by desertfox

If you want a trainer then let me know please

Hi Shahidji,

Thanks for the offer. With your immense marshalling experience in the middle east, it would be invaluable to get pointers from you.

Could you please PM me your number so i can discuss with you further (also let me know what's a good time to call you tomorrow).

[Tejas@perioimpl]

The marshal training program went off quite well.

Since we had a huge group from Goa, we shifted the venue to Goa to the DOT offroad track.

The training was for two days.

Day 1 was the classroom and hands-on demo session and Day 2 was the practical on field and examinations day.

We had nearly 18 people who attended the first workshop.

We even had a participant (Hero Sen) fly in all the way from Calcutta.

The participants:





Each participant was given a workshop manual which would be a ready reckoner for the future:



An offroader and orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Rakesh Kumar Raju was kind enough to come and help us with the first session of the day which was on Basic First Aid. A doctor being an offroader knows the limitations faced and showed everyone how to adapt in the field.









The rapt audience:



He also spoke about and demonstrated CPR:



To keep costs down, we could not arrange for expensive mannequins and made do with some hard cushions for practice:

[Tejas@perioimpl]

We take a small break of local 'kokum' juice. Quite refreshing it was:



Then the participants were shown the basic first aid kit and how to use its contents:











Up next was splinting protocols.

Participants were first shown how to use the crepe bandage for sprains, how to splint and how to use available resources like duct tape and a rolled newspaper.

They then each had to practice different splinting and sprain scenarios:

[Tejas@perioimpl]

We then thanked Dr. Rakesh for his help in the lecture and presented him with small momento of appreciation:





We then break for lunch.

After lunch i start my session of lectures:



I talk about different types of marshals in motorsport and their adaptation to the offroad conditions.






Also talk about fire fighting, how to remove people from the vehicle using Rautek or modified Rautek's manoeuvre, etc.

Everyone practices the same and also practices various lifts etc.











By late evening we are done for the day and everyone heads out and have been told to read the course manual at night. Next day is the practicals at the track.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Early next morning we head out to the track to for demonstrations.

We had a Forest Ranger who had special forest fire training accompany us to supervise and guide as well.



Always check the extinguisher:



We talk about different types of extinguishers that we can use:





Then after a demonstration, everyone had to use different types of extinguishers to extinguish the fire.














After that we play out different mock scenarios which the marshals have to respond to:







To be continued….

[Tejas@perioimpl]

After the end of the session, we break for lunch and then head back for the exams.

Exams were not compulsory and many opted out of it since they were not confident or whatever their personal reasons were.

Only a few took the written test.

Had a tough time supervising these 'children'
















Was good to know that all those who took part got more than 80% marks in the exams.

Have a few videos that need to be processed and uploaded. Will do that soon.

Again, to repeat myself, this was a basic course and basics of everything was taught and more advanced and detailed stuff will be taught in the next level course if they so wish to learn. Currently, i would say they are jack of all, master of none. However, even this basic training may save lives someday is my hope.

[desertfox]

Great show.
Revisited this topic after a long time. Call me anytime. And when you do the next course I will make it a point to be with you in Bombay.

Did you cover the rescue techniques off road ?

I will send you the Marshalls handbook I had written earlier and in first aid as well I will share the knowledge from the training I recieved from the US Airforce courtesy Gulf News.

All the best.

Shahid

[wartikars]

This is really a very interesting training course, which is essential for most of us. I am interested. But when is it scheduled in future?

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by desertfox

Great show.
Revisited this topic after a long time. Call me anytime. And when you do the next course I will make it a point to be with you in Bombay.

Did you cover the rescue techniques off road ?

I will send you the Marshalls handbook I had written earlier and in first aid as well I will share the knowledge from the training I recieved from the US Airforce courtesy Gulf News.

All the best.

Shahid

Thanks. Please PM me your number.

Originally Posted by wartikars

This is really a very interesting training course, which is essential for most of us. I am interested. But when is it scheduled in future?

Thanks. We're busy with our preparations for the winch challenge event of ours in Goa on 20-22nd June 2014.

The next batch of the this course will happen in July sometime. Will keep updating here.

[Amrik Singh]

Great and Fruitful exercise. I will be interested in anything similar in NCR. Please keep us updated.

Amrik Singh