Daring Escapes

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I love research. My favorite bit of research thus far came with the writing of Credible Threat.  I enrolled in our town's Public Safety Academy. In my neck of the woods, not only does this mean citizen police academy but also fire academy!

While neither my heroine or hero work for police or fire, I needed to know how they would get out of certain dangerous situations. The firemen were the most helpful for this research so I followed them around, asking questions in between demonstrations.

After we went through a smoke-filled simulation trying to find and rescue a dummy hidden in their training facility, I was able to ask my what-if questions.  

(Side Note: You really can’t see your own hand in front of your face in a smoke-filled room. Check those batteries in smoke detectors and replace them every ten years.)

“What if my heroine did such and such?” I asked, citing a method I’d seen on television.

“Then guys like me would roll our eyes at you,” he answered. He offered some suggestions of how she would escape safely.

“But Myth Busters said—”

“Still TV.”

Sigh. So the fireman and I agreed on a controversial but effective method of escape for my hero and heroine and then finished taking this car apart before moving on to the fire hose demonstration.

The experience is one I’ll never forget, and I highly recommend you take advantage of any public safety classes your city or county offers. I’ll leave you with this: Everyone should have a vehicle escape tool inside the car, though I hope you never have to use it.

P.S. If you ever get the chance to drive a fire truck, do not use your left foot to brace yourself while steering. The truck’s horn will be heard for a mile radius, and you’ll have no idea that the button for the horn is actually underneath your foot until the captain seated beside you stops laughing.