DOES YOUR DEPT.TRAIN ?

[Lt.Todd]

Iam looking for feed back here, both from big cities and small.How much does your dept train, on what,are the standards high,is it required,and does your dept support progressive training and make it a priority.
I feel it should be a top priority and concern for all !!
thanks.

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[KATN61]

First my company is very small- fire district population of about 5000 and we had 191 runs in 1999. We just changed our operating procedures to where members have to make so many trainings a month to have the ability to ride. We train every monday night except the third monday( meeting) for 2 hours and 1-2 saturdays a month for 4 hours. Our topics range from fire behavior to vehicle rescue to truck company operations( even though we dont have a truck). We offer live training burns either at the local public safety training center or at a house donated to us( state certified courses).We have had grumblings from older members about the training mandates, i guess they think firefighting is like riding a bicycle, once you do it you always know how. It is so hard to emphasis to the "older" ones how strategy and tactics evolve all the time.Last year we had over 100 hours of company level training not to mention the state classes members took.

[KATN61]

oops i forgot something
yes we do require members to re-qualify with our SCBA and HRT, that is the only "classes" that are required other than the 2 training a month requirement

[MikeCampbell]

Holding the station record for supine recliner lounging or being the domino champion is no longer an acceptable item in your resume. Making yourself valuable to your department thru training also improves your customer service delivery when it really counts. Doing the minimum amount of training makes you the least valuable to your department because you are trained to the minimum level. My dept. has gone to a Competency Based Training system where no matter how good you tell me you are you get to prove it by demonstrating competency. You do this in SCBA, ladders, hose evolutions, etc. You would be amazed at how few people on your dept. can start a PPV when you need it the most. If you train and practice these small things it becomes second nature.

[mfgentili]

First, our department is a 250 member career department. We work 24 hr. shifts. The minimum on duty suppression strength is 44. Our policy is for mandatory company level training on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Unfortunately, most of this training is done "on paper". Specialized training for the entire department is done at any time the Training Division schedules it. This usually includes annual refresher training in CPR/EMS 1st. Responder and Haz-Mat FRO. That's because it is mandated by law. Other department-wide training usually revolves around new equipment such as our recent aquisition of three TICs. We have very few multi-company drills and after recruit training, no live fire exercises. Unfortunately, we have very minimal training facilities and a training budget that is a total sham. It has always been a good place to put money at the beginning of the fiscal year only to later transfer the funds to other line items. I feel this contributes to poor and inadequate training and a feeling by many members that if the training is lousy, why bother? Members who desire training at agencies outside of the department must pay for it out of their own pocket. They must also go on their own time. If they are scheduled to work they must use their personal leave or get a mutual swap for their shift. There is no compensation by the city for any of this. Until a real committment is made by the powers that be to provide meaningful training and adequate facilities, I don't see our members changing their negative attitudes toward this most important aspect of firefighting. On the other hand, those few that want to learn for their own benefit will continue to do so regardless of cost and inconvenience.

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Mike Gentili
New Bedford Fire Dept.

[fyrescue]

We are a small suburban/rural department of 35 members. We require interior firefighters to train a minimum of 30 hours each year. This includes 8 hours of manditory health & safety refresher, quarterly scba drills, annual scba endurance testing, and annual mask fit testing. We provide a minimum of 3 drills a month. 2 are various firefighter skills or apparatus training and the third is a regular monthly RIT drill. We have been doing dedicated RIT drills for almost a year and have just begun training with our mutual aid departments. These are all in-house. We attend several regional seminars and workshops almost every month. So if you add it up we provide 3-4 training opportunities each month.

Most of our active firefighters complete many more than the minimum, averaging around 75 hours each year. The problem is we have 5-6 members who just make there minimum of 30 hours. It also puts a greater workload on our trainers trying to get these people through their requirements. It's a battle every year to keep everyone up to speed.

Be Safe!

Mike

[Tom Ryan]

First let me say that we are a large department with 250+ fire fighters, seven stations that protects an area just under 800 square miles. We have a full time staffed training division of 4 which I am the chief. All our fire fighters receive on average 24 hrs of training each month. Our trainig is scheduled monthly and falls into two main areas - proficiency and specialized.
Proficiency training covers subjects we have identified to maintain knowledge, skills and abilities that are required based on the duties of a crew i.e. building construction, fire behavior, fire attack, safety, ect. Specialized training covers areas such as HAZMAT, Specialized Rescue, Terrorism, Confined Space Operations and EMT. We also have a very progresive certification program that reqiures all to be certified to the level of their position - Firefighter II, Airport Firefighter, Driver Operator, Fire Instructor I,II,III, Fire Officer I, II, III and IV, Fire Inspector I, II and III.

Our Chief is very progessive in wanting all his officers at Batt Chief and above to attend some sort of national training every two years and the Training Division works very hard at getting courses sponsored locally for most of our fire fighters to attend.

We have formed a joint training group made up of most of the fire department in our county that sponsor training events in the local areas that pools the resources and knowledge available that helps to present training to all area department at little or no cost. This has help to get needed training made available on a regular basis.

We are able to all this in spite of being a very busy department with just over 4,000 calls last year alone. By working together with other departments we are able to maintain a very active training comittment.

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[Lieutenant Gonzo]

We do a lot of the specialized stuff, such as trench rescue, ice rescue, hazmat recertifcation, etc. and EMS training, it's the "bread and butter" training that we don't do enough of.

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Take care and stay safe...Lt. Gonzo

[This message has been edited by Lieutenant Gonzo (edited March 04, 2000).]

[Lt.Todd]

Thanks for all of your replies.