"Saving Our Own" Training

[Branon Snyder]

Trying to find out any info. on this type of trainig, good or bad. My Dept. would like to get some type of training in firefighter survival and would like to here from some departments that have had this training or something like it. Is this "Saving Our Own" Worth it?

Thanks.

[Halligan84]

Only worth it if you care to teach them how to survive! Staying oriented, wall breeches, rapid exit, disentanglement, etc.. should all become basics at some point taught to every firefighter before they put an SCBA on.

[DeputyChiefGonzo]

My department recently sent 10 firefighters to the Worcester Fire Department's "saving our own" program. They will be training the firefighters on their groups in the art of wall breaching, disentanglement, ladder bails, etc. It's not rocket science...just a review of some of the basics!

[FiremedicMike]

I did that a few months ago, and we did the excersise where you bail out the window face first down a ladder. Good training as far as raising personal comfort level, but I've recently heard comments regarding the safety/validity of this maneuver. I would say any kind of self repel out of a window would be excellent, as well as training related to changing out an SCBA on a downed firefighter in blinding conditions.

[HallwaySledge]

Branon, I have been through three different "Saving Our Own" types of classes. One was what I believe was the original, developed by the Illinois Fire Service Institute at the University of Illinois at Champaign, and the other two were two day classes offered as intro/refresher type classes. Each opportunity was well worth it and I would still sign up to take these classes again. The thing about the classes that I have taken that I really liked was that each course reviewed incidents of FF fatalities or serious injuries, critiqued them in an educational way and then described how things might have been done differently or better and how the resulting training was developed from these incidents. The hands-on portions have all been excellent as well if for nothing else than a confidence booster. I would highly reccomend looking into this training for your department.

[Engine5FF]

In NY it is called "Firefighter Safety and Survival". It is one week of the basic FF class at the state academy. I have been given a few stories from some of the instructors of former students who have come back and told them how somthing they learned in that class saved their life. It is well worth the time and effort to learn.