How much do you train?

[steeler]

Over the past 15 years we have seen less fire calls and more EMS.
We have also seen some of our most expericed people retire, leaving
younger and less experienced people behind. How much does your department train and should training be more of priority?

[resqtek]

We have at least 3 training topics that must be covered each month. The topics are selected by the training division and sent to all stations. We alternate who will give each drill at the station. In addition to that there courses going on at the training academy throughout the year such as pump ops, aerial ops, vehicle ex, and hazmat. There are specialty teams like heavy rescue, high angle, and aquatics which are training constantly. The one thing, however, that we do not spend enough time on is firefighting. I think this is the case on alot of departments from what I've heard. Although there are not as many fires as there used to be, when there is a large fire things are hectic. We have had a very busy year for large fires and the lack of firefighting training has been brought to light. Everything from command and sectorization to simply puttting the wet stuff on the hot stuff, effectively. Hopefully this can be turned around.

[RyanEMVFD]

the firefighters on my dept are required to have at least 30 hours a year. i am currently thinking of upping this amount since i have about 130 hours so far this year. training should have the highest non emergency priority. with the volunteer depts like ours having so much turnover training is needed for the new members and for the older members to remember the basics. we have training once a month with another training chance each month as well. our members are encouraged to attend outside training at neighboring departments also. one of my pet peeves are the older more experienced firefighters who don't think they need to train anymore since they think they know what they are doing.

[nozzleman2]

EMS traing just recert hours,Some Fire/Rescue Training.



FTM-PTB-KTF-EGH-RFB
LEATHER FOREVER

[dmbfn290]

We train twice a week, one morning and one evening minimum. Then there are classes on weekends at the station ,etc. Require 48 hours a year.

[ADSNWFLD]

We train Monday through Saturday from 0900 till 1200. The training division sets the topics and provides instructors. Once in a while we will have additional training to fill a need in the afternoon. Sundays all power tools, haz mat, trt, and scba are inspected and run. Since that also counts for drill I guess we drill every day then.

[HadleyFire]

As a rural paid-on-call department, our NEED for training is probably greater than larger departments, since we get less actual experience. Unfortunately, the reality is that we only train once a month, usually for 3-4 hours. We run into the same problem of the "old-timers" feeling they don't need to train, since they've "been doing it since before I was born" (and I'm pretty close to 40!) What they fail to realize is that the enemy has changed in those 40 years. Even 15 years ago, who would have thought we would have to deal with engineered wood beams that can span 30-40 feet, and yet fail after only 7-10 minutes of fire. With our average response time of 8.5 minutes, that means that floors supported by beams of this style are unsafe before we can even stretch our initial attack lines. These same people reject the idea of a RIT team - it costs too much to implement, and it will delay the interior attack. They're right that it is expensive, and it may delay the attack, but it will also give me a better chance to make sure I get to go home to my family.

[grizfirefighter]

The Grizzlies Fire Department is a high school training program that trains anyone over 16 years old that is willing in, FireFighter 1, First Responder and EMT certs. The participants are training for at least two hours a day on, not only required subjects, things above and beyond what is normally taught. Chief Phil Whitson has been perfecting this program for eight years. The firefighters that complete our program are held to the highest standards we can apply and all are well observed and we certify that all performe abouve and beyond the line of duty.

[bc3batt]

Our new hires are required to attend the State Fire Academy for 11 weeks of training. If they need EMT training that would be added to the 11 weeks. Our on Duty personnel train 2-3 hrs per shift(except Sundays). Most personnel end up with 160+ hrs. of inservice training per year. Some members also take additional training on their off days. With fire numbers being down training is more important now than ever. Train, Train and then Train again.