The Cumberland Valley Volunteer Firemen’s Association was awarded a Fire Prevention and Safety Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to continue lifesaving and injury prevention strategies for firefighters working on the roadways helping others. The competitive grant is part of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program. The grant of $396,000 will allow the CVVFA Emergency Responder Safety Institute (ERSI) to produce a number of new free learning modules. Almost 2,000 students are participating in the network by taking the tested modules that help train them to be safer while helping others on the highway.
All RSLN curriculum is carefully vetted by a blue ribbon team of consultants that include the foremost experts on roadway incident scene safety and traffic control. Because roadway safety is a multidisciplinary problem, ERSI has enlisted professionals from the law enforcement, transportation, towing and recovery industry, government as well as the fire service.
Each module is validated to current best practices as included in the draft NFPA 1091 Traffic Control and Incident Management Professional Qualification Standard, the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2), and the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management (NUG). Plans are to include all material from these source documents in a format of 20-30 minute tested modules. Student feedback on existing modules has been positive.
ERSI cooperating partners include the United States Fire Administration, the US Department of Justice, the Federal Highway Administration, the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), the National Fire Protection Association, the International Fire Training Association (IFSTA), the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) Everyone Goes Home Program, the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) as well as a number of state and local fire service organizations. ERSI is currently seeking sponsorship for addition modules in both the public and private sectors.
The RSLN is produced by Stonehouse Media of Lambertville NJ. Students may register at no charge through Respondersafety.com. Learning Network modules may be taken 24/7 on any device that accesses the internet via a broadband connection. The highly secure platform maintains student records, administers tests and prints certificates upon successful completion of each module.
