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Comment by thomas blackmon on March 3, 2010 at 1:44am

tanks to those who have commented... everything has been helpful

Comment by Norman E. Flanders on February 27, 2010 at 6:29pm

I have listed a few ideas that should help you in your quest for training ideas. I've reported these ideas before on FFN. Have got great comments and requests as a result of the answer to the post.

* Check with what your state has to offer for in-state fire service training.

* Check with the National Fire Academy for any in-state/neighboring state classes that they offer.

* I will get training ideas from FIREHOUSE.COM, FIREENGINEERING.COM, FIREFIGHTERCLOSECALLS.COM and other web sites. Great places for information and drill downloads.

* We do inter-department drills with our surrounding mutual aid departments. These have been very successful especially when it comes to RIT. My department hosted a RIT training class and exercise. We used a mobile home for training. Great place to train with confined space. We have also do SCBA training. It's unlimited as to what you can do.

* We have visited our local EMS/Mutual Aid Dept's. for training on their equipment. Covering vehicle layout, compartment contents, and vehicle operation. Great way for PR and inter-departmental interaction. Some day you may be asked to get a widget and you'll know where to find it.

* Each year we tour our local businesses and manufacturing facilities as part of community pre-planning. Great for PR. We have also done simulated fires /emergencies at some of these businesses. Have put FF in the buildings for search & rescue.
We do prearrange these with the business, go over our goals and plans. We give each business a guide sheet that covers the important stuff, { see below}.You be amazed at the positive responses and how happy they are that we take the time to tour and train at their facility.

* I even have had our surrounding mutual aid departments tour the key facilities in our town. This is done for two reasons. One is for mutual aid response and the other is for mutual aid coverage. If they are covering my town I want them to be aware of where their going and what they may have to respond to.

* Table Top exercises. I have downloaded many photo's of fires, MVA's, etc. for training purposes. These photos are then assigned an incident type, given a location, what is available for equipment & manpower.....then you are the IC.
To make it more interesting another incident may be added while en route or while trying to control this one.
{ I have these for use if you want some.....see below}.

* Area Familiarization. Nothing is more important than "KNOWING" your own community. This should include street/road names, key points of interest, water sources; winter/summer supplies, local businesses, do you have handicapped residence that need special attention, do they have O2, ask your members to really look at your community and list what they see on the ride to work/home, share what they have listed, etc.

* Ask your local fire investigator to give a class on 'METH LAB AWARENESS or SCENE PRESERVATION" Very important items for the fire service. If you set up the class ask your surrounding departments if they have anyone who'd like to attend. Great for inter-dept. PR.

If you want any of the photos I've downloaded with drills e-mail me at nrs5f@comcast.net and I'll send you out a few along with the check sheet.

I hope this helps you in your request for training ideas.
Best of luck in your quest to better train.

Stay safe, train often and share knowledge. Norm

Comment by Ron King (Fire Chief) on February 26, 2010 at 7:39am

Thomas, Take all the training you can get. Your state will have a lot of classes you can take free. I have never taken a class that I did not learn something. Go into each class you take with a open mind. Stay Safe and most of all lookout for number one.