Company Officer Development
Quality Assurance: As a company officer, you are responsible for the successful training of your crew
By Kurt Ederer



Success in the fire service means providing quality emergency response and great customer service while ensuring the safety of both your firefighters and the public. It means keeping up with technology and staying ahead of the ever-increasing challenges of saving life and property. To do all of these things, you need skilled members who are full of ideas, know the job and understand how to provide quality service. But to obtain those kinds of members, you must ensure they receive quality training.

Whether they’re an entry-level firefighter just starting out or an old salty hand with many years of experience, everyone needs to improve their skills; therefore, training must be made a priority. In my organization, training is considered the highest priority, second only to emergency response capabilities.

Most people don’t relish the thought of doing drills, but keep in mind that proper training brings an added benefit: Research shows that training plays a key role in increased job satisfaction. Two-thirds of employees surveyed throughout the nation said they worked harder as a result of improving their current skills and getting the chance to develop new ones through training. A well-trained, satisfied and motivated workforce results in higher levels of service delivery and a safer work environment.

One Officer’s Routine
The job of ensuring that members receive quality training, even in these extremely tough economic times, falls to the company officer. This position has the strongest influence over the types of training given, how the training is delivered and the development of quality training exercises. If developed correctly, training exercises will not only determine the current competency level of your crew, but also enable you to observe firsthand the overall fitness level of your members.

One of our well-respected company officers requires his probationary firefighters to complete exercises designed to simulate the different tasks a ladder company would perform on the fireground, such as forcible entry and vertical ventilation. In the academy, cadets were allowed to use power tools to complete these tasks; however, under this particular officer’s command, probationary firefighters are required to use normal hand tools to perform the same tasks. Needless to say, the exercises are very challenging, and all the probationary firefighters assigned to this company develop a lot of anxiety over completing the drill. The exercise runs until the firefighters reach complete exhaustion, allowing the company officer to determine what type of work cycle each new firefighter is capable of performing.

It’s important to note that during these exercises, the company officer constantly monitors the physical condition of the firefighters to ensure they don’t over-exert themselves and chance an injury. After completion, the firefighters are allowed to rest, hydrate and enjoy some refreshments. All of this is done to ensure proper rehabilitation of hard-working firefighters.

Although daunting, the experience always receives positive feedback. As a result, the company officer gains valuable information about their crew, and the firefighters themselves come away with a better understanding of their own limitations.

Superman Syndrome
If you recall your training days, as I often do, firefighters usually come out of the academy full of piss and vinegar. Along with a feeling of great accomplishment, we also tend to leave the academy with high aspirations; we believe we’re capable of performing extraordinary feats (a.k.a. “Superman Syndrome”). Although we’re not really superhuman, feeling like we are is actually a positive trait. Firefighting requires aggressiveness. Why? The faster our firefighters make it to the seat of a fire and extinguish it, the faster our problems go away, thus creating a safer emergency scene.

Making Superman Syndrome work in real-life situations is once again the responsibility of the company officer. You receive these freshly trained recruits and have to integrate them into your crew right away. So you must determine how to utilize their skills and how to maintain a healthy level of aggression within them. Success comes when you have to pull back on new firefighters in emergency situations rather than having to kick them in the rear end to get them into the game.

Room for Improvement
So how do you ensure quality training in your department? Many departments have a clear understanding of where improvements are needed, but sometimes it’s difficult to objectively set priorities for specific training needs, especially when you’re in the middle of all the activity. Addressing priorities and root causes of problems isn’t an easy task, but sometimes this burden can be reduced by speaking with the employees in your organization.

We spend the time and effort to recruit, hire and train these personnel because they’re the best available candidates. So why not tap into the intelligence and expertise of employees for their ideas on how to provide optimal training and how best to achieve training goals? You could go even further and ask for input on how to perform training under a tight budget. You might be surprised at some of their creative responses.

Make the Investment
When we invest in our firefighters by providing them with quality training, they feel better about themselves. When my organization provides quality and effective training opportunities, I see the immediate effects on our personnel. They often deal with personal situations in a more positive and productive manner, and they take advantage of opportunities to mentor and help others.

Company officers must take a proactive approach to providing optimal training. The success of your organization will be measured by the trust and satisfaction your community has in the firefighters that protect it—your firefighters. Not sure how well your department is performing? Ask your community for input.

The goal should always be to keep up with technology and stay ahead of the ever-increasing challenges of saving life and property. To do that, you need to provide appropriate training opportunities to improve the skill level of the membership.

Don’t forget that your personnel are your greatest resource. Take the time to develop relationships with them and ask for their opinions. Having satisfied and motivated workers will produce higher levels of service delivery, and a safer work environment in which to perform these duties.

Kurt Ederer has been with the Phoenix Fire Department for more than 22 years, currently assigned as the department’s Research & Development Captain. In addition, he responds to all incidents that elevate to a first alarm or greater. Ederer spent 10 years as a company officer on Engine 15 A-shift, one of the busiest engine companies in the Phoenix metropolitan area. He is an adjunct instructor at Paradise Valley Community College, where he conducts a course called “Supervisory Training for Firefighters.” Ederer holds a bachelor’s degree in public safety administration from Grand Canyon University.