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Training Ideas
Ok we area a small County Volunteer fire Department, and we have a few older guys that have been on the department for a long time, but we have a lot of really dedicated cadets (16-18) who show up at fire training on a regular basis. we have thought about spliting the two of them in to groups that way they are working on diff levels and the experianced group are not going things we go over and over and over. just looking for ideas for experianced and new people as well. and do you think its a good idea to have them split in to two diff groups? any one that can help please please help me out thanks.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by George Shaw on
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Don't overlook the advantage of mixing youthful energy and time tested experience on the same training team. I have first hand seen this young energy boost the efforts of a vetran. You also have the novice questions being asked, and the vetrans having to explain skills which can stimulate thinking and discussing that may have not happened otherwise.
Im ok with the going over, and over, and over basic skills. Hall of Fame caliber professional baseball players start every season in training camp, play several per-season games just to prepare to play the game they have played their entire life. There will never be too much repitition of basic fundamental skills, I don't care how vetran your members are.
Our Cadets train one night a week, every week. The dept vol members train once a month. We use the week prior to dept training to prep the Cadets to be ready to fit in the following week. This also gives our training officer the chance to fine tune his drill so things go smoothly when the vols are in the following week. Nothing breaks the training focus more than poor preperation or organization. The Cadets are much more foregiving and have helped us raise the quality of dept training by being able to practice training drills.
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Permalink Reply by Forsaken Firefighter on
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We have a firefighter challenge coming up and we have been practicing for it. We get in teams of two and we have to- Get geared up with air pack (no mask) as fast as we can, then the rest of the time we stay in gear (with no air packs) and throw two lines out get them hooked to a truck and the nozzle on and flow water. Then we need to drain and roll the lines back up and put them away in the fasted time. We then have to take a charged line and push a keg so far with the stream. I can not think of the other things we are going to do other then the tug of war. I mention this because it might be a good thing to see who knows how to and is fit enough to do this.... That might be one way to split them up.
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Permalink Reply by Capt./Chaplain Mike Petrosky on
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First, don't split them based on their levels of knowledge. Put them together, let them learn from one another. Those old "salty" guys on the dept. learned things one way and the new generation learns things a totally different way, guaranteed. You may want to make squads or platoons for training. Have a veteran in charge of training so many newer guys. Have all the platoons train on the same subject for the same amount of time and then have a little friendly dept. competition to who can take "bragging rights" until the next time. Right now we are doing VES ( vent enter search ) techniques. This is great for us that have been around for a while and for the new ones that have may never have tried this. Mask confidence is another great skill builder. Do ANYTHING that enforces the basics and then build on that.
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Permalink Reply by Norm Tindell on
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All good ideas. What about pairing them up one-on-one as "big brothers" and cadets? As you teach and run drills the mentors can work with their partners to hone their skills.
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That is a d@^* good idea Norm....
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Permalink Reply by Chris Watson on
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i saw someone say "practice makes perfect"... but thats not true. "perfect practice makes perfect" is more accurate
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Raley WBFR306 on
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the problem we are havig is that we have about 10 cadets that show up just about every thursday, and we have about 4 vet. firemen that show up we have almost 30 people on our roster, but when the calls start pooriong out seems like everyone wants to come running on a house fire or wreck, trying to get more people involved in training to. just trying to come up with some ideas to get more people a little more active and keep them active I guess. this is helping me out a lot thank yall so much if anyone has any more good ideas please please let me know.
Thanks,
D. Raley 312
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I've had one other idea. Have local merchants donate small things like gift certificates and dinners for two. Give away a door prize at the beginning of each training meeting. Maybe a couple more will show up --- and on time, too.
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Permalink Reply by Richard Armstrong on
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An old timer once told me that if the day comes when you think you know it all about firefighting it's time to retire because your going to get yourself killed.I live by those words.But i hear the senior guys piss and moan about why do I have to hook to a hydrant why do i have to practice get my gear on as fast as I can and in a way I see what they are saying but when the time comes to do this things you see them struggle with it but heaven forbid if you ever called them on it.
Generally the new guy is willing to learn all he can learn and will be very attentive.It's the senior ones that need their interests peeked.We started getting a sattelite image off the internet and put it up on the screen of any building in our area and then brain storm how it would be attacked truck placement and so forth and the senior guys did get involved and I'll tell ya it's amazing with what you come up with and what you realize what is around that building and how close things are.There is alot of stuff going on that you don't see from the ground.This excercise really opened alot of eyes as to what kind of hazards you would face if this place ever had a fire.
We also had the bonus of being donated an abandoned house that we could go to and practice ventilation on the roof and we would lite contained fires and fill the place with smoke and heat and practice search and rescue.I realize this is not available to everyone but you never know maybe your department could ask around or look for them while your driving around and ask owners if you see them.
Me and another guy on our department get scrap cars and have the guys out to cut them up turn them over simulate different accidents and then practice auto ex.Guys like this to and it's a no risk stop n think n plan session that gives new guys the chance to run the tools and the old guys to give tips everyone gets the chance to get involved at one level or another.
Just a few here if I get time to get some more to you I will later.
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Permalink Reply by Brian Roupp on
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http://www.vententersearch.com/?p=767 here is a phenominal idea my company started doing and this is the exact video we used to build it and he provides numerous way to use this amazeing device its called a window prop! my company loves this
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Permalink Reply by Stephen Shaw on
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We had all our F/F take FF 1 and 2. Even our older group went to this. The older ones due have experience, use it up and have some help teach.
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Permalink Reply by FETC on
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Two words- Terrible Idea.
Training continuity is one of the biggest challenges some training officers have. I have seen some departments with time contraints (answering calls while training) or financial burden (lack of funding) to afford having department wide training, therefore they decided to do shift or half and half at a time.
Your continuity of training will suffer and will easily translate to poor fireground combined tactics within your own department on calls in which the entire department responds.
Not too mention the cultural split for which you will have sponsored will make the generational gap even larger. There are many things the older members need to refresh on, while you get the cadets up to speed, then buld off that foundation for advanced level training. It is also good for confidence and team building aspects.
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