Training in a small Volunteer Dept

Im a line officer with a small rural volunteer dept. Recently it was brought to my attention that some of my guys are getting bored with training. Does anyone have any new training ideas that may catch the attention of my dept?

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Permalink Reply by David Francis on December 16, 2010 at 3:16am

This maybe off the wall but it gives you some ideas on what you can do to keep your guys attention. Try bing and type in flashover tv. They have a section on training videos that other dept do blah blah blah, I watch it often when i am at work to pass the time by, also it has other videos on the there from on scene an you can have your guys watch them and pick out the do's and don'ts from other dept, good rainy day material.

Permalink Reply by christopher rampacek on December 21, 2010 at 10:41pm

can you send the your jeopardy game to me also. please send to littledozers@aol.com. thanks

Permalink Reply by Jason Partin on January 5, 2011 at 3:58am

Can I please have a copy of your jeopardy game also. I think this would be a great way to get my older members fired up again. jpartin98@yahoo.com....Thanks

Permalink Reply by CHIEF 802 on January 6, 2011 at 12:16pm

Here's a couple classes we have done recently. I got my ideas from sites like these.
Members Donn there SCBA where a blackout, (We turn our Hoods Around), put on there gloves and must search the bay floor looking for an assortment of mixed nuts and bolts. Trying to put 1/4" bolts and nuts together with gloves is tough. For more enjoyment I inserted different sizes ,some of which fit nothing they had. Lag bolts work real well although they try there hardiest to screw nuts on them. Now we all have the guys with the cell phones who want to interrupt the class or the ones who want to horseplay. Our rules were talk all you want , make all the noise you want you just aren't allowed to touch the participants. We even had the leaf blowers. The guys really enjoyed the training and all got involved and as the night went on the ones who usually make all the noise were wore out and quite for a change.
We also did a TIC class and did a search and rescue at a local park along the river. I was again able to get the ones who disrupt the class away from the main group by using them as guinea pigs. I just had them go hide and we would find them. We got great hands on with the camera's and had most everyone's attention for the class.

Permalink Reply by CHIEF 802 on January 6, 2011 at 12:16pm

This works really well.

Permalink Reply by Arthur S Collatz on March 1, 2011 at 12:39pm

I have a different problem, I have no shortage of training topics / ideas. My problem is how do you get people to understand that training is important, and that even though we are a small town, bad stuff can happen. They all have the adittude that nothing ever happens here, or that it always happens to somebody else. They dont show up for trainings or meetings but at a call they are always the first to question why things were done a certian way or feel things should be done their way. HELP...... I do I get thru to them?

Permalink Reply by Lyle Holland on March 19, 2011 at 3:16pm

Jason If you could send your Jeopardy program to me I would be greatfull. Past Chief Lyle Holland lyleholland@hotmail.com

Permalink Reply by Tim Fain on March 22, 2011 at 9:38am

Jason, If I could get a copy of the jeopardy game. I am always looking for new ideas. my email is tfain@olivettemo.com

thanks

Permalink Reply by ian wilcox on April 16, 2011 at 11:51pm

we also have a small department,we set up training for a certain night and then go through with it,the ones that show up then tell the others what we did and then the others show up the next time because they don't want to be left out,after a call we have a debriefing where any topics or concerns can be brought up when the people who didn't show up question anything the I.C. tells them that is the procedure that we train for,hope that helps

Permalink Reply by Rich Rattazzi on April 20, 2011 at 8:48pm

I am a big fan of back to basics.

Every member should know and understand there rigs and the tools on them. Go back to basic size up, then next month basic eng. ops. hooking into hydrants, estimating lengths needed for stretches. proper hoseline advances. which size hose to use 1 3/4 or 2 1/2. Fog tip or smooth bore. what to do if there is water loss. Go
through these scenarios hands on. test your eng. chaf. knowledge on water loss. drafting,in line pumping, different types of hose lays.

The next month basic truck ops, forcible entry, pri. and sec. searches, wall breeching, portable ladders (each member should be able to est. size ladder needed and with in reason deploy it themselves). Different types of Extinguishers and types of fires used on. All to often you see guys bringing a water can to an electrical incident. Search Rope, Fast Truck ops, Venting Both verticle and horizontal. Overhaul how to do it properly. Test your Lad. chauf. in rig placement and operation

Then 4 times a year have a full scale drill at an undisclosed location put all your training into motion. You will see what you have to work on. Both at FF level and officer level. Critique it when finished.

Permalink Reply by Joshua Clouse on April 20, 2011 at 9:57pm

Ah, that's the problem we all have. We had a fire a month or so ago where two kids died. Many of the guys are asking for training now that something like that happened. I am not saying that's what needs to happen, but I have the same problem myself. In my last department it took a culture change. Our chief and the other officers decided to hold members accountable. That's the key. We set up a schedule for training and told the guys you better get it done or you will not be allowed to respond. The initial problem was the old "but we are just volunteers". I then told them to prove to me that fire burns differently in our town than it does in New York City. None of them could so now I don't hear that comment anymore.

Permalink Reply by Emmett on April 29, 2011 at 9:37pm

I pulled this exercise prior to out wildland fire season. Good comments by our 12 participants. I dispatched vehicles all over the community, they were to look for a fire site indicated with a stake and flagging. They were to then setup and discharge 20% of water load, call the IC that they had accomplished mission. A water tender was then dispatched to their location and the tender operators refilled the pumper/brush unit. The crews then swapped vehicles. The IC then re-dispatched both to different locations where the same scenario was repeated. Note: The IC needs an assistant and a white board to keep track of the actions!

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