Training Ideas

Looking for training ideas for a combination volunteer/full time dept. theres 5 full time guys on shift and normally around 10 or so volleys that show up. looking for good training ideas that are hands on and fairly easy to setup/execute with limited facilitys as far as something like a training tower and such.

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Permalink Reply by DAVID GONZALEZ on May 22, 2012 at 5:12am

Well it should be based on what type of department your is rural or just city. My department trains by season like this season is wildland next season would be about all about fire protection supression seach and rescue. And always have a medical session

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Permalink Reply by Trey Ford on May 22, 2012 at 2:44pm

A regular training we do with little time is just black out our masks and do search and rescue training. We also go out and spray water a lot and practice pulling up on scene and knowing what to do immediately. Nothing in depth, but important.

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Permalink Reply by ashfire on May 23, 2012 at 7:43am

I would say train for the area you respond in and the areas you are next due to respond to.

Know what types of calls you get regularly and the unexpected.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Callahan on May 23, 2012 at 1:29pm

Sit down and make a list of the fireground tasks that you are likely to perform This is referred to as a Skills Inventory. Be specific as to residental/commercial, hose size, crosslay or dead load, etc..

First identify the tasks that your personnel most commonly perform, and again be specific Examples may be pulling specific hose loads for sopecific occupancies ( 1 3/4" or 2 1/2"; single story, 2nd floor, 3rd floor, from a standpipe, extended stretches, etc) or specific vehicle extrication skills (popping doors, windshield removal, etc). These will be the bread and butter tasks that should be reviwed periodically but do not have to be addressed frequently as they are being performed as part of the job on a regular basis .

Then identify the skills that you perform less frequently, but are likely to perform based on your area such as commercial operations, complex vehicle extrication, etc. Rapid Intervention would likely fall into this catagory. These are the skills that you should train on most often as there is a high liklihood that you may need to perform it on your next run, or it deals with firefighter safety and rescue, but it's not something that gets worked on as a normal course of duty during responses.

Then identify the skills that based on what you have in your district, you may have to perform but it's likely a low frequency/low liklihood event. Examples may be train operations if you railroads or water rescue if you have limited bodies of water. Yes, they could be used, and they need attention, but in terms of liklihood of needing to be performed, they are at the bottom of the list, so they do not require the training frequency on #2, then #1.

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Permalink Reply by Don Catenacci on May 23, 2012 at 3:14pm

I have started doing scenario based training. One of the POC FDs I am on has a forcible entry simulator so the other day we did a drill with a forcible entry crew forcing the door, an attack team entering and crawling around thrucks in the bay to the front of the station to hit a cone with the stream, while the forcible entry team set up and ran the PPV fan.

Make the training relevant, fun (not always so possible), and keep them a reasonable time span. I generally shoot for between 1 and 2 hours.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Callahan on May 23, 2012 at 4:05pm

We looked at a couple of simulators at FDIC.

What brand do you have? Could you share the good and the bad?

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Permalink Reply by Don Catenacci on May 23, 2012 at 5:48pm

Home made by a couple of guys on my #2 POC FD.

If you want pictures let me know I will post them.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Callahan on May 23, 2012 at 9:18pm

Sounds like a great idea.

We have a couple of metal workers and welders that likely could fabricate it.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Callahan on May 23, 2012 at 9:20pm

I nkow the biggest issue with training is speed, especially donning PPE, especially in my VFD.

I talked to the the other person who handles training with me and we brainstormed some ideas for increasing their overall speed and attention to detail. The firefighters are very young and inexperienced and really need to be kicked in the butt for them to move quicker during training..

Training Ideas

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