QUALITY TRAINING: ONE APPROACH
BY EDDIE BUCHANAN
The fire service is made up of roughly 80 percent volunteer or paid on-call firefighters. These volunteers face growing responsibilities at home and on the job that limit the time they can dedicate to the increasing training requirements of today`s fire service. Departments must find ways to fit the training around the volunteers` busy schedules if they expect to recruit and retain volunteers.
THE HANOVER COUNTY APPROACH
The Hanover County (VA) Fire Department has developed a program to better meet this growing challenge. Currently, the training staff consists of two full-time and two volunteer instructors, who are responsible for meeting the training needs of the more than 500 volunteer firefighters in the county. The program is divided into three major categories: recruit, intermediate, and specialty firefighter.
New Recruit Training
New recruits must first complete the 24-hour Fireground Operations course. Offered every six weeks, it provides an orientation to the fire department. A volunteer training officer, who schedules volunteer instructors from around the county to teach the various classes, manages the course. This system frees the training staff to manage other program areas.
When developing the program, we asked, “What is the absolute minimum training a new volunteer can have and still be of some benefit on the fireground?” We used NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) 1403, Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions–1997, as the basis for establishing minimum training requirements. The standard presents the minimum training requirements needed before a firefighter can safely participate in “live fire” training evolutions. This minimal level of training gives re-cruits a basic understanding of fire department operations and allows them to act in a support role on the fireground.
This approach enhances firefighter safety and volunteer retention. New members can feel that they are more of a part of the organization while waiting for the next available firefighter certification course to begin.
Recruit training consists of, but is not limited to, the following:
fire department orientation;
infectious disease control;
fire behavior;
self-contained breathing apparatus;
forcible entry;
ventilation;
rescue;
safety;
ladders;
fire hose, nozzles, and appliances; and
fire streams.
The course concludes with a live burn evolution, which gives recruits the chance to put their new skills to use. On successfully completing this course and a written test, the new recruits are issued their personal turnout gear and may then report to their designated stations. They return to the training center when the next firefighter certification course begins.
INTERMEDIATE FIREFIGHTER TRAINING
The following state-certified classes, offered twice a year, are offered as an intermediate firefighter training package: Firefighter I, Firefighter II, Hazardous Materials–Awareness, and Hazardous Materials–Operations.
Recently, 16 hours of Advanced Firefighter Survival and Rapid Intervention Team training have been added to the basic training program. Students learn from situations that have taken the lives of firefighters in the past. Aggressive and invasive skills are developed and perfected to give the new firefighter every advantage when faced with a life-threatening situation in the field.
The first group of classes starts in January and concludes in June. The second group starts in July and ends in December. Each group takes more than 200 training hours to complete. Classes are taught primarily at night and on weekends, to make the classes more accessible to volunteers. To cut down on overtime, an instructor is on duty from 0800 to 2200 hours daily. One instructor works an 0800 to 1630 shift; the other a 1400 to 2200 shift. To pick up the slack, the volunteer instructors also assist with the night and weekend classes.
SPECIALTY TRAINING
A variety of specialty and management classes, designed to round out the firefighter`s training, are offered throughout the year. These classes include the following:
Emergency Vehicle Operators,
National Fire Academy`s Incident Command System,
National Fire Academy`s three-part Managing Company Tactical Operations, and
National Fire Academy`s Leadership.
To build teamwork among the volunteer firefighters, a variety of team-oriented training opportunities are offered, including live fire training in the Training Center`s burn building and structures acquired for live fire training. Recently, the number of buildings scheduled for demolition in Hanover County has increased tremendously. This type of live fire training provides the engine company with a more realistic challenge than drills conducted at the county`s burn building. Two of the 12 engine companies are scheduled for a burn building evolution in a typical month, providing each company with an opportunity to participate in at least two evolutions each year.
The Training Division also coordinates all training for the county`s Special Operations Response Team, a technical rescue team of fire and EMS personnel that responds throughout the county and provides mutual aid to surrounding jurisdictions. The technical rescue training program consists of the following:
Rope Rescue I, II, III;
Confined Space Rescue;
Trench Rescue; and
Structural Collapse Training.
REGIONAL TRAINING SCHOOL
The Hanover Fire Department also hosts an annual regional training school. Attendance can be anywhere from 300 to 500 students. Specialized training–such as driver/pump operation and aerial operator certification–is offered to firefighters throughout the state. In addition, there is a featured class that addresses an area currently hot in the fire service. In 1997, for example, instructors were brought in to teach the latest in firefighter survival techniques. We have incorporated this vital, life-saving information into a program that will be delivered to other jurisdictions across the state.
Planning for the school takes hundreds of hours to coordinate, beginning in April. It typically requires a staff of 25 to 30 instructors and a support staff of 10. Logistics provide the greatest challenge in hosting this school. A local high school is the training site for the first weekend. Since some of the courses can take up to 40 hours, we must find other locations for the more lengthy classes. The school is advertised across the state as a one-weekend program, but it actually lasts a month. Currently in its 20th year, it is one of the longest running schools in the state.
BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER
Planning and cooperation are key to running such an extensive training program. The training calendar is divided into halves. Each class is planned within the six-month block. Care is taken not to include holidays or other events that will conflict with the schedule. Once the schedule is set, instructors are scheduled far in advance to avoid conflicts such as double booking of classrooms or instructors.
We always keep in mind the type of audience we serve. Recognizing that many volunteer firefighters do not have much time to commit to training, we often repeat the first half-year`s training schedule in the second half of the year so that firefighters may complete their required training while meeting responsibilities at home and work. The key is to establish a schedule and stick to it.
The Hanover Fire Training Division provides more than 20,000 hours of training for more than 700 students each year. Without the assistance of the volunteers themselves, we would not be able to offer the program with the limited number of personnel currently available.
In some localities, the fire service is trying to combat today`s urban fire problems with yesterday`s rural training practices. Volunteer training officers must find ways to navigate these changing times. Since the greater number of firefighters who lose their lives each year in the line of duty are volunteers, it has become necessary to find new ways to “market” fire training. In a time when volunteers have less time to dedicate to training and training requirements for volunteer (and career) firefighters are steadily increasing, efforts must be made to ensure that training classes are properly announced and conducted at times that fit the volunteers` schedule. We must continue to find new ways to provide training to volunteer firefighters without sacrificing the quality of training. For addition information, call (804) 798-7784 or (804) 730-6195; e-mail: hcfdt1@i2020.net; web site: http://websites.i2020.net/~hcfdis.
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Recruits receive an orientation to the fire service in the Fireground Operations course, a 24-hour program designed around NFPA 1403. (Photos courtesy of the Hanover Fire Training Division.)
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Firefighters work through Virginia`s Firefighter Certification program. Care is taken to ensure that students encounter the most realistic scenarios possible.
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Companies train using an acquired structure, providing a more realistic fire scenario.
TABLE 3.
ANNUAL REGIONAL SCHOOL `98 (open to state of Virginia)
Firefighter Survival Techniques
Public Safety Response to Terrorism
Driver/Operator–Pumper
Driver/Operator–Aerial
Haz-Mat–Operations
Incident Command System
Fire Instructor III
Managing Company Tactical
Operations
Structure Fire Class (using an acquired structure)
Vehicle Extrication
Volunteer Management Seminar
–Managing today`s fire service
–Volunteer recruitment and retention
–Counseling volunteer
firefighters
–Budgeting and fund-raising
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Companies conduct evolutions using the Academy`s three-story burn building.
EDDIE BUCHANAN, a 16-year veteran of the fire service, is a lieutenant in the Hanover County (VA) Fire Department and an instructor with the Virginia Department of Fire Programs. He is the coordinator of the county`s fire and technical rescue training programs and serves on the Hanover Safety Steering Committee. He is a former chief and a life member of the Henry (VA) Volunteer Fire Department.
