BY JONATHON STEED
There are many methods for training firefighters on the uses and operations of tower ladders and aerial ladders. Much of this training involves simply dropping the outriggers, setting the outriggers, and raising the bucket or ladder to a few positions. Considering the variety of uses for these apparatus and the urgency with which they are needed, an operator should be required to undertake much more complex and in-depth training.
First, do not overlook the basics. Before the trainee even sits in the driver’s seat, he had better know the location of every tool on the truck, how to use it properly and efficiently, and when to use it. In addition, if one tool won’t complete the job, a firefighter should know which alternate tools can also accomplish the task. Often, the apparatus driver is called on to retrieve tools for the crew and to perform odd jobs by himself.
Also, take time to perfect the trainee’s skills in throwing and extending a portable ladder alone and with the help of others. Remember, it is often quicker and easier to get a portable ladder in position than to get the apparatus set up and “flying” to an objective. This is especially true when rescuing individuals from windows or other areas within reach of a portable ladder.
Ensure that the trainee is at least proficient in the art of ventilation-vertical and horizontal, the tools used, the required communication between inside and outside crews, and mechanical aspects regarding positive and negative pressures.
Do not assume as a trainer that your trainee knows how to use every tool. Trust the trainee’s experience, but verify the knowledge base. Many departments will use previously developed trainee checklists to verify a knowledge base or use standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure the operator’s skill set is sufficient for that department. If these are in place for your department, use them. If such measures are not in place, create a standard checklist of a set of skills that the officers and senior chauffeurs feel are important.
Ensure your operator is skilled and competent in the following basic operations: driving, setting the outriggers and the pads, extending the ladder, flowing water through the ladder pipe, and so forth. Once the driver has mastered the basics, increase the difficulty level.
DRIVING SKILLS
It is no secret that the size and length of an aerial truck present driving hazards that are less common with smaller apparatus such as pumpers. Consider setting up a simple cone course with multiple driving scenarios. Doing this in an empty parking lot allows the driver to gain a great sense of driving the apparatus with no risk to others since it is in an unpopulated area. You won’t need to ask around very long before you hear stories from drivers who have made too-sharp turns and scraped the sides of cars with the truck’s back end. In apparatus driver training, developing the trainee’s awareness of his surroundings is paramount; if a driver is not aware of his surroundings at all times, it is only a matter of time before an accident occurs. Train your driver in the correct procedure of turning by easing out slowly and making a wide enough turn to avoid all obstacles. Once the driver sees the tandem axle clear an obstruction in the mirror, he can complete the turn and clear the obstruction.
Make sure the trainee doesn’t get ahead of himself; it is very common to see new drivers get excited when the lights and siren are activated when responding to an incident. Sometimes the best thing a new driver can have is an officer sitting next to him simply to say, “Slow down and relax, kid,” if needed. I hear this regularly when I drive. It is still beneficial; we all get excited from time to time. It is just as important for the officer to know when to back off as it is to know when to supervise the driver. Let the driver drive; when he feels pressured by a glaring officer, the performance will likely suffer. Ask any of my fellow firefighters-whenever I’m by myself, I can back the truck into the bay as straight as an arrow. But when the chief is watching me, I back in like a first timer, and crooked. Whether you are driving the truck to a huge conflagration or to a recurring automatic fire alarm, you must use the same driving technique-calm, safe, and deliberate.
When your driver starts picking up on the basics of driving, tell him. Ensure that you tell the trainee directly that his driving skills are improving and he’s doing a good job. There is nothing more aggravating to an officer or crew than a driver who lacks confidence. When a driver is not sure of himself, it is painfully obvious to everyone in the truck. It makes the crew nervous and even affects company pride when your chauffeur drives poorly. Get your driver skilled in driving and then positively reinforce his accomplishments to create a sense of confidence. This will carry over while he is in the driver’s seat. Some departments will allow new drivers to drive to less urgent emergency calls to accustom them to the activated siren and to improve their emergency response driving techniques. This may work for your department, too.
CAB CONTROLS
The driver should have extensive knowledge of the gauges, the switches, and other features inside the cab. He should especially know the proper voltmeter and air pressure gauge readings and continually monitor them. Also, the driver should be aware that using the air horn constantly can quickly reduce the reserve tank’s air capacity in some apparatus and add more concerns with the response. Insist that the trainee pay special attention to the air brakes and the significance of monitoring them. Teach him about the potential need for brake adjustments if the apparatus is losing more than 10 pounds per square inch (psi) per brake application. Make sure he knows when not to use the engine retarder braking system and where the activation switch is located. These features assist with braking through the engine and are designed to reduce unnecessary wear on the air brakes. Instruct the driver trainee not to use these devices in wet or slippery weather to prevent the loss of traction and wheel slippage. Remember, some apparatus require that the engine retarders be disabled before the power takeoff can be used.
When I first started driving the engine, I forgot the location of the windshield defroster switch on a night when I desperately needed it. Make sure your trainee REALLY knows where everything is located. My ignorance was embarrassing and surely did not make the other five guys riding with me feel very secure and confident in me. It seems like every three-year-old who sits in the truck during a station tour manages to find the lights and siren switches within about three seconds. I’m sure your trainee will, too. But you must ensure that he knows the location of the more important cab controls, such as the defroster, the mirror adjustment, and the power takeoff switches. With today’s wraparound and overhead dashboards and electric monitoring systems, driving is much like operating in an airplane cockpit. Hence, creating a labeled schematic drawing or photo of the cab controls is wise for any apparatus driver training.
AERIAL POSITIONING
Work on the driver’s spacing awareness. Tell the member to start driving, but do not tell the individual where you want him to set up the apparatus. Surprise the trainee by picking a spot on a relatively tight street, and tell him to stop and set up for a building you choose. Pick a street with outrigger obstructions such as cars. See if your driver can position the apparatus to avoid obstructions or get in between them. There are numerous ways to make it easier to judge the length of a fully extended outrigger. A common method is to extend a six-foot hook from a predetermined spot on the side of the apparatus to quickly gauge where the outrigger will need to settle. Think of this as a beginner’s mark and a reference tool. With some practice, there will usually be little need for this kind of assistance. Since many apparatus have different jack extension distances, the spot from which to determine the minimum width needed for the extended outrigger will depend on the manufacturer.
Also ensure that the trainee knows the length of the closed boom when it is perpendicular to the apparatus; this determines how close or far away the chauffeur will have to place the apparatus from a structure or an object. Do this so that whenever the driver drives the aerial, he is paying constant attention to his surroundings. One of the signs of a good aerial operator is the ability to size up his surroundings quickly and thread the outriggers around obstructions. This will take a substantial amount of practice and can take years to truly build this skill level. Don’t let your trainees get discouraged.
TIMED DRILLS
After accounting for the basics, set up timed drills. Challenge the driver to perform certain tasks in a given amount of time. Do not set the member up for failure, but give him timed goals and allow him to improve on those goals with consistent practice. Before doing this, consider where you can set up a timed drill. It may not be the wisest idea to put pressure on your driver to set up quickly on a street crowded with cars. Set up timed drills in an area of little consequence, such as in an empty parking lot or behind a business after hours. This is not an advanced training lesson; it is more a concept of further improving on the basic skills (photo 1).
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| (1) Photos by author. |
When setting up timed exercises, make sure that you tell the trainee that although efficiency is important, take an extra minute to angle the truck correctly so that you can achieve the greatest coverage area with the boom, which can save an hour’s worth of work later. Typically in the fire service, we favor the corners of buildings, which can aid us in maneuverability, enable us to transport the roof crew to an adjacent building, cover two sides of a building for access, perform rescue or horizontal ventilation, and usually keep the apparatus out of the collapse zone. Stimulate the trainee’s thought about “advantaged parking.” On pulling up to any given building, the operator should ask, among other things, “What is the advantage of parking and setting up here? Where can I set up to achieve maximum efficiency and potential from my aerial device?” There is no correct answer as to where or how to set up every time; the advantages for the operator will present themselves differently at every incident. The operator who can spot and use these advantages will be more efficient.
DEPTH PERCEPTION DRILLS
Another sign of a good aerial operator is a developed sense of depth perception while extending the aerial from the turntable. Take the time to develop this. An excellent exercise for new aerial operators is to take your aerial to a wide open space with no or few obstructions to operate in; again, a parking lot will suffice. Tie a rope five to 20 feet long from the bucket or tip of the aerial device with a gallon jug full of whatever you have lying around at the end. Place a box, a shopping cart, a few traffic cones, or whatever you have on the ground. Have the trainee fly the aerial from the turntable and put the water jug into the box on the ground by using his depth perception. The objective is to build the member’s skill, confidence, and competency in operating from the turntable position (photos 2, 3).
As the trainee improves on his depth perception, place the box meant to catch the jug farther and farther away from the operator at the turntable. Then, place the box on a roof near the edge and in other difficult spots. This exercise also works well when the trainee is working from the bucket. In time, the operator will need to make fewer and fewer adjustments to place the jug in the box. Use this as a gauge to determine how much progress your trainee is making in developing his depth perception. Developing this skill is absolutely essential, and it will be used in a number of fireground scenarios, such as operating the ladder pipe from the turntable.
AERIAL PLACEMENT DRILLS
In addition, do not neglect training on the different placement positions for the tip or the bucket. For example, demonstrate the proper positioning techniques for making a window rescue for a conscious victim and for an unconscious one; for window ventilation with the tip and out of the bucket; for vent-enter-search; and for any other operation relevant to your department. Have your trainees participate in all aspects of what you teach. If you are teaching a bucket window removal of an unconscious victim, for example, the generally accepted standard is to line up the floor of the bucket with the windowsill for a smooth transition of the victim into the floor of the bucket. Also, practice the window removal of a conscious victim. The generally accepted standard is to raise the ladder in line with the objective but out of reach of the victim. This is done so that the conscious victim in a panicked state of mind will not be able to jump onto an aerial device that is not ready to accept him. Once the bucket is set to accept the victim, the bucket floor should line up with the floor of the building so that the victim can step over the sill and into the bucket. Have your trainee position the aerial for these rescue scenarios from the turntable and have a member in the bucket to make the rescue. In another evolution, switch roles, and place the trainee making the rescue at the tip. This will reinforce the purpose of placing the aerial where it is at the windowsill and will allow the trainee to practice different roles.
It may even be helpful in training for you to make an error for your trainee’s benefit. For example, if during the unconscious victim removal from building-to-bucket scenario, you are at the turntable and you purposely set up short of the target area, it will demonstrate the need for the trainee to get it right the next time when he is in control of the turntable. This also shows the trainee how much more difficult it can be to make the rescue without ideal positioning. As an operator, the trainee may find himself working alone in making a rescue. He will need all the help he can get, starting with proper bucket positioning.
It is the officer and senior chauffer’s responsibility to ensure that all aerial drivers and operators are substantially more than just competent at operating the aerial device. To the officer training your new members on the aerial device, take your time. If your department does not have an established SOP on training new operators, take time to think about what is most important for him to know about where you serve. Also, use your imagination. Some of the most effective training tips I have picked up were learned from driver trainers who had time on their hands and thought up creative ideas to effectively teach students. Most of these techniques are also simple and cheap, such as the water jug depth perception drill, developed by the staff of the Wyomissing Fire Department in Reading, Pennsylvania.
For the firefighter trainee, do not get discouraged. Firefighters are notorious for their reluctance to display weaknesses. No one is born a great aerial operator. If you have recently begun this training or will soon, realize that the aerial operator position is an intensely dynamic one that requires years of experience to truly develop proficiency. While behind the wheel or operating the ladder device, take a few seconds and think about what you want to accomplish with your next action. This can help you tremendously. Do not forget that basic principle that teachers always told you-practice makes perfect. Go out and train on the apparatus, and at your next false fire alarm drop your outriggers and set up. No one will say anything about it; establish a routine, and it will begin to become second nature. It’s also just a good habit to get into. Look at your buildings and decide where the best place to set up is so when you come back you can impress your crew by having your own personal preplan. Stay positive, train like you mean it, and use the truck to maximize its effective use on the fireground, and you will be the chauffeur that every crew wants to see in the driver’s seat.
JONATHON STEED has served in the fire service for five years and is a training officer for the Woodlawn Fire Department in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Previously, he served as a lieutenant and a live-in member for the Wyomissing Fire Department in Reading, Pennsylvania. Steed serves as a fire marshal for Boston University and has a bachelor’s degree in fire administration from the University of New Haven.
