BY KEVIN WILSON
Halfway through dinner at the firehouse, the bells ring, and you are dispatched to a working structure fire at an apartment building. On arrival, you perform a size-up. The complex manager, pointing to the second-floor apartment with heavy smoke coming from the window, tells you, “There is someone in that room!” You grab your tools, head up the stairs, force the door open, then close it immediately. You and your partner are now ready to enter. Receiving the hoseline, you rush inside to conduct a search and locate the fire. But after the fire is extinguished and ventilation clears out the smoke, you find a body. It is obviously a fatality that your actions could not have prevented. Nothing further is found, and you inform the incident commander of the conditions found. Personnel conduct overhaul while preserving the room with the victim in place. Crews swap in and out of rehab; before long, you are back in quarters.
Every task completed, every job assigned, and every detail communicated from all personnel at this fire scene could not have been completed more safely, more effectively, and more appropriately without some form of training, from effective size-up to public information officer news interviews about this critical call and everything in between. We fall back on our training to get the job done correctly in case questions arise later.
Everyone benefits from training, whether it’s on the job, in the classroom, or on the training ground. Initiative 5 of Everyone Goes Home‘s 16 Life Safety Initiatives says, “Develop and implement national standards for training, qualifications, and certification (including regular recertification) that are equally applicable to all firefighters based on the duties they are expected to perform.”
Now, consider if a firefighter had been seriously injured at the fire described above. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1401, Recommended Practice for Fire Service Training Reports and Records, says that litigation is a concern of the fire service: “The maintenance of accurate and complete training records in accordance with this document is one way fire departments can limit their liability.” If a firefighter is injured or killed in the line of duty, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) will investigate your department’s training program as it gathers information about the incident.
Prevention and training working together is the best way to avoid such investigations. Why not have a training program that can be audited with confidence because, unfortunately, statistics show that an injury or a death can happen. We all must limit our liability by ensuring we have a solid training program, which is vital to you, your crews, your department, and your community.
TRAINING REQUIREMENTS/RECOMMENDATIONS
Below are resources for relevant firefighter training and recordkeeping information from the state level up to the national level. Look up your state’s administration code provisions pertaining to fire service safety and training. Most states have adopted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards and modified them to fit what the state feels to be reasonable.
State code. In Washington state, the code says that firefighters must meet specific training requirements before performing emergency activities and maintain them at least annually thereafter. The code outlines what firefighters must be trained on, how frequently, and how training records must be maintained.
NFPA. NFPA 1401 (2012 ed.) is the standard to start with in updating or creating your departmental training program. This standard is quick reading and offers great ideas and recommended practices. Most of the necessary administrative work is outlined in NFPA 1401, and you can tailor it to your department’s needs. It offers sample training forms you can use to develop your departmental/individual training records. Overall, NFPA 1401 recommends keeping detailed records for every type of departmental and individual training in a secure file for an individual’s entire career and updating the training program at least annually.
OSHA. OSHA regulations are based on NFPA guidelines. An OSHA Web article referenced at the end of this article offers guidelines for compliance with regulations regarding fire protection. It also mentions training for special industrial hazards such as fires involving oil and chemicals.
The Department Of Homeland Security (DHS). The DHS, the United States Fire Administration, and the National Fire Academy offer training program guidance in “Training Operations in Small Departments.” It covers training leadership, legal issues, training needs assessment, financial management, marketing, safety and conflict resolution, and course delivery and evaluation. It also notes the importance of compliance with fire department standard operating guidelines, applicable standards, and the maintenance of training records in potential liability actions.
The departmental training program presented below shows how you can accomplish training in your department for little or no money. It’s also a great opportunity to get to know your crews better and find out who has what expertise. Members with a specific expertise and passion—hazmat, building construction, or firefighter survival, for example—could create and present a training program on that topic. Match the topic with the person teaching.
SIX STEPS TOWARD A COMPLETE TRAINING PROGRAM
1 Make and organize training folders. Now that you know what your department needs to train on, follow the steps below to start or modify your current program. First, make specific folders (either electronic or paper) for each of the following topics below. Use a free online server, or have your information technology department set up a server on which to archive the folders. My department developed a list of topics (some are shown in Table 1) through trial and error and based on what the department was obligated to train on to meet/exceed required legal, operational, administrative, and ethical requirements. Adapt it to fit your local training needs.
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2 Subscribe to several reputable firefighter e-mail newsletters. Below are just a few firefighter Web sites that offer free e-mail newsletters. They may contain top stories, training articles, training videos, new product information, and so forth. However, before you submit your information, make sure that Web site is a valid and reputable source of information to avoid filling your inbox with spam and other junk mail.
- www.FireEngineering.com
- www.FireRescue1.com
- www.buildingsonfire.com
- www.firstrespondertraining.gov/TEI/systemsSearch.do
- www.usfa.dhs.gov/nfa/nfaonline/browse/index.shtm
3 Review and archive newsletters. As your e-mail fills up with fire-related newsletters, it’s time to review and archive each one. You now start building your archive and sort them into your folders accordingly. This is where you will spend most of your time. I typically spend an hour or two each shift organizing these newsletters and Web sites to make sure they get to the right folder. After three years, our training archive contains dozens of specific article on the topics noted above. Once you have a systematic approach and you know what you’re looking for, you can knock out 30 e-mails in less than an hour. For example, if you come across a Web article pertaining to safe vertical ventilation operations, click and drag it into your ventilation folder; a training video on carbon monoxide poisoning, click and drag that item into the air monitoring folder; and so forth. Before long, each specific folder will have an archive of articles, videos, skills sheets, and other training information that you can use for training topics, research, and additional training.
4 Create a Master Fire/Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Annual Training Calendar. There are a few key components when creating a master training calendar. For example, our department training calendar includes the month, year, and version; required quarterly fire and required monthly emergency medical technician (EMT) Basic/IV training; days of the months (with the appropriate colored shift assigned to each day) with alternating “Fire” weeks and “EMS” weeks; and the weekends for make-up training for the topics that personnel have missed. This calendar is a consistent way to ensure you accomplish fire and EMS training for the month (Figure 1).
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5 Fill in the blanks. Now that you have a template, fill in the blanks. Below are three topics to start with.
Required quarterly fire training. First, find out what training must be done quarterly and rotate these topics throughout the year. Our department trains on self-contained breathing apparatus/personal protective equipment on months 1, 4, 7, and 10; ladders on months 2, 5, 8, and 11; and hose deployments on months 3, 6, 9, and 12. Each topic has a skills sheet with specific guidelines for skills proficiency. Make the topics hands-on training only, not a roundtable discussion. Hands-on training creates a muscle memory for the task so all will be comfortable and proficient at 3 a.m. at an actual scene. This will also bring up other side topics that you can discuss as you are training with your crews, not to mention when you are out and about. The public eyes will see you and will only help with your public relations.
Required monthly EMS training. EMS training is just as important as firefighting; in some departments, EMS makes up 80 to 90 percent of the calls. That’s why we need regular EMS training. Since there are different training level requirements for EMTs (e.g., basic to paramedic), cover only the training required by your medical program director, your state, and your department. If you do not have an EMS training program, start one. Table 2 shows the topics we train on regularly for the year, including required hours and frequency.
Daily shift training. Do fire training every shift on odd weeks 1, 3, and sometimes 5. Do EMS training on even weeks, 2, 4, and sometimes 6. For the year, each day, Monday through Friday, will have a specific training topic. Saturday and Sunday will be make-up training days for the personnel who missed those training days because of vacation, sick leave, and so forth. If this does not work for your department because of different shift assignments or 12-hour rotations, modify it to suit your needs. For example,
- Each day, Sunday through Sunday, focus on a different training topic.
- Instead of alternating weeks, do fire training for the first two weeks of the month and EMS training during the last two weeks.
- Alternate fire and EMS topics with each shift.
- Combine fire and EMS topics every shift.
Overall, train every shift, arranged in any way that is suitable for your department. When you decide how you need to arrange your calendar, you will need at least 50 to 60 topics to fill a calendar. Although this sounds like a lot, using the fire and EMS topics listed in Table 1 will help you get started. There are more topics than you think.
When filling in specific days, make the calendar work for you. Schedule fire prevention topics during Fire Prevention Week and safety and health during Firefighter Health & Safety Week. Coordinate appropriate training calendar items with those dates for a more efficient calendar.
6Share the wealth. You’ve made your folders, you are receiving the newsletters, you are filling up your training folders, and you’ve finished your calendar and scheduled the topics. It’s time to put the training program in motion. You have two final steps.
Share the training topics through a Web site or e-mail, or copy the monthly topics on a digital media device (e.g., a CD, a DVD, an external hard drive, or a thumb drive) for each of your stations to keep with the training board so the duty crews can use it for that month’s training. Get the information out to your stations.
Install a training board in a highly visible area. Update it monthly with the calendar, a digital media device, and training related topics and classes. This way, training will always be in one spot, it will remind members to complete training, and it will become second nature before long (photo 1).
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Training is a large part of what you do and who you are. You will never stop training, and there will always be guidelines, regulations, laws, and recommendations that say how training should be conducted. Whether you have a training program in place or you need to establish one, use the information provided to ensure your fellow firefighters can do their jobs safely and effectively and make it to retirement.
References
LifeSafetyInitiatives.com, http://everyonegoeshome.com/initiatives.html.
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1401, Fire Service Training Reports and Records (2001 ed), http://www.nfpa.org/onlinepreview/online_preview_document.asp?id=140106#.
“Training Operations in Small Departments.” TOSD Student Manual, 2nd edition, 2nd printing May 2005, http://www.gpstc.org/divisions/gfa/studentmanuals/Training%20Operations%20in%20Small%20Departments%20-%20Student%20Manual.pdf.
Washington State Department Labor and Industries. “Required Training and Plans: Fire Brigades; Fire fighters, Safety Standards For.” http://www.lni.wa.gov/Safety/TrainTools/TrainingPlans/default.htm#f.
Washington State Department Labor and Industries, “Safety Standards for Firefighters,” Chapter 296.305. http://www.lni.wa.gov/wisha/rules/firefighters/html/305-2.htm#WAC296-305-05503.
United States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Administration, “Fire Brigades” 1910.156. http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10124.
KEVIN WILSON, a fire service member since 1992, is a firefighter/paramedic assigned to the training division of Camas-Washougal Fire Rescue in Washington and is the secretary for the Clark County Fire Training Association. He has an associate degree in fire science and has served in volunteer, military, and paid fire departments. Wilson is the founder and CEO of Firefighter Safety Solutions, a firefighter safety training company.
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