Editor’s Opinion | By David Rhodes
Open up your social media feed, and you are certain to find a post about a local fire conference. There is some form of local training conference offered nearly every week through various individually led efforts as well as many sponsored and organized by various local firefighter associations. I am often asked what I think about these conferences. My answer is always the same: I love them and you should go!
Training is the backbone and path to success for our firefighters. With the numerous local fire conferences being offered without the constraints of official fire department curriculum—often based on some outdated resource material—training techniques, training, and information sharing are evolving at a faster pace than ever.
There is no single fire conference or class out there that can reach every firefighter. If our goal is to promote and encourage training, then we must support that mission wherever it is being carried out. This includes the sharing of instructors and knowledge across the land.
I recently told the Fire Engineering/FDIC advisory board members that we expect and encourage them to go out and teach at these local conferences. They are the real foot soldiers and training ambassadors, and collectively we can certainly cover more ground and reach more people than I can alone.
The term H.O.T. (Hands-on Training) was first used at the FDIC around 1998. To give credit where credit is due, this term/acronym was born in the Fire Engineering Saddle Brook, New Jersey, office right after we acquired the FDIC from the International Society of Fire Service Instructors. It was the brainchild of Bill Manning, Henry Dinneen, Glenn Corbett, Tom Brennan, and Bob Pressler. The goal was to bring the Fire Engineering Bread and Butter Video series to life at the conference—not as a big demonstration as had been done in the past but as an opportunity for the attendees to participate.
Fast-forward nearly three decades, and this model has been repeatedly copied at nearly every local fire conference. The term H.O.T. is now part of the fire service vocabulary and culture. It eliminated the barrier of only being able to receive this type of training from your assigned training staff at a formalized academy. Give us a parking lot, some plywood, 2 x 4s, a little hose, and some tools, and we can deliver some damn good training!
Unfortunately for the fire service, most official department-led training programs focus on preparing members for certification or recertification through the completion of some type of standard test. These trainings are typically centered around EMS, basic firefighting, hazmat, and technical rescue. Maintaining certifications eats up most of the training staff’s time, leaving little room for creativity.
The local fire conference fills a void in training. Those with a passion and purpose often do the planning and logistical work outside of their normal work hours and they often offer free registration to those departments that allow them to use facilities or equipment. Some do it for free, some use it as a fundraiser for a cause or organization, and for some it’s a legitimate side business. Regardless of the model or motivation, good training is more accessible across the nation than it has ever been. You should be taking advantage of the opportunities.
No matter what size department you work for, don’t ever think that there is nothing to learn from those in smaller organizations. Usually, the larger the department, the more prevalent the mentality of superiority. What can someone from that little two-station department teach us? We have seen and done it all! Getting outside of your organization is critical to your personal growth and your understanding of the fire service.
There are great and passionate fire instructors from organizations of all shapes and sizes. People get involved in teaching for various reasons. In some circles, the idea of being “a circuit” instructor has a negative connotation. Like anything in life, some instructors are in it for the right reasons, and some are in it for themselves. You must sort that out for yourself. I have found that for most of the “circuit” instructors, this is an outlet because they are not allowed to contribute—or, they are limited in what they can contribute—to their own organizations, or they have an extremely passionate desire to share and learn.
The benefit of any gathering of firefighters is the sharing of knowledge and experience beyond the training class itself. The discussions at dinner, at the bar, and in the lobby are exchanges of ideas that lead to change and innovation. That change results in better service to our communities and more effective methods for our members. Those discussions make us think outside the box and outside our own organizational habits and methods.
Don’t box yourself into an either-or scenario when it comes to fire training. Be eager to experience training whenever and wherever it is offered, from the smallest classroom session in your firehouse to FDIC International and every local conference in between. If there is nothing in your area, then maybe you should be the one to start the next local training conference.
