Overstating the importance of training may not be possible in the fire service. If fire departments had daily activities reflective of all the responsibilities of the job, then skill levels would be maintained.
If the job remained static, then firefighters could get by without training every day. Of course we all know that the dynamic nature of the fire and emergency service requires continual practice and preparation to effectively and efficiently do the job – whatever that may be for the individuals within the organization.
Maintaining The Basics
Obviously, much training and practice can take place internal to a department – on a shift, combining stations or scheduled for volunteer and on-call departments. Generally, this training is to maintain the basics and remain proficient in the core skills required. It is as much about practice and repetition as it is about training. Regardless of run volume, all departments must be extremely competent in pulling hose, delivering water, throwing ladders, using SCBA, searching a building and auto extrication, to name some skills, even if these are not everyday occurrences in most departments. This type of training is not especially technical and does not require extraordinary skill or preparation.
Conversely, there are many things that fire departments are asked to do – fire prevention, fire investigation, technical rescue, officer training, and the like – that require added knowledge. There may or may not be the experts in every organization that are truly capable of delivering the training in some or all of these areas. To add to the challenge, often there are few individuals in many departments that require this specialized training at any particular point in time. This can be due to the size of the organization or the size of the prevention, training, or other bureaus of a department.
So, what can be done to address this potential deficiency? Consideration should be given to building regional training consortiums to address specialized training within a region. The training can be used to provide information on new and emerging trends, prepare newly assigned personnel and to take advantage of the expertise in many departments.
Departments should review the following:
- Training and maintaining the skills of fire investigators.
- Training and maintaining the skills of fire inspectors.
- Training and maintaining the skills of public educators.
- Teaching the newest rescue techniques.
- Teaching changes in standards and laws.
- Getting in tune with the hot topics.
- Hearing from nationally recognized experts in the field.
- Preparing officers – from the company level to chief.
- Blending mutual aid responses.
Rarely can departments afford to continually train one-person bureaus, nor can they adapt when an individual is away training and not available.
Specialty Personnel
Unless you are a large metropolitan or county department, you probably do not have the resources available in time, money, and expertise to properly train and maintain your specialty personnel. Some of the bigger organizations also struggle with this. If we know this to be the case, then we should work toward a solution. That would be joining with other departments that have the same issues and are faced with the same challenges.
Start with the simple stuff first. Pooling your funding for specialty training may be the easiest thing to do. Developing resources or utilizing experts in the field can be costly, often exceeding the limitations of many budgets.
For example, if you pay $500 dollars to send three of your personnel to training (one per shift, perhaps), you would not be able to afford a full day’s training on your own. However, if six departments sent three people, you would not only have 18 in the class, but $3,000 available. You could do a lot more with that amount. Perhaps the class can be offered as a “train-the-trainer” variety. Now each department, and even each shift, has someone available to bring the information back to the organization.
A Less Daunting Task
Now, think of the expertise in each department. Most of the smaller organizations have one dedicated person in their training bureau. If that is the case, the individual has way more work to do than time to complete it. The essentials will require most if not all of the time. The training officer will not be able to develop the specialty programs needed.
Therefore, consider the possibilities if five or six officers are sharing the responsibility. They would be faced with a less daunting task. They also could build upon the individual expertise of each in the group. Clearly you should see some advantages in this approach.
If you have resources to do this kind of thing, then why isn’t it done? Probably because it is too easy to fall into old habits. It also requires a commitment from the leadership of the organization. The people at the top have to recognize that there is a time commitment up front. They need to understand the investment will pay off later. The leadership needs to encourage all the participants and provide the resources needed. These joint ventures, like so many other “mutual aid” programs are necessary and beneficial.
To get started, consider those in your area with like challenges and like philosophies. A small group with similar goals will be more successful than a bigger organization with diverse agendas.
Challenging Times
It is important to gain success early and often. If you do, then others will see the value and want to be part of the program. Your relationship with others will be valuable. Strong relationships build trust and strong programs. While you have a compelling argument to join forces, the interpersonal skills will be most important in getting this venture going.
In these challenging economic times, organizations need to get creative in their approach to improving service. Training will always be essential to organizations that want to be outstanding.
Certainly training can continue on a shoestring budget. But, the next step up will require an investment of time and money. Without adequate resources, an individual organization will struggle. The choice is to join forces with others facing the same challenges and holding the same goals.
Like most cases where joint ventures take advantage of individual talents, the outcome will prove way more beneficial than someone going it alone.
If departments wish to benchmark against the best, they need to expand their view of the world and look for ways to get the most out of what they have.
Editor’s Note: Richard Marinucci is chief of the Northville Township (Mich.) Fire Department. He retired as chief of the Farmington Hills (Mich.) Fire Department in 2008, a position he had held since 1984. He is a past president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and past chairman of the Commission on Chief Fire Officer Designation. In 1999 he served as acting chief operating officer of the U.S. Fire Administration for seven months. He holds three bachelor’s degrees in fire science and administration and has taught extensively.
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