Training...... or a lack thereof

Every department trains.  Some departments train weekly, monthly, daily, etc.  My question for you is:

HOW do you train?

I already talked about practicing like you play and training hard, so lets talk about training CORRECTLY.

I, sadly, know of more than a few fire departments that are stuck in their old ways.  They train using the same methods that the old salts learned when they were in the academy.  This is not completely a bad thing, as using the irons on a door hasn't really changed too much in the past 50+ years, but how about vehicle extrication.  We can't pull steering columns anymore.  You can try to take a booster line into a structure fire but it probably will not end up well for you and your crew.

I strongly believe that it is better to have less training then it is to have an abundance of poor training.  This will lull the members into a false sense of security.  "We trained on this, we are good."  Well if you train unsafely or improperly, you will get someone killed or injured on a scene.

By reading websites such as these you show that you aren't going to fall into complacency.  You are constantly striving to learn all you can, different methods of doing things, and maybe meet a few cool people in the process.  This is the easiest way to get quality training.  I also would recommend looking to outside agencies for training.  I have gone to classes all over the country, some on my own dime, some paid for by my departments.  I understand that with today's economy this may not be possible for many people, but at least keep reading and learning from the internet.  There are tons of great videos and articles out there that will help you do your job safer and more effectively. 

A tragedy could happen to any of our departments at any time, but by getting GOOD training from a variety of sources and putting some thought into how what you have learned can be adapted for your operations will greatly decrease the chances of an unspeakable tragedy occuring to your department. 

I have friends that run a few fires a day on huge career departments and I have friends that run 300 total calls in a year on a rural department.  I have learned things from guys that are on each end of this spectrum and everywhere in between.  Some things that I have brought back from conversations or trainings are easily adaptable to our operations and have helped us immensely.  Other things, simply would not work in our department.  Remember, just because a big city department does something a certain way, doesn't mean that you and your department should blindly follow their ways and adapt what they do for yourselves.  Analyze what they do, why they do it, and how they do it, and use your head to see if these different tactics could help you.


Until next time... stay safe.