Training is the foundation for success on the fire ground; it will separate the good from the bad and will lead to more efficient operations. While many departments have a training program in place that is led by a training officer or training division, its design is to meet the requirements for the organization and provide guidance. The company officer and company level training should be designed to meet specific company level needs, equipment and response.
The company officer must be a facilitator and the leader of company based training, but not always the instructor having the best set of eyes on the company and conducting needs analysis on alarms and translating those needs into specific company level trainings that will hone and improve the skill sets of his personal company. When conducting a needs analysis look for trends not stand alone events; note specifics and details such as hose line deployment and failure to chase kinks. These will be specific areas that you will want to address in the training. Company training can also be generalized such as including building walk-throughs, construction methods, simulations, tool review and even a simple discussion on a picture from a trade magazine. If you are struggling for ideas there are plenty of pre-planned drills and trainings online conduct an internet search that will leave you with enough training ideas for the year. The key to company training is to get your company thinking about the job and improve their knowledge and skills for the next alarm.
Prior to implementing your training you must plan it out, this does not need to be a long and drawn out plan but should be based off best practices, departmental SOG’s and NFPA standards. Take a few moments during the development stage to look these items up and even print them off, they will serve as your reference material backing up your training evolution. Determine your objective; essentially what you want to accomplish during your training. There is nothing worse than doing something only to realize that in the end you really did not improve anything or you failed to achieve your desired outcome; for example, if you are going to discuss tactics from an online video, decide what aspects you want to highlight, coordinated ventilation and fire attack, quick water on the fire and/or water supply. These will all be areas to keep the discussion focused and on track for learning and development. Also, when developing your training try to determine an allotted timeframe for the training, company training does not need to be a two hour event, it is often best when conducted in 30 minutes or less. Again address the specific items from your needs analysis or specific topic, conduct the evolution or discussion and move on. If it needs to be longer it can be or consider breaking it up into several evolutions/drills that will focus on specific aspects of the skill or topic. This will maintain focus and improve the chances of actual growth and retention by your company.
Respect your crew’s time. Sounds simple but if you are going to conduct a training try to allocate a time where their attention can be focused on the training and not on some other activity. Pick a time when your company is engaged, such as in the morning immediately after apparatus checks. The guys are usually more focused which leads to a more productive training. You may not always be afforded the opportunity to go offline for company training but if you are going to conduct an evolution or deploy hose try to work with your surrounding companies and battalion chief for coverage. Sell your time in limited service as an opportunity to improve and grow both with skills and as a company. Also, since it will likely only last 30 minutes, it is an easier sell than being offline for two or more hours. Again, going out of service or offline is for situations where your apparatus would be compromised for response, the goal is to make company training a daily routine so going out of service for every training is not a reality.
As stated above, the company officer does not necessarily have to be the instructor; a sign of a good leader is noting the strengths in his people. Task your personnel with instructing company training, assist them with its development and implementation and when complete give them all the credit and praise. Creating buy-in at this level will improve not only the training but also improve the morale and e spirit de corps of your entire company. Have them come up with topics and ideas that they have a passion for and have them work as a team to develop their idea into a focused training that will enhance the operations of the entire company. This simple concept will pay off exponentially for the company.
Once the training has been completed, properly document it with your department specific records. Look for changes and improvement on alarms related to the training and listen around the kitchen table as guys talk and further discuss the topic. If you hear these things you know you have hit a homerun as you have sparked thinking and that’s what we want “Thinking firefighters.” Take time each shift to conduct some form of company training; it is your responsibility as the company officer to develop your company from a crew into a team.