Skills Hand-Off
TRAINING
A train-the-trainer program can pass along firefighting skills and big cost savings.
Illustration by Art Arias
Until January of last year, five small volunteer fire departments in the Oklahoma panhandle had received little skills training, and only one of them had any state-certified firefighters.
But four months later, 43 of their members had completed the requirements for Firefighter I certification. They’d made the grade thanks to 280 hours of training provided by 15 members of their group. Those 15 had completed a 20-hour instructor certification course taught in Boise City, Okla., by Fire Service Training/Oklahoma State University instructors and five 12-hour skills training sessions, taught locally by an OSU instructor.
All this cost just less than $30 for each certified firefighter and $3.50 per instructional hour—and half of that amount was for travel expenses. To accomplish the same goal without a train-the-trainer program would have cost five times as much and taken nearly twice as long.
The National Fire Academy has used the train-the-trainer concept throughout the decade to present programs in the field, but it’s also applicable for training at the regional, departmental, and battalion levels. It answers to tight budgets by making use of the teaching talents of some of those who will be trained.
It’s a simple concept: A central support staff trains instructors, who then present the material to the members of their own departments or groups.
The support staff may be the training section of a larger department, or it may be a state organization when smaller departments are involved. In either case, the members should have an associate or bachelor’s degree in a discipline such as vocational education; have some fire service experience; and be state-certified instructors. The support group’s job is to train the departmental instructors and provide the material necessary to pass the training on. This may include training aids, equipment, and tests.
The staff may also administer the program by handling scheduling and recordkeeping and by setting goals and objectives. However, if several departments are involved, each one should handle as much of its own administration as possible.
The instructor trainees should have some experience as firefighters, some background as educators, the ability to learn and communicate the material, and the motivation to make the program a success. At least two trainees should be chosen from each group or department, so they can share the considerable burden of time and effort.
The support staff leads these trainees through a course in instructional techniques. This can be the NFA’s “Instructional Techniques for Company Officers” or some other recognized program that covers educational methodology and program development and management. The course used should qualify its students for the certification they’ll need to train their firefighters.
After this course, the support staff then teaches the group the subjects they’ll be teaching. These could be basic or advanced skills, depending on the group. For the “hand-off” class on each subject, the support staff provides lesson plans and any other materials needed to teach the subject to other firefighters.
When the program involves multiple departments, the best way to schedule the hand-off classes is to hold them at different departments on a rotating basis. Each class would involve three groups of participants. The instructors from the host department and from other participating departments would be there. And the firefighters from the host department would also attend, so that they learn one skill at the same time as their department’s instructors.
For the cost of teaching one group, several are reached.
The visiting instructors then take the lesson home and present it to their personnel. This allows the primary, support instructor to reach several departments with one presentation. This is what makes the program so inexpensive: For the cost of teaching one group, several are reached.
There are other benefits, as well. Departmental or state training organizations need fewer staff members to conduct training. And since the program requires several departments or groups to work together, cooperation and understanding develop among the organizations involved. This is a plus for mutual aid and uniformity of training. In addition, the participating departments now have certified instructors available to train new members and maintain the skills of experienced personnel.
