April 14, 2015 - International Society of Fire Service Instructors

2015 ISFSI Membership Social
Premier Networking Event for ISFSI Members at FDIC 2015
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Mo's A Place For Steaks
Indianapolis, IN
Sponsored By:
Honeywell, Scott Safety and Columbia Southern University
2015 ISFSI Annual Meeting
Friday, April 24, 2015
1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Sagamore Ballroom 7
Indianapolis Convention Center
Sponsored by:
BlueCard Command, VFIS and IFSTA
Lunch will be provided.
--Door prizes will be awarded at both the Membership Social and Annual Meeting.
Current door prizes include:
Alabama Fire College - Scholarship for a training certification/class not to exceed $500.00
Bshifter - BlueCard Certification Package with Fire Command book and t-shirt
Father & Son Team Classic -Two person team entry to Family Golf Week; July 15-18, 2015 in Myrtle
Beach, SC. Includes a three day golf tournament.
Bust-A-Duck - Two person entry for the 4th Annual Firefighter Brotherhood Duck Hunt; January 2016.
Includes two days of hunting for two people.
Fire Engineering Books and Videos - Autographed Gift Package; contents TBD.
Safe Industries - Cairnes 1010 Firefighting Helmet
Honeywell - Custom Instructor Turnout Gear
Jones & Bartlett - Book Set
Visit us at Booth 5469
April 20-25, 2015
FDIC 2015
Rules of Engagement For Safe Fire Service
Training
1. Have a clear purpose for the training exercise and use a training plan
with defined outcomes and learning objectives. Review the plan with all
participants before training begins.
2. Establish and maintain a clear chain of command during training.
Designate a training incident commander/lead instructor. Don't let
participants pull rank and compromise safety.
3. Never allow freelancing during training. Require the use of staging and
accountability systems.
4. Use only qualified instructors who possess both certification and
experience in the subject they are teaching.
5. Adhere to all national, state and local standards for conducting training.
6. Only conduct training under acceptable conditions. Don't place
participants in a realistic environment before they are ready for it. Never
use live victims during high-risk training.
7. Use all possible safety precautions during training, even if they exceed
what is possible during an actual emergency event. Even though it's "just
training", never overlook safety precautions.
8. Require all participants to be medically cleared before they participate in
strenuous training. Enforce appropriate rehabilitation and monitoring
during and after training.
9. Make sure the training is appropriate for the skill level of all participants
and that they know what is expected of them.
10. Allow all participants to stop - without penalty - if they don't understand
their assignment or if they sense something unsafe during training. Stop,
talk and decide on a safer approach. Everyone is a safety officer.
The Rules of Engagement© are a product of the IAFC Safety, Health and
Survival Section in partnership with the North American Fire Training Directors
Sponsored by Alabama Fire College and Fire Rescue In The Interest Of All
Firefighters Returning To Quarters Safely ...After Every Run
Principles of Modern Fire
Attack: SLICE-RS Program
View the full schedule of classes here.
If you are interested in hosting the program, please contact
Leigh Hubbard by email at leigh.hubbard@isfsi.org.
Live Fire Training - Why It's Important to You
The live fire environment for firefighters has changed significantly over the past
decades with the increased use of plastics, light weight construction methods
and other factors that are currently being studied by firefighters and scientists
alike. Likewise, the training environment is changing for firefighters as well.
While actual fires are decreasing, the demand for effective, efficient and safe
firefighting operations continues to increase. We must meet these training
challenges with fresh look at how we train our firefighters. While we would like
to simulate the effects of lightweight construction and use of plastics and
polycarbonates in training, we know from experience and on the backs of dead
firefighters that this is implausible and inexcusable. We must fight the urge to
place an unrealistic expectation of how much heat or real life fire conditions on
our firefighters with the reality that as instructors, we are responsible for our
trainee’s lives and that at the end of the day, Everybody Goes Home.
The ISFSI has successfully developed a training program to credential fire
instructors across the county to face those challenges of providing meaningful
training while not exceeding or sacrificing basic safety principles of fire training.
The ISFSI Live Fire Instructor Credential is a multifaceted training program
geared at training fire instructors to provide training under established safety
guidelines from best practices from organizations such as IAFC and IAFF and
under direction from the NFPA Standards. While it is true that the majority of
the program is focused on NFPA 1403, the credential goes deeper into just one
standard alone. There are over 20 other standards referenced in the program
including gear and uniforms to the LPG standard. The three day credential is a
combination of pre-class online assignments, class room study, discussion and
activities to practical evolutions to include the addition of a live fire environment.
The instructor is grouped with other instructors from their area, their state or
other places in the country to network training ideas and best practices. While I
would love to say that the content is the best part of the class, I would be lying if
I didn’t admit that it is working with other instructors and developing
professional relationships that make us all better instructors.
Hosts for the LFT class are eagerly accepted and encouraged. To host a class,
see the ISFSI web site and contact Jamie Lacy, for more information. The live
fire fixed facility credential is continually being improved and the next phase of
the program, Acquired Structure credential and the Instructor in Charge
credential is set to be launched this year. The credential comes with the added
benefit of a one year’s membership to ISFSI where over 2,000 other instructors'
network and increase the self-worth of the instructor. After all, we are not out to
hurt our firefighters, we are supposed to make them better than when they
began the training.
This months ISFSI Contributing Author is Captain Steve Oughterson with Lebanon Fire Department in Ohio. He is a
lead instructor for the ISFSI Live Fire Training Fixed Facility Instructor Credentialing Program. Contact Steve by
email at soughterson@lebanonohio.gov.
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