What Does Training Do For You?
By Dustin Poist
I recently had one of those "back step meetings" with several other firefighters and the discussion led to the topic of training and what we should be doing for monthly training. As many of you know, I have a very passionate approach when it comes to training. I just sat and listened to see where the conversation led. I heard several different views, everything from "we need to be doing more of the fun stuff," to "we did that enough in essentials class," and my favorite "I do that at work, no need to do it here". After pondering this for several evenings I came to several conclusions worth noting.
Yes, we do need to make training "fun" but we also need to meet the objectives and sometimes that means doing some things that might not be considered "fun". I had a Battalion Chief that used a line when we would get pulled to the academy on random nights for a "surprise scenario" full of evaluators, and usually meant dumping the hose bed. His line was "fireman going to do fireman things". He's right, we are supposed to enjoy pulling hose, throwing ladders, cutting up cars, and back-boarding patients, it’s what we do; it's what fun" is supposed to be.
Yes, we need to continue to learn new things. But keep in mind the basics are very important! I’ve always said that you can’t move to the advanced stuff until you have a good foundation. I compare it to building a house, if you start building the second floor without a good base, eventually the house will collapse. From my involvement with several of the Essentials of Firefighting classes (and I have yet to see a class that made anyone an "expert" out of any of the topics covered), there are hundreds of ways to do any one thing. While I support doing tasks the same way to build repetition, it never hurts to have "a few extra tools in the toolbox" in case the scenario that is presented won’t allow you to do it that way. When in doubt, there’s always the "what would you do if this happens," or "the hose line gets tangled in this manner," or "we have a patient requiring C-Spine stabilization but no backboards?"
Even because you have done those things, it’s still important to do them with "the team". The "team" in this case is your company, and doing the tasks with them and the equipment that you have in this department is what builds efficiency and teamwork in mitigating incidents. You don’t see very many professional athletes that skip practice and if you do, often they find themselves on a loosing team or soon on the outside looking in. Keep in mind, everyone comes from a different background and brings something to the table. You know something that the person sitting next to you doesn’t, and they know something that you don’t! Spread the wealth!
In closing, we need to know how to operate, deploy, and fix small problems with all of the tools that we have been given in a safe, efficient manner while keeping the “teamwork” mindset. After all, our end goal depends on it.