The Basic Tactics & Strategy course is designed for the new firefighter who is responsible for learning about making decisions on the fire ground. Size up and a plan of action based upon conditions will be reviewed. Subject areas which will be covered are: initial action plans, safety, fire behavior, building construction, engine company and truck company operations, and
apparatus positioning.
This class focuses on how to develop, implement, and evaluate fire ground communications. During this session new and seasoned firefighters will have the opportunity to practice tactical and strategic size up procedures assuring the proper communication benchmarks are used.
The scope of this 4-hour course is to begin to prepare local responders to operate as a local member of a regional team within the National Incident Management System at an event requiring local and/or statewide response that has resulted in the need for a technical rescue. This course is for the basic first-in company. It will provide first responders with the information needed to identify the rescue situation, its specific hazards, and the initial company operations that can be performed. Subject areas include: standards, structural collapse rescue, rope rescue, elevator rescue, confined space rescue, machinery rescue, water and ice rescue, trench and excavation rescue.
Students will learn to identify conditions requiring master streams at fires in buildings or emergencies which require protecting exposures with a required fire flow of 350 gpm or greater. The various nozzle types and their characteristics available at the class location are discussed at length with deployment and operation being the greatest focus of this “hands on class” The nozzle reaction, use of various devices or appliances and their required pressures, selecting the proper line sizes and safe handling and operating procedures round out the practical portion of this class.
This course is designed for fire department personnel who utilize mobile water supply operations. Students will familiarize themselves with various alternative water sources and the equipment that is necessary to make use of those sources. Students will also discuss the need to pre-plan mobile water supply operations. Upon successful completion of this class, the student will learn how to make more efficient use of their department’s equipment.
The Vehicle and Machinery Operations course is designed to acquaint the student with techniques used in Auto Extrication. More specifically, the student will become familiar with the different classifications and characteristics of vehicles and machines. Students will also become familiar with the different tools used in extrication, stabilization of the vehicle/machine, disentanglement of the patient(s), and initiating patient care. The student will become familiar with initiating the Incident Command System and how to terminate the incident when finished. The majority of the course will be spent working on the various skills/techniques each student will learn during this course.