As an experienced trainer, training manager and fire officer, embarking on this article considering firefighter training, I thought the best starting point would be to establish a definition of training: “the process of learning the skills you need to do a particular job or activity: For example a training course” (Cambridge Dictionary).
Why do we train? We train to improve or gain new knowledge, skills and understanding for personal and organisation betterment. To be trained we need to be open and receptive to new information and willing to challenge the status quo. Understanding the ‘Safe Person Concept’ where organisations strive to achieve: a safe working environment; safe work equipment; safe systems of work and a competent workforce.
From this, we can see that firefighter training is an essential part of the development of competent personnel, with the knowledge, skills and understanding to enable the individual to effectively fulfil the role of a firefighter. And with the aim of being a positive contributor to the team, especially when operating in the stressful and dynamic environment of the incident ground. I am an advocate of sequential training, where individuals are allowed to develop a level of competence before moving onto the acquisition of other skills.
With the theory popularised by Malcolm Gladwell that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill, we must allow time for individuals to develop competence before being challenged with new skills. When developing and delivering training, trainers must consider that learners have differing learning styles. There are several theories and models which set out to explain how people learn. The VARK model developed by Neil Fleming in 1987 uses; Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing Preference and Kinesthetic. (Figure 1) Another model was explored by Honey and Mumford in 1986 demonstrating how the different styles relate to different activities and intimates that people may not sit completely in one style.
Know your learners
The high-risk nature of some of the environments that firefighters operate in make understanding their learning styles essential for trainers. Training must be delivered in a blended manner using theory and practical sessions to accommodate the learning styles and provide the underpinning knowledge to ensure that learners are suitably prepared to safely operate during the practical sessions. As a trainer it was interesting when I was asked to design an NFPA firefighter development programme, the equivalent to a Recruit/ Apprentice training programme in the United Kingdom. My research showed an approach which used the IFSTA manual chapter by chapter, where my UK experiences had been a more sequential development journey (and in my opinion a more logical approach), using the Fire and Rescue Service manual: Vol. 4 Fire Service training. I wish to focus on the Firefighter Development Programmes as a first look at firefighter training and use future articles to explore more specialist training in depth.
First Steps
Where do we begin with a ‘New Firefighter’, what do they know? We have to accept that all recruits/apprentices are at the same level and start out with the ‘Safe Person Concept’. ‘Safety Rules and Commands’ are delivered so that every one of the learners can understand and react appropriately to the instructions of the trainer, moving through the riding positions on the appliance. (Figure 3) Through hose, pumping, ladder drills, Incident Command, knots and lines, foam making, vehicle extrication and casualty care, we build confidence and competence in each skill area, before combining them into more realistic uses. Differing countries and services introduce the wearing of breathing apparatus at different points in the basic training, building the confidence that the equipment will meet and exceed the demands that the wearer will place on it. Teaching techniques to find their way, locate casualties and fires and retrace their steps to exit safely.
In the UK in the early 2000s a development system called the Integrated Personal Development System was introduced, where individuals were assessed for their potential to undertake the role, and then they went into a cyclic development process of: Acquisition, Application and Maintenance Phases. The four levels of competency are considered as a person moves through their career. To support this, the ‘Four Levels of Competence Model’ developed by Noel Burch in the 1970s (Elogueil, 2021) demonstrates how a firefighter develops with time and experience.
I like to use a staircase to show the elevation of a person’s competence and apply this to people’s learning and development journey, not only in knowledge and skills development but in their understanding of the role. The levels are Unconscious Incompetence, Conscious Incompetence, Conscious Competence and Unconscious Competence. (Figure 4) When a firefighter emerges from recruit training, they are going to be at the Conscious Competent stage, where they still must think about their actions and learn how to operate as part of their station-based crew. They will be continuing their development on station towards the Unconscious Competent and being a contributor to the safe and successful operational response. Continuation training, much of it repetitious (in line with Malcolm Gladwell that it takes 10,000 hours) will continue the recruit’s development towards becoming the Unconscious Competent.
Vital Training Components
One of the most important elements of training, in my opinion, is the use of realistic simulated scenarios and environments, to provide experiential learning as part of firefighter development. This is essential when they are no longer in the formal training/development programme. The use of simulation and well thought out and developed small, medium and large scale (including multiple agencies) exercises, is an effective way of providing this experiential learning. Using ‘Live Fire’ training places firefighters, under supervision, in environments they may encounter and allows them to develop their ‘fire control’ techniques in a controlled environment while experiencing realistic conditions.
Virtual reality technologies should be recognised as tools in the training capabilities to be used. The number of incidents of fire is falling thanks to the different strategies applied globally from building designs, improved safety of equipment, population demographics and education, so firefighter experience is reduced, making training an essential element and one to be meaningful and beneficial. The development of Standard Operating Procedures is coupled with experience used to provide firefighters with a bank of memories to fall back on and apply previous solutions to a similar incident.
This relates to Recognition Primed Decision making identified by Gary Klein in his Sources of Power book. We need to ensure that our firefighters are equipped to face the risks and challenges of the incidents our communities expect them to resolve. The only way we can do this is by ensuring that training is targeted, effective and related to the risks identified by the service.
