Where firefighters come to talk training

Quarterly drills

I come to you today with two things. I have just recieved permission to begin doing quarterly multi company drills in our department and I need ideas for training, what has been good for you and worked and what hasnt! Second, our first drill will be on search and large area search, we will be using a school for this. We will be working most on the use of our search bag but im open to any suggestions that are out there to bring a wide array to the table.

Thanks,
Brandon

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bruce Clark on May 16, 2010 at 6:53pm

How are your folks with the basics? If you want them to get anything out of a multi company drill then make sure they have the basics down first. We found that out first hand in my department recently. We were doing what I would consider to be a simple first alarm fire scenario, but because so many folks did not understand the basics we had to stop the drill to explain the tasks they needs to perform. It really caused problems overall and stopped us in our tracks as far as meeting our objectives for the class.
If they are good with the basics and these types of drills are new for your department, I would suggest starting out with a single family residence, or something they have seen but might need some work on. Don't make it so large that they are overwhelmed with the amount of tasks that need to be accomplished. I believe in the K.I.S.S. method when completing multi company evolutions (at least in the beginning).
Another suggestion is to match the number of units in training to the actual number of units you receive for that type of emergency. It makes for a much more realistic scenario when you are training like you will be working. Good luck with your training program.

Bruce

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