Firefighters-from career veterans with twenty or more years, to volunteers with only a few months under their belts-go through intense, rigorous, and extremely important training. What could happen if firefighters just did the minimum amount of training required and that was all they trained?
THE DENVER DRILL
On 28 September 1992, in Denver Colorado, a three-alarm fire broke out. During attempts to locate and rescue survivors, Mark Langvardt, a 16-year veteran firefighter, was separated from his crew due to a floor collapse on the second story. Unable to self-rescue, Langvardt signaled to crews on the ground with his flashlight. By the time the crews got to Langvardt, he was unconscious in the small storage room he was in, which due to the …show more content…
Along with equipment and vehicles, training too has evolved and changed, so to keep up with these changes, the methods and techniques of firefighter training must also change.
The ‘Basic Training’ of a firefighter consists of, at bare minimum three classes. The first is the Introduction to Firefighting (ITF). This course introduces the new firefighter to what is expected of them, what they can and cannot do, what they should do, and much more. ITF is the basic class that teaches the firefighter how to be a firefighter. It is the foundation that the next two classes build onto.
The Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) course helps a now rookie firefighter in familiarizing his or her self with the gear that will keep their person safe while performing the duties needed at a fire scene. PPE consists of Turnout gear, the Nomex® hood and helmet, and the SCBA (Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus). The third course that firefighters must take is the Wildland Firefighting course. This course is to teach firefighters how to handle things such as brush fires, field fires, and forest fires. The gear, equipment and tactics required for wildland firefighting differs from regular firefighting, although there are some
THE DENVER DRILL
On 28 September 1992, in Denver Colorado, a three-alarm fire broke out. During attempts to locate and rescue survivors, Mark Langvardt, a 16-year veteran firefighter, was separated from his crew due to a floor collapse on the second story. Unable to self-rescue, Langvardt signaled to crews on the ground with his flashlight. By the time the crews got to Langvardt, he was unconscious in the small storage room he was in, which due to the …show more content…
Along with equipment and vehicles, training too has evolved and changed, so to keep up with these changes, the methods and techniques of firefighter training must also change.
The ‘Basic Training’ of a firefighter consists of, at bare minimum three classes. The first is the Introduction to Firefighting (ITF). This course introduces the new firefighter to what is expected of them, what they can and cannot do, what they should do, and much more. ITF is the basic class that teaches the firefighter how to be a firefighter. It is the foundation that the next two classes build onto.
The Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) course helps a now rookie firefighter in familiarizing his or her self with the gear that will keep their person safe while performing the duties needed at a fire scene. PPE consists of Turnout gear, the Nomex® hood and helmet, and the SCBA (Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus). The third course that firefighters must take is the Wildland Firefighting course. This course is to teach firefighters how to handle things such as brush fires, field fires, and forest fires. The gear, equipment and tactics required for wildland firefighting differs from regular firefighting, although there are some