Here is a look at some of the new workshops being offered at FDIC for the first time in 2008. Classes fill up fast!
- Aerial Apparatus Operations
Aerial operators can maximize the use of these very expensive yet underutilized and misunderstood pieces of apparatus. This greater understanding of aerial devices and their uses will enhance fireground operations and increase scene safety. Topics include the characteristics and operating features of rear mounts, tractor-drawn aerials, platforms, and quints. Emphasis is on truck company placement for various types of occupancies, rescue and life safety strategies, tactical work of quints, and strategy and tactics for operating and positioning aerial ladders and tower ladders.
- Fire Dynamics for the Fire Service
It is not uncommon to hear that structure fires are hotter today than they were 20 years ago. Is that true? How do furnishings and ventilation affect the fire and the temperature inside the structure? What is contained in the combustion products of today's materials? This workshop will examine video and data from a wide range of fire experiments to examine the thermal and toxic gas conditions present in structure fires to answer those questions. The experiments include bench top fire tests, single room and contents fires, and fire experiments involving entire buildings. Case studies will be used to help put the significance of the test results in fireground context for the fire service.
Daniel Madrzykowski, Fire Protection Engineer, National Institute of Standards and Technology: "The goal is to explain some complex fire phenomena in down to earth language and demonstrate through the videos the impact that different fuels, geometry and ventilation can have on the fire fighting environment."
- Firefighting in Multiple Dwellings
This workshop begins by focusing on an overview of building construction and fire behavior considerations, firefighting strategies specific to noncombustible multiple dwellings, and engine and truck company tactics in these buildings. The second portion of the program will include a critique of some fatal fires and will end with interactive scenarios. Attendees should have a working knowledge of and ability in standard structural firefighting practices. The class is ideal for students who work in departments that don't have SOPs for fires in these types of buildings. Students will be able to take lessons learned and help educate their respective department in the inherent dangers that exist in these types of buildings.
Say Captain Daniel Sheridan and Captain John Miles, Fire Department of New York: "This would be an ideal class for students who work in departments that don't have SOPs for fires in these types of buildings. Hopefully the students will be able to take lessons learned and help educate their respective department in the inherent dangers that exist in these types of buildings."
- Training Programs for Small Departments
Many small career, combination, and volunteer fire departments struggle to provide comprehensive and challenging training for their members. Usually, these departments do not have a dedicated training bureau or division and the officer/instructor assigned the training responsibility continually searches for resources and programs. This program will provide training officers with the tools and resources they need to establish a training program for their organization. Through a series of exercises, attendees will learn a step-by-step approach to identifying training needs, course/program design, and implementation of a comprehensive fire department training program.
- Drill Development
This workshop addresses the roadblocks training officers and departments frequently encounter when planning a drill. During this workshop, participants will learn an organized approach to planning drills and evolutions from the company level up to large multicompany drills. Areas of discussion include needs assessment, drill topics, safety plans and conducting briefings and debriefings, reasons for drills, topics we should drill on, setting realistic drill objectives, and identifying the need for and preparing a safety plan. The program includes numerous short video outtakes of fireground and training mishaps that we should all be able to learn from. This interactive program takes the participant through workgroups using sample safety plans that can ultimately serve as working templates for planning, preparing, and producing a successful training exercise. Copies of the CD will be available at the conclusion of the workshop or bring your jump-drive and take this program home to your department.
- Dying Inside
Over the past 10 years, the rate of firefighter fatalities and injuries inside structure fires has steadily increased. This interactive workshop will use case studies of critical incidents to examine the three main causes of firefighter fatalities and injuries inside structure fires: disorientation, rapid fire growth, and collapse. The instructors will detail strategies and tactics to help reduce the risk of operating inside of structures. Participants will apply the lessons learned in the class to several challenging tactical simulations. All participants will receive a DVD of the class materials that they can take back to train members of their departments. Segments include fireground disorientation, rapid fire growth, collapse, and residential and commercial fire scenarios.
- Managing the Fireground Using Technology
Recent events have highlighted the complexity of the routine and nonroutine fires and our need to keep pace with our responsibilities. This workshop addresses several methods and tools for improving effectiveness in providing the safest responses, providing the best tools for incident management, and improving fireground accountability. It will look at how to use some of the technology currently available to assist firefighters in safety, strategic planning, and tactical operations; how response, command and control, planning, accountability, and management can be dramatically enhanced; and the tools and technology available to monitor buildings, track firefighters, and create and maintain real-time situational awareness. Attendees will learn how to use the available technological tools for improving tactical operations.
- Ultimate Reading Smoke Workshop
There is a growing recognition that the modern smoke environment is exceedingly different from what our predecessors faced. This workshop explores the modern smoke environment with an emphasis on tactical and behavioral solutions that can help the participant with first-due decision making and incident handling. The instructors will lead participants through case studies, updated technical data, best practices, and group exercises (using raw fireground footage) that emphasize situational awareness and intelligent exterior/interior solutions. Topics include the deadly components of smoke, why smoke is more explosive than ever, the point of no return, change and the resistance to change, the art of reading smoke (expanded), the art of NOT breathing smoke, the rule of air management (ROAM), surviving the Mayday, and situational awareness and tactical solutions. The course will draw data and experiences from multiple sources including the new smoke characteristics study (UL labs), NIST fire dynamics, firefighter close call and near miss reports, NIOSH Firefighter Fatality investigations, and street-tested operational procedures.
