The Action Training Systems Emergency Responder Blog

Do you need money for your fire training program?

Although the 2012 Grant period is not open yet, we wanted to get you thinking about and preparing for the upcoming year's AFG grant application period.

Below are a list of Top 10 Best Pratices as stated in the FEMA grant semiar at FDIC 2012

1. Start preparing early & read the 2012 program guidance
2. Align your departments “needs” assessment with current funding priorities
3. Tell your departments story
4. Read each question carefully, then answer the question
5. Have the application read by someone else before submitting
6. Submit your application before the deadline, a day early or a week early if possible. Just don’t wait until the last minute.
7. Make sure to include all eligible cost as part of your application (EHP review, state taxes, vehicle performance bonds)
8. Make sure your project can and will be done within your grant period of performance
9. Have your bid specifications ready when you receive your award (be proactive)
10. Ensure you will have the support of your local government leaders

Bonus : Call the AFG help desk with any questions 866.247.0960

2012 AFG Workshop Schedule 

“BURN” Documentary Spotlights Abandoned Building Controversy

The documentary that many believed would never be finished finally premiered this week.

BURN: One Year on the Front Lines of the Battle to Save Detroit first premiered at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival in New York on Tuesday with more film dates scheduled throughout the week. 

The newest trailer for the documentary recently played at FDIC, where Director/Producers Tom Putnam and Brenna Sanchez lead a Q& A about the film. Famed actor and “Rescue Me” star Denis Leary also contributed to the documentary as executive producer along with Jim Serpico, who co-founded the production company Apostle with Leary.

Putman and Sanchez followed the members of Engine Company 50 on Detroit’s East Side as they served their community. They used helmet-mounted cameras to see from the perspective of the firefighters as they put their lives on the line, but the most interesting part of the story is told through the interviews with crew members.

As you get to know the crew, you see how they deal with the problems common to all fire departments, but on an extreme scale that is no longer sustainable. Despite the bleak odds in as fire calls increase and budgets decrease, the message of the documentary is clear: the community keeps Detroit strong, and that is always worth saving.

Detroit has one of the highest reported arson rates per capita in the country. Firefighter Frank Dombrowski was quoted in the documentary’s trailer saying, “Ninety-five percent of what I do is arson… very rarely do we have a legitimate fire.”

This isn’t surprising considering the high number of foreclosed and abandoned homes in the Motor City area.

This issue also made national headlines earlier this week when Detroit’s Executive Fire Commissioner Donald Austin said that allowing abandoned buildings to burn to the ground is one option to consider in the face of a 15% budget cut.

The proposed plan would allow some vacant buildings to burn if they're more than 50% consumed, but only if the fire does not threaten inhabited structures and weather conditions are favorable. These structures often cost more to tear down or salvage than they are worth, so allowing them to burn may be an affordable, albeit desperate, solution.

This idea raises controversy because many abandoned homes and buildings may be providing shelter to homeless individuals or even families. However, abandoned structures pose a greater risk to firefighters because they are often left in dilapidated conditions with a higher chance of collapse.

The case of Walter P. Harris, a 17-year veteran for the Detroit Fire Department who was killed when the roof collapsed during an abandoned house fire in November of 2008, exemplified this risk in the documentary’s extended trailer. The fire that killed Harris was also reported as intentionally set.

To learn more about the BURN documentary or make a tax-deductible donation to the project, visit the Official Burn website at http://detroitfirefilm.org .

What do you think of the documentary? Should fire departments allow abandoned buildings burn to cut costs? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. 

Are you discouraged because your 2011 AFG training request was denied?

Don’t give up! Grant funding for training projects is not dead.

Many fire departments are frustrated that they were not awarded a training grant for 2011 and may not apply for training this year, or not apply at all.  If your department has a training, equipment or apparatus need, we urge you to keep trying!  

Action Training Systems has some tips to help you successfully ask for training in 2012.

1)Make sure your training request matches the grant priorities.

The 2011 AFG Program Guidance for training states: “In implementing the fire service’s recommendations concerning AFG, DHS has determined that the most benefit is derived from training that is instructor-led and hands-on and that leads to a nationally sanctioned or State certification. Therefore, applications focused on national or State certification training, including train-the-trainer initiatives, will receive a higher competitive rating.”

Nearly every successful AFG funded training project demonstrated in the request that the program outlined was instructor led, incorporated evaluation and testing, and led to student certification upon completion.

To be successful, you must outline your entire training program, not just training materials you need to carry out that program.

You must show how your certified instructor will use the requested training materials as part of a program that includes getting students in the classroom seats and delivering quality hands-on training leading to certification.  

The AFG reviewers like to see that you have a training plan, not a wish list.  You must indicate how trainees will be evaluated and tested in your program to demonstrate their competency.

Action Training Systems offers several instructional aids that are necessary to meet the goals of developing effective emergency responder training.  These include instructional DVDs and CBTs to complement instructor led Firefighter I/II, Driver Operator, HAZMAT Awareness, HAZMAT Operations and EMS course delivery; PowerPoint programs for all levels of firefighter and emergency responder training; a full line of IFSTA manuals and student workbooks necessary for effective delivery; Brady/Pearson EMS books and, a comprehensive test-generating program for student applications and evaluations.

Successful AFG awards, especially those for training, require planning thought and preparation. 

Action Training Systems has over 24 years of experience in developing courses for emergency responders.  Action Training Systems has a key understanding of the industry, the adult learner and of instructional design, placing our programs at a superior advantage over other training products in the market.

Action Training Systems has aided thousands of fire departments worldwide in meeting their training needs.  Contact our expert technical staff at 1-800-755-1440 for your training support needs. 

As most of you with a recent CPR certification know, the American Heart Association released some important changes to the 2010 Guidelines for CPR and ECC. The AHA reevaluates these guidelines every five years based on new peer-reviewed evidence in resuscitation studies to ensure the best techniques are used.

The biggest change was in the BLS sequence, which changed from A-B-C to C-A-B. Chest compressions start sooner to force existing oxygenated blood through the body. During that time, another responder can prepare a pocket mask or BVM with oxygen to deliver the rescue breaths. This may also allow time to prepare an AED as well.

Action Training Systems incorporated these new guidelines into our EMS Training: Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) series title called Resuscitation. Here are some of the production team’s behind-the-scenes shots from Resuscitation.

We shot the main CPR setup in Buckley, WA with Officer Adam Garrett with Buckley Police Department. EMT Miriam Cooper played our bystander who happened upon our victim, retired firefighter John Justice.  We filmed in an alley just adjacent to the fire department and nearby police station.  The shoot was supervised by Buckley FD instructor and ATS technical advisor Angela Riggsby.

Our responders Dwayne McGehee and Justin Torres arrived from City of Buckley Fire Department to demonstrate our two-rescuer CPR technique.

The 2010 AHA Guidelines also made some subtle changes to chest compression rates and depths. Previously, the AHA recommended a rate of approximately 100 compressions/minute. Now, the 2010 guidelines recommend at least 100 compressions/minute. The compression depth of 1.5 (4 cm) to 2 inches (5 cm) for adults has also changed to at least 2 inches (5 cm).

Since John was alive and well, we decided to save our compressions demonstration for a dummy. Our cameramen Sjon and Peter captured the demo at Pierce County Fire District 5 with Andrew Cochrane, Ryan Gorcester and Alex Langlow.

The dummy didn’t seem to mind and only responded with a satisfying “click” upon each compression.

The compression depths for pediatric patients changed slightly in 2010 as well. Previous guidelines recommended a compression depth of approximately one third to one half the anterior-posterior diameter of the chest, but the new guidelines recommend at least one third the anterior-posterior diameter of the chest. The new guidelines also include an approximation of that depth as 1½ inches (4 cm) for most infants and about 2 inches (5 cm) for most children.

We shot this pediatric CPR scenario with North Kitsap Fire & Rescue’s Trevor Glebe and Steven Green, who make regular appearances in the EMR series. Our patient actor, Bryce Delmendo, kept laughing, although we reminded him he was supposed to play dead. It was hard for the guys to keep a straight face, too. 

The production team had a great time working through the CPR and AED procedures with our local EMS departments. Check out the Resuscitation title on our EMR page to view a quick demo of the program.

What do you think about the changes to the AHA Guidelines?

Dennis Elliott from Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue in Silverdale, WA recently found StageIT to be a great firefighter training tool for creating some schematics to update his department’s Field Operations Guide (FOG) for apparatus positioning. Click on these 4 examples to see the schematics he created. Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4

As part of his Lieutenant’s promotional exam Dennis was given an assignment to work on updating the department FOG for apparatus placement at a scene. He had to turn in the updates on paper and provide diagrams illustrating apparatus positioning.
StageIT is most often thought of as a tool for an instructor to use and create simple to complex emergency response simulations. Often overlooked are the schematic diagrams included in StageIT’s media library which allowed Dennis (the testee not the instructor) to quickly create some aerial view schematics illustrating apparatus placement. It took him about a half an hour to produce the four professional looking schematic illustrations included in this folder.

Simple but effective. He did not want to use an aerial map image view to illustrate the placements because too much distracting detail was shown in the photo. With these schematics the focus is all on the placement of the vehicles. While the schematics Dennis created can be projected on screen for use in a classroom, he was also able to print them out to hand in with his assignment.

StageIT provides an easy way to create real-world training solutions to enhance strategy and tactics planning, promotional testing and pre-incident planning. 

By the way, Dennis passed his exam with flying colors and is now a Lieutenant with the department.

Pictured Above: Dennis Elliott with his son Austin at his badge pinning ceremony.

    Click here to see another example of StageIt Fire Simulator Software

Can competency-based Fire/EMS training be achieved on a budget?

Time and time again we hear there is an increasing need for quality training for emergency responders, but budgets are being cut and departments and organizations have to consider layoffs.  

Is there an option to reduce the amount spent on training without compromising the quality of the training provided?

I think before answering that question, the comment must be made that you cannot put a price tag on the value of emergency response training. It is common knowledge that quality training is essential to insure the safety of your staff as well as our community members. Now, the answer to the question is YES, you do have options when it comes to quality firefighter training, EMS training, industrial fire brigade training and all other emergency response training.

One option is to supplement your hands-on training with other training resources.  Classroom training and distance learning cannot replace hands-on training, but they can be used to enhance hands-on training.  There are also several great training materials available for instructors and trainers that cost less than outsourcing all your department/organization training.  

There are training DVDs with high-quality video that have been proven to be great companions to industry-leading emergency response training manuals.   Interactive computer-based training programs  can be installed on a stand-alone computer or networked in a computer lab. These programs provide students with an opportunity to take courses on specific topics, learn specific training objectives, take interactive quizzes and exams and then have that information tracked and recorded by the instructor. This type of training has been proven to significantly increase student competency in the subject matter, better preparing students for hands-on training and increasing confidence out in the field. In addition to DVD and computer-based training, there are also some great simulation software programs on the market that can be used by the instructor to create or re-create fire, HAZMAT or emergency response stages of an incident and present them for testing and evaluation.

In-house training is becoming more popular, and there are companies out there doing a great job of providing competency-based training that is improving student comprehension and confidence. Some are very efficient in their delivery methods and are affordable, however it is important to thoroughly check into the quality of content of any training program you are considering. Some companies focus on meeting departments’ budget needs, but the level of content and student competency levels could be compromised.  There are options out there that will meet your needs in terms of quality of training, affordability and efficiency.

Action Training has always been known for their high-level quality training content, but it is equally important to them to meet department and organization needs in terms of budget and efficiency of delivery. Their entire staff is devoted to providing you with the best emergency response training resources on the market and their group of highly qualified training consultants will help make your needs a reality.  For more information, go to www.action-training.com or call 800-755-1440 ex 3