National Fire Service testing its skills
Promotions are in the pipeline for a number of firefighters, but first they have to prove that they are fit to assume new responsibilities. That is why the National Fire Service is carrying out five weeks of training that will test and develop the tactical response skills of the participating officers. Of the seventeen that started, eight have already fallen along the wayside and the practical aspect of the training is yet to come. Training Officer, Orin Smith, told News Five today that the firefighters must meet certain standards to complete the course and be eligible for promotion.
Orin Smith, Training Officer, National Fire Service
“What we have here is a substation officer promotion training course. As part of the department’s continuous endeavor to improve the service and efficiency and operational readiness of the department to effectively respond, arrive and manage a fire scene or any emergency scene for that fact.”
Delahnie Bain
Orin Smith
“So how do you get this across in an indoor setting?”
Orin Smith
“Right now, what we have here is a table top exercise. It’s more reality based and it depicts key areas within the city that would be a challenge to us and responding to that scene and we’re trying to get these officers to have their minds set into tactical procedures that are the best course of action that could be relied on, on that scene.”
Delahnie Bain
“Can you give us an example of the scenarios that you’re putting to them?”
Orin Smith
“Right now we have a simulation of a fire on the second floor or first story of Dave’s Furniture World and they are putting together a response strategy to effectively manage that scene.”
Delahnie Bain
“And I understand you have nine participants left but you started with more?”
Orin Smith
“We started with seventeen participants, but we’re trying to—because it’s a promotional course and there’s only so much vacancies, we’re simply eliminating those that cannot perform in the course and keep the best of the best.”
Delahnie Bain
“So how many of these firefighters are expected to be promoted at the end of this course?”
Orin smith
“There will be eight promotions.”
Delahnie Bain
“What do you think of the responses you’ve been getting so far on the scenarios that they’ve worked on already?”
Orin Smith
“Quite well. We’ve had some good scenarios put out; I think these guys are really understanding and learning a lot from this training and hopefully they will not forget their training and will be able to effectively utilize this knowledge on the ground in a real scenario.”
The course began on July ninth and runs until August fifth when recommendations for promotions will be made.
