Fire and Emergency Medical Services Training

The Racine Fire Department places an extremely high value on fire and EMS training. This is what makes us so darn good. Repetition, and the introduction of new skills on a regular basis keeps our members in touch with the current best practices in fire suppression and Advanced Life Support. One Division Chief of Training is dedicated to coordinating and teaching of fire fighting skills, while the other Division Chief of EMS is dedicated to coordinating and teaching Emergency Medical Services, and Paramedic skills. Each area has specific annual requirements. Our goal is a competency based modelPI Accident 3 of education where each fire fighter or paramedic periodically demonstrates competency in fire fighting and EMS. This competency-based model requires hours of classroom training on an annual basis.

The fire department also has takes advantage of low or no cost training opportunities available on a regional, state and nationwide basis. A prime example is training sponsored by Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM) and the National Fire Academy (USFA-NFA).

Best Practices

The problem-solving model used in non-emergency situations consists of five areas where we focus our efforts on preventing problems within the organization.

• Hiring the right individual for the job
• Clearly stating our expectations and policies
• Providing ample training opportunities to develop proficiency
• Providing members with leadership guidance to perform well
• Assuring that members know when they have performed outside the expectation

The model for emergency decision-making is called the Incident Command System (ICS). ICS is the most current operating system available, and allows us to deliver safe and effective emergency services despite limited resources. In ICS fire fighters and paramedics use the same pattern of response and decision making every time, regardless of whether the incident is a fire or medical emergency. The benefits of ICS include a reduced stress level for responding fire fighters and paramedics, improved safety on the scene of an incident, and faster deployment of resources.

ICS depends on proper staffing and training. Failure to adequately staff the City of Racine Fire Department and train personnel may result in unnecessary injuries to the citizens of Racine, our visitors to Racine, fire fighters, paramedics, and/or additional damage to property.

Our fire fighters and paramedics are trained to deliver exceptional service in very stressful situations. Our risk management efforts focus on minimizing the risk to our fire fighters and paramedics by maintaining a response readiness mode. We apply the following model to our responses:

• We will risk a lot for savable lives
• We will risk a little for savable property
• We will not risk anything for lost lives or property

Arriving quickly and being unable to perform emergency operations due to inadequate staffing places us in a position to witness the emergency and not intervene.

Special attention is given to safety and wellness programs. Active member wellness programs will reduce the risk of duty-incurred injuries and help prevent long-term occupational risks. A fire fighter or paramedic with a 30-year career represents a significant investment for the City of Racine.

History as a Teacher

History is a wonderful teacher. Our job is to look at history to make predictions on future events and possibilities. In addition we must make basic assumptions on future budgetary trends based on current experience. Here are some key points when predicting the future based on history:

• There is no crystal ball. We cannot physically foresee what the future will bring.
• Past incident data tells us what has happened
• Past incident data teaches us how to handle similar incidents in the future
• We can make reasonable predictions on future events but there are no guarantees about what we can expect at any given time, on any given day of the week.
• Bad things happen in good cities. Are we prepared and properly staffed?
• Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat history! (Edward Burke 1729-1797)
• The wise man doesn’t give the right answers, he poses the right questions. (Claude Levi-Strauss)
• Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. (Thomas Alva Edison)