Training is the backbone of any fire department—it supports every organizational goal and objective. Training translates the department’s vision and mission into action, equipping firefighters to quickly make decisions and take actions in line with organizational values.

1. WARNING LIGHTS
6 Signs Your Fire Department Training Program
Is Falling Short

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Introduction
Sign #1
You’re not training frequently
Sign #2
Training topics are based on preferences, not facts
Sign #3
Your program relies too much on online training
Sign #4
Technology is missing from your training
Sign #5
The training division is where low performers go to hide
Sign #6
You’re not training on policy.
The Takeaways
About the Author
TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Training is the backbone of any fire department—it supports every
organizational goal and objective. Training translates the department’s
vision and mission into action, equipping firefighters to quickly make
decisions and take actions in line with organizational values.
Just consider a few things effective training can do:
• Enhance the safety of the public by reducing response times,
making emergency scene operations more efficient and
improving patient outcomes.
• Reduce costs associated with accidents and injuries that occur when
members lack familiarity with essential tools (e.g., spreaders and
cutters at vehicle extrication scenes).
• Challenge conventional tactics that may not be effective due to
changes in building construction and fuel loads.
• Empower firefighters to step in when they see bullying or harassment.
• Educate personnel on how to stay safe in the face of new risks such as
synthetic opioids.
• Get firefighters excited about what they do—and feel confident to go
out and do it!
INTRODUCTION

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Despite the essential nature of training, it often takes a backseat to
operations and even prevention. Training is one of the first places leaders
look to cut when a budget crunch hits. Managers may try to justify training
cuts by arguing that members maintain skills proficiency when they
perform tasks during an emergency. Emergency calls, however, do not
provide the opportunity to add new skills or make procedure corrections
because of operational deviation. Cutting training is a short-sighted
approach that can have serious repercussions down the line. Your training
program is the vehicle for your organization’s pursuit and achievement of
excellence. When training is diminished, the department and its personnel
suffer.
How do you know whether your training function is adequate? Whether
you have a state-of-the-art academy-based training division or one
volunteer training manager, there are certain warning signs you should
watch for. As you read through the six signs that indicate your training
program may be falling short, challenge yourself to honestly evaluate
your training program. Are there areas where more focus or discipline is
needed? Could you benefit from new ideas or perspectives?
Do you see warning lights ahead?

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Lexipol co-founder and risk management expert Gordon Graham often
uses the saying, “Every day is a training day.” Every shift, or every day your
volunteers are in the station, you should be training.
Obviously, you can’t design a comprehensive training program for every
shift. But we all know training takes many forms. Training can be anything
from hands-on practice to reading a fire service article. Every day is an
opportunity to learn something new about the challenges we face when
the tones go off. Making every day a training day involves acknowledging
the various ways we learn and incorporating those ways into training.
Some action items to enhance your training frequency include:
• Make training a priority: Does training frequently get canceled or
postponed in your department? Do you have a training calendar that
outlines daily training or are you putting off developing one because
other priorities take precedence? Organizations that prioritize their
daily activities to include scheduled training will be more successful
in committing to a training program.
• Be aware of training mandates. States, accrediting bodies
and regional mutual aid agreements or contracts often
outline training requirements. Make sure you’re up to
date on all training mandates and are working them
into your regular schedule.
• Vary the types of training. If your training always
involves getting outside and running drills or complex
evolutions, it can be difficult to fit in. Inclement
weather and crew fatigue can derail hands-on training.
Develop a training program that involves different
settings and types of training. Some quick drills can be
done in the apparatus bay on a rainy day, while other times the
firefighters may benefit from the quiet of a self-directed online module.
• Don’t do it all yourself. There’s no shortage of training resources
available from associations, research groups and vendors—many of
which are available free of charge. Tapping into training programs
developed outside your department can save you time and money.
SIGN #1
YOU'RE NOT TRAINING FREQUENTLY
“Organizations that
prioritize their daily
activities to include
scheduled training will
be more successful in
committing to a
training program.

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• Provide ways firefighters can engage in self-directed training—and
the time to do so. There’s a ton of free online content out there.
Instructors can serve as content “curators,” reviewing videos, webinars
and online courses ahead of time and providing a list of vetted
resources firefighters can access during down times around the station
(or for volunteers, from home). If you have a station intranet, consider
setting up a page for this type of resource—just remember to keep
changing up the links so your firefighters have reason to revisit the site.
Establishing a YouTube channel with training videos is another option.
• Empower your company officers. Some of the most valuable training
goes on outside the academy and the training classroom. Ask your
company officers what they need to enhance their training. Provide
them with kitchen-table discussion topics, drills, videos, games and
quizzes they can use. Take note of which company officers excel at
training and encourage them to mentor others who are still developing
their instructional skills.
How often are you training? What is your training program doing, every
day, to encourage your firefighters to learn new skills and refine their
knowledge of familiar topics? If you’re not making every day a training day,
you’re falling short.

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How do you develop training topics? Do you even know why you’re training
on specific topics, or is it just what the department has always done? Fire
department training should be based on “facts and stats” specific to your
department. But too often, training managers get into a rut, repeating
the training calendar from the year before—and five years before
that—because it seems to work and it’s easier than making
changes. This can produce skill gaps, while also making
training uninteresting for firefighters and instructors alike.
To shake up your training calendar, consider the following:
• Conduct a needs assessment. When was the last
time you asked the members what they want to train
on, in what areas they feel they need more training,
and what type of training they like best? Sometimes
command staff can think everything is great with the
training program when the boots on the ground are
terribly frustrated. A needs assessment is also a great way
to determine whether you’re relying on training methods that
work for your instructors but not for the troops.
• Conduct a skills assessment. We all know sometimes what we
think we need isn’t actually what we need. A skills assessment
is different from a needs assessment because it provides an
objective measurement of firefighter proficiency on specific tasks.
It’s quite possible your instructors have a good handle on firefighter
proficiencies and deficiencies, but it never hurts to check. Areas where
your personnel are lacking are obvious topics for additional training.
• Incorporate call volume statistics. Now that most departments are
all-hazard services, training must address a wide variety of topics,
from incident command to hazardous materials. But you should
also be training to the types of calls your department responds to
the most. Run some statistical analyses to determine the top 10 call
types for your department, then assess whether your training program
adequately addresses them. If EMS is 80 percent of your calls but 10
percent of your training, that’s a warning sign.
SIGN #2
TRAINING TOPICS ARE BASED ON
PREFERENCES, NOT FACTS
“Too often training
managers get into a rut,
repeating the training
calendar from the year
before because it seems
to work and it’s easier
than making
changes.

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• Take inspiration from conference sessions and trade magazine
articles. You likely can’t afford to send lots of members to conferences
each year. But most of the bigger shows post their session topics
online. Scanning conference programs can give you excellent ideas
for new training topics, providing insight into emerging topics and
tactical changes. Industry blogs, educational webinars and email
newsletters are also a great resource for inspiration. Is that the fourth
time this month you’ve seen an article about fire behavior studies that
referenced NIST? Maybe it’s time to check out their free online training
and see whether it would be good fit for your department.
If you use an annual training calendar, many of the topics are probably
solid, essential training for your firefighters. But there’s always room
to change things up a bit, too, and good reason to do so. Rather than
designing training around what you’ve always done or what you—or the
chief—likes to do, develop a decision-making algorithm that incorporates
call statistics, needs assessments and skills assessments. Doing so
will give you greater confidence in your training lineup and will help your
members feel vested in their training program.

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Online training can be extremely cost-effective for fire departments.
However, if most of your training is coming through your learning
management system (LMS) or other computer-based training, your
firefighters may be missing out.
Interestingly, online training may be least effective for firefighters in rural
areas—even though this delivery method has been promoted to overcome
rural firefighters’ lack of access to training options. A recent study by
Oklahoma State University found that only one in four rural firefighters
actively sought out online training, and their attitude toward it was only
slightly more favorable than unfavorable. The researchers speculated that
slow internet speeds and limited spare time made rural firefighters less
likely to embrace online training.
The best way to think about online training is as a supplement to your
training program. Most departments are successful when they limit online
training to the following:
• Annual refreshers and other required training, such as EMS CE,
sexual harassment training and other HR topics, state-required OSHA
training, etc.
SIGN #3
YOUR PROGRAM RELIES TOO
MUCH ON ONLINE TRAINING

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• Training on policies, standard operating guidelines and standard
operating procedures.
• Pre-training work that students complete prior to hands-on or
classroom training. This model is also called “flipping the classroom.”
You can achieve substantial time and cost savings using this method
because you limit the time instructors need to meet with students, so
overtime and makeups are minimized. Further, many instructors who
use this method find that students are more engaged and come to
class ready to learn. Rather than spending time laying the groundwork
and determining individual knowledge levels, you can be confident
the students have a shared foundation of knowledge. The time in the
classroom or on the training ground is therefore much more efficient.
As your department builds an online training library, you can use the
programs to train new firefighters. Online training can also be a good way
to remediate poor performers or those who are experiencing knowledge
erosion. It’s a good idea to include quizzes and other assessments with
online training programs, so that you can be sure firefighters are absorbing
the material.
One additional note about computer-based training: Take advantage of
the prepackaged courses that most LMS offer, but also look for ways to
customize the learning. A good LMS will give you this ability. Training that
accurately reflects the specifics of your department—e.g., apparatus types
and staffing—will better engage your firefighters and help them more easily
transfer the knowledge to real-world calls.
How do you know whether you’re relying too heavily on computer-based
training? Skill proficiency deficiencies are a critical clue. If your firefighters
are racking up the training hours but you’re seeing hesitancy or skill gaps at
fires and other emergency calls, it’s time to reset the balance and get back
out on the training ground. For some subjects, there’s just no substitute for
hands-on training.

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Technology is playing a greater role in fire service training, from learning to
drive the apparatus to practicing hoseline advancement and search. If your
organization isn’t incorporating new technologies, you might be left behind.
Several trends are driving training technology acceptance within
the fire service. One is the decrease in structure fires. When
firefighters get less exposure to structure fire calls, their
learning curve slows—and that can result in company
officers with little to no practical live-fire experience.
Many communities have made it nearly impossible to
obtain structures for live-fire training, so departments
can’t fill the experience void with hands-on training.
Finally, the price of many technologies has come down
even as the cost of training has gone up.
Consider an apparatus driving simulation program.
Using actual apparatus for driver training requires taking
an apparatus out of service and risks injury to firefighters or
damage to the apparatus, not to mention causing wear and tear on
the apparatus over time. Driver training simulators require some budget
to implement, but once up and running they can train firefighters risk-free,
with little to no down time—a huge increase in efficiency.
Technologies that are proving useful in fire department instruction include:
• Learning management systems (LMS). LMS have been around for
a long time, but they continue to get better. Many now integrate with
mobile devices, so firefighters can complete training on smartphones
or tablets. An LMS can significantly increase your training program
efficiency, allowing you to run training reports, identify trends,
integrate with your records system and more.
• Simulation. Recently I read a fire blog that described fire simulators
as “ICS meets Mortal Combat.” It’s true! Today many fire training
simulators closely resemble video games—some even employ virtual
reality goggles. But you don’t have to sit behind a computer to get the
benefit of simulation. Live-burn simulators, vehicle fire simulators and
SIGN #4
TECHNOLOGY IS MISSING
FROM YOUR TRAINING
“Technology does
require a budget, but
consider the return
on investment that
comes from increased
efficiency, reduced
injuries and reduced
personnel hours.

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hazmat simulators are just a few of the options for providing safe,
cost-effective hands-on training.
• Video. Now that we’re all walking around with high-definition video
cameras in our hands, creating short scenario-based videos for
training is easier than ever. This is a great way to supplement
classroom or self-directed learning. Build a list of tactics you want to
demonstrate, pull some firefighters together during a shift one day,
and start filming. Best of all: You’re training while filming!
• Audience response. Many industries are using audience response
technologies to increase instructor-student interaction. The options
vary, but they accomplish the same thing: instant “polling” of the
students, with results delivered to the instructor in real time. Fire
departments can use this functionality to review for EMS exams, to
assess firefighter familiarity with a topic before beginning a training
session, or simply to keep students awake during class! Over time,
the data you collect can provide valuable insight into training needs.
Today’s technologies offer amazing potential to enhance your training
program. Technology does require a budget, but consider the return on
investment that comes from increased efficiency, reduced injuries and
reduced personnel hours. Regional purchasing can also help bring the
cost down.
One caveat: Technology is a facilitator for solid instruction; it does not
replace it. As you’re integrating technology into your training program,
beware of becoming so impressed with the bells and whistles that you
forget to focus on the actual learning.

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Gordon Graham, co-founder of Lexipol and a risk management expert,
repeatedly warns about the danger of staffing non-critical positions
with “the sluggos and the malcontents.” As Gordon notes, although top-
notch personnel often want to be on the front lines where all the action
is happening, it’s equally important that positions like Public Information
Officer or Fire Prevention be filled with some of your best employees.
Perhaps nowhere is this more important than in your training program.
There are three main reasons firefighters wind up in training:
1. They’re competent, highly motivated firefighters who care deeply
about the future of the department.
2. They’re not performing up to task in operational duties, so they’re
asked to fill the training function as a way of getting them off the
front lines and minimizing the damage they can do.
3. They’re on light duty because of an injury.
Sadly, two out of these three options are simply not in the organization’s
best interest. The training function is too important to be passed off to
people who don’t really have an interest in it. If you have a low performer
teaching your firefighters, how can you expect high performance from
them? And while we all have empathy for those on light duty, if they can’t
SIGN #5
THE TRAINING DIVISION IS WHERE
LOW PERFORMERS GO TO HIDE

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make a proper transition to a training role, embracing it wholeheartedly,
they don’t belong there, either.
When selecting fire department instructors, you want to seek out
dedicated, hard-working firefighters with excellent interpersonal skills.
Some additional characteristics to look for:
• Experience. Firefighters will quickly see through an instructor who
lacks hands-on experience. There’s no shortage of off-the-shelf
training curricula that can provide a starting point for training, but
instructors need a strong foundation of experience to draw on. Equally
important: the humility to admit when they don’t know something.
• Fondness for teaching. Unfortunately, many instructors don’t
seem to like teaching. And I’m not talking about standing in
front of a classroom, feeling powerful, lecturing at the
students. Good instructors enjoy the give-and-take of
teaching. They want to pass along their knowledge,
but they understand they will learn something, too.
They are genuinely energized by the process of
helping a student master a new skill.
• Tech-savvy. It helps when instructors are
comfortable with the technology used in your
training program. Can they create a decent
PowerPoint presentation, troubleshoot when the
video projection system isn’t working and use the
department learning management system? There’s no need
for instructors to be a walking IT department, but technophobes
rarely make great fire instructors.
• Safety-conscious. It’s essential that your instructors model and
reinforce all safety precautions The training ground can turn deadly
just like a real incident. Further, the time to ingrain safe techniques
is when firefighters are learning new skills. Trying to add a safety
component after the muscle memory is built is much more difficult.
Instructing others is a craft. Just as critical as selecting the right people
to become instructors is providing instructor development training. Many
“The training
function is too
important to be passed
off to people who
don’t really have an
interest in it.

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of us have experienced first-hand how an ineffective instructor can fail to
change behaviors and prepare firefighters to carry out their duties. Support
your instructors by using the guidelines of NFPA 1041, Standard for Fire
Service Instructor Professional Qualifications. You may also want to assign
new instructors a mentor who can evaluate and coach them to improve their
ability to impart information in an engaging and effective manner.
Think about the people responsible for training your firefighters. Do they
embody the above characteristics, or are they the department “sluggos
and malcontents”?

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SIGN #6
Fire department training almost always covers procedures—the how of
doing something. But are you also focusing on the why? Effective training
incorporates both procedure and policy and helps firefighters understand
the difference.
Consider the example of active-shooter incidents. Your policy should
emphasize your commitment to safe, rapid response, outline components
of an active-shooter response plan, and discuss factors firefighters should
consider when responding to such calls. Your accompanying procedure
should outline the specific actions to take on scene, including resource
deployment, apparatus positioning, information to relay to dispatch, and
key steps for incident command. Together, the policy and procedure
provide both sides of an equation; train on one and not the other, and your
training will be fundamentally out of balance.
Fire departments sometimes fail to train on policy because their policies
are outdated, obsolete or nonexistent. But too often, even departments
with adequate policies fail to incorporate policy into regular training. New
firefighters are given a copy of the policy manual and may even be tested
on it, but after that initial introduction, the manual usually gathers dust
on a shelf or in a locker. The next time it might appear is if the firefighter
chooses to test for promotion—or possibly, when something goes wrong
and disciplinary action is threatened.
YOU'RE NOT TRAINING ON POLICY

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Why don’t we typically train on policy? It lacks the excitement of live-fire
or technical rescue training, for sure. Few firefighters want to slug through
pages of policy language. Company officers may also be more focused on
training that can verify specific skills—e.g., an SCBA confidence drill—or
promote crew cohesion. And often training chiefs tend to focus on tactical
training that can prevent firefighter injuries and deaths.
If we dig deeper, however, we see that policy can have just as important
an impact on firefighter safety. Consider a firefighter who is killed when
ejected from the apparatus because he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt,
contrary to policy. And let’s not forget that fire department casualties
occur even when no one is hurt or killed. When your firefighters don’t
know and understand key policies around discrimination, retaliation,
social media use or HIPAA protections, they can easily do something that
jeopardizes their job—which can have far-reaching repercussions for them,
the department and the community.
There are ways to make training on policy both interesting and verifiable:
• Make it short. Don’t try to review multiple policies at once. In some
cases, just taking a chunk of one policy is sufficient. Lexipol’s
Daily Training Bulletins are built around this concept—they provide
2-minute training focused on one aspect of department policy.
• Link it to real-world events. Use scenarios to make policy come to
life. Senior firefighters have a wealth of stories that can serve as
material for scenario-based training. News headlines provide good
material for what gets firefighters hurt or into trouble.
• Track the training. There’s a host of programs that can help track
training. Ideally, your system will both deliver the training and verify
completion so you can access training records quickly and easily—a
huge benefit when there’s a citizen complaint or other personnel issue.
Failing to train firefighters on policy creates a significant vulnerability for
your department. Now is the time to ensure your training program includes
policy training.

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Training is the best defense we have against the risks involved with a fire
service career. To keep that defense in good working order, fire service
leaders must be on the alert for signs their training program is struggling.
To sum it up:
• Train every shift. And in volunteer departments, make training a part
of every member meeting. Balance formal training with impromptu
learning opportunities.
• Take a fresh look at your training calendar and the topics you plan to
cover. Use member feedback, assessments and call statistics to ensure
you’re hitting the topics most applicable to your personnel—and in the
format that works the best for them.
• Balance computer-based learning with hands-on
training opportunities. Evaluate the types of training
you’re providing online to ensure they’re a good
fit for that format. Online training is essential to
most departments, but it works best for specific
applications.
• Remain open to new technologies. Technology
will never make up for poor training, but it can
make good training great—and in some cases
provide a more cost-effective, safer way to train your
firefighters.
• Staff your training department with your best and brightest.
And if you’re a smaller department lacking a formal training division,
identify a training champion among your members who is willing and
able to devote time to training and assist other company officers with
preparing training materials.
• It’s just as important to train on policy as tactics. If you’re not training
on policy, ask yourself why. If it’s because you lack confidence in your
policies, it may be time for a full-scale review.
Keeping the members safe—from physical risks as well as potential career-
ending situations—is a critical obligation of every fire service leader. By
staying on the lookout for common warning signs in your training program,
you can address problems before they occur, and have the confidence your
personnel are the best prepared they possibly can be.
THE TAKEAWAYS
“Training is the
best defense we
have against the risks
involved with a fire
service career.

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Bruce Bjorge’s 33-year fire service career has included command
and training positions with career, combination, volunteer
and military fire agencies. Currently, he serves as a paid-
on-call Battalion Chief with the Western Taney County
Fire Protection District in Branson, Mo., and as the
Fire Training Coordinator for Lexipol. Bruce holds
Training Officer and 1403 Live Fire Facility Instructor
credentials from the International Society of Fire
Service Instructors and is a graduate of the National
Fire Academy’s Training Program Management course.
He teaches at the University of Missouri Fire & Rescue
Training Institute and the College of the Ozarks Fire Science
program. Bruce has been an active instructor and evaluator
for the past 26 years and served as Western Taney County FPD’s
Assistant Chief of Training for seven years.
Lexipol provides comprehensive, continuously updated policies and related
training for more than 3,200 law enforcement agencies, fire departments
and corrections facilities in 35 states. With more than 2,075 years of
combined public safety experience, our staff creates policy solutions that
help public safety leaders reduce risk and keep their personnel safe by
improving policy access, understanding and compliance.
Contact us today for a free demo.
info@lexipol.com
www.lexipol.com
844-312-9500
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ABOUT LEXIPOL