Fire education program budgets

So, when we looked at some parallel professions — for police, for nursing, for EMS, for teachers — they all have CE requirements, and largely across every state, there is something in place that says you must do this to maintain your certifications. That person could be looking at four sets of CE requirements to maintain their certifications. So, we think that is one of the bigger issues that needs to be addressed before anyone starts working on CE requirements for any one type of certification.

On a second level, every NFPA ProQual standard has language like that found in the fire officer standard: The fire officer at all levels of progression shall remain current with the general knowledge and skills and job performance requirements addressed in the level of qualification [NFPA , 1.

So, a likely scenario is that those individual standards committees will revise their standards to include the CE requirements for a standard and how an individual can meet those CE requirements. But being called a profession also requires that those professionals engage in continuous learning and improvement.

We expect that from our paramedics, our nurses, our lawyers and other professionals in our lives. We should expect no less from our firefighters and fire officers. Share your thoughts in the comments below or at editor firerescue1. Battalion Chief Robert Avsec ret. He was an instructor for fire, EMS and hazardous materials courses at the local, state and federal levels, which included more than 10 years with the National Fire Academy.

Beyond his writing for FireRescue1. Connect with Avsec on LinkedIn or via email. You must enable JavaScript in your browser to view and post comments. Get more info. More FireRescue1 Articles. More FireRescue1 Exclusives. Make FireRescue1 your homepage. What words of wisdom would you tell your rookie self? More than 1, courses and videos, including more than hours of approved EMS credit! The Great Chicago Fire: Origin, controversy and historical significance.

This may include a merger of two or more departments. Fire and Life Safety. Accomplishments We have implemented Brycer, a 3rd party inspection company to monitor fire systems at no cost to the city We have adjusted our user fees for services to better effect a system of cost recovery Provided public education and outreach to 5, children and citizens Assisted at the state level to write and adopt a state building code for construction in the wildland urban interface.

Goals Create Fire Inspector position Continue to pursue the grant funds for commercial building safety system updates. Gain compliance with State Fire Code and City resolution on completion of fire inspections Improve fee and permit collection process Funding for a proper Emergency Operations Center, support and training. Continue public outreach for fire and life safety education, community CPR and first aid. Increase CERT use within department operations Future Challenges There is a need for a deputy fire marshal and a fire inspector to address compliance issues.

Identify site and build an emergency operations center suitable to community needs. Currently there are only 7 exempt jurisdictions in the State Adopt the state construction standard for wildland construction in the city. Fires went down by an amazing two-thirds during the program, from the global advertising and awareness raised, not just from the visits themselves. It was as perfect a social engineering experiment as you could have.

Apply prevention stimulus, fires down. Take away prevention stimulus, fires go up. This is an old example, but the same thing goes on all over the country today and it makes the problem of lacking public fire prevention efforts crystal clear. You need sustained public education—reminders of what to do and what not to do.