Given the ever-changing environments we face on the incident scene, training is harder than it has ever been before. Training divisions are challenged with ensuring that training is realistic, safe and meets members’ needs. But they face many challenges: low or non-existent budgets, limited resources and the need to balance real-world call volume with other department responsibilities. Fortunately, there are many props that can meet your basic training needs, whether you purchase commercial products, build your own or get materials from within your community.
Prop Benefits
Training props can be a valuable resource, not only to increase the level of service that your department can deliver within your community, but also to increase the level of safety for your personnel. Further, they are a great way to meet a multitude of training needs while remaining cost-effective and providing a foundation for any training program, covering everything from basic firefighter skills to advance techniques and decision-making.
But where do you begin? The first step is to develop a training plan that’s based on your department’s needs, and then determine how props can be used to address these deficiencies. This is not necessarily an easy process, but evaluating the performance capabilities of the department and its personnel can help you develop a list of needs that can be prioritized based on your members’ skills and/or low-frequency, high-risk events.
Once you’ve devised a plan that will address your department’s needs, it’s time to attain the propsࢀ”and get down to training.
Props provide the repetition in basic skills and techniques that departments rely on to fill in the gaps due to lack of “on-the-job” experience. These basic skills and techniques provide firefighters with a level of confidence in their tools and abilities. This also allows them to experiment with different tools and techniques, and to realize their limitations based on department resources and even their own physical abilities. In addition, props allow training division personnel to provide firefighters a variety of challenges with minimal effort based on the prop and the skills being utilized.
Forcible entry, self-rescue, driving simulators and even SCBA props each allow firefighters to experience a multitude of challenges in a controlled setting. One important aspect in any training settings is realism. Maintaining realistic training begins with proper PPE, just like the real world. Climbing through SCBA props and doing RIT bottle conversions is easier without gloves, but is it really realistic? In addition, how many injuries occur in training due to a lack of PPE?
Injuries that occur in training due to a lack of proper PPE is an unrealized number but one that should receive much more attention because of the strains it puts on departments related to additional overtime, workers’ compensation and negative publicityࢀ”all for something that should be a primary focus in any training situation, not only for personnel safety but for realism as well.
Another advantage to using props: focusing on skills for specialized, low-frequency/high-risk situations. For example, hazmat response is a primary responsibility for departments and, regardless of the level of service (awareness to technician), props can be utilized to increase your level of service.
Technician-level personnel can use props so they can practice applying equipment over and over again in different scenarios, and while wearing the appropriate PPE. In addition, the same props can be used for an entire scenario to simulate critical decision-making points. Even simpler, if you put a skull and cross bones on the side of a 55-gallon drum and let it leak green (dye) fluid in a parking lot, you suddenly have a full-blown scenario where you can practice decision-making, company expertise and individual skill levels.
In Sum
Props are a necessary resource in every training program. Props can be used to address everything from basic skills to advanced-level decision-makingࢀ”and the only limit is your imagination.
