Training Classes

This seminar serves as an introduction to cancer's impact on emergency responder. It is important to understand the information and resources available to assist you and your organization to understanding, prevent and manage the risk of firefighter cancer.

This program is a train-the-trainer program which is designed to teach the necessary instructional methodology in order to successfully deliver the program. Upon completion, instructor kits will be provided. Utility Terrain Vehicles (UTV), All-Terrain Vehicles (ATV), and Trailers have gained wider acceptance and use in both the fire service and EMS. Often equipment is needed, but cannot be accessed by or carried on traditional vehicles. To meet these demands, emergency services organizations are purchasing specialty vehicles and trailers to transport equipment. These pieces of equipment can solve these organizational issues, yet many departments lack the expertise or training for safe operation. This offering is a combination of two instructor-level programs developed to teach the emergency vehicle operator the proper techniques and procedures for operating these specialty vehicles and trailers safely.

The purpose of this seminar is to assist emergency service organizations in developing and placing into practice, standard-operating guidelines. A number of areas where SOPs/SOGs should be considered are presented. The class instruction and discussion will allow the participants to apply the principles of developing standard operating guidelines by actually writing one or more in draft form. Working in breakout groups, participants will get to share ideas and experiences from other emergency service organizations. Often, participants arrive with a particular area of concern and find that others also share this concern in the workshop. The breakout group sessions provide an excellent opportunity to get a handle on addressing particular areas of concern.

Appropriate for all emergency response personnel, this training aims to increase the level of awareness of the hazards faced by fire and EMS personnel. Chief Officers and Administrators will learn the types of hazards faced by personnel for the development of appropriate risk management strategies. Company officers will receive insight into the importance of accountability, beyond tracking people on a scene, and fire and EMS personnel will benefit by understanding their personal responsibility to safety.

This program is designed to assist volunteer and combination emergency service organizations in improving their overall performance. Whether called "transformation," "performance management," or "strategic planning," the development of a strategic focus is the core to long term success. Based on the VFIS text "Transforming the Volunteer Fire Service" and the VFIS "Volunteer Fire Service Strategic Focus Model," a road map to planning and decision-making for your organization is the end result. This workshop is the core product to understand what change is needed and how to implement that change.

This program is a train-the-trainer program which is designed to teach the necessary instructional methodology in order to successfully deliver the program. Upon completion, an instructor kit will be provided. Utility Terrain Vehicles (UTV) and All-Terrain Vehicles (ATV) have gained wider acceptance and use in both the fire service and EMS. These vehicles can help responders take quick action with less physical exhaustion of department members. These vehicles not only help emergency responders that use them, but also benefit the people served by the emergency service organization. Adding UTVs and ATVs to an ESO fleet can provide great benefits but might also present safety issues if the vehicles have not been properly trained in the operation and maintenance. This safety program was developed to provide refresher training for ESOs that use these types of specialty vehicles.

Abstract: "Hypochondriac, basket case, frequent flyer, and taxi run." These words depict vivid images in our minds, but have we forgotten why we entered emergency services. Are we in this profession for the right reasons and are we doing the best job possible. Today, providers are entering the profession ill-prepared to face the "realities" of emergency services; the opinions and stereotypes that can occur. Join us for an enlightening look at ethical issues from a different perspective, that of the patient!

One of the best tools that we have to enable the prevention of injuries and deaths is the investigation of all accidents that occur involving an Emergency Service Organization (ESO), regardless of whether a death, injury or serious property damage was the result. It is in the investigation, and specifically in the information gathered during incident investigations, where we may find the solutions to many of the problems that create needless losses. This course has been developed by members of the emergency services to assist ESOs in developing and incident investigation program and to provide resources to assist in investigating internal incidents. The course is not limited to the investigation of vehicular incidents, although they constitute a large portion of the incidents experienced by the emergency service community.

You can't run the volunteer/combination fire or EMS organization the way you used to! Today's emergency service organization (ESO) is simply not an "emergency response agency". Your ESO is a quasi-business requiring a number of management practices needed by all volunteer organizations, particularly regarding finance, personnel issues and planning in order to function and survive. Each ESO has a number of leadership positions to divide the work load and provide for more focus in those positions. In essence, ESOs have changed from their original mission of response to an emergency to one of identifying potential problems, planning to deal with risks, educating the public, preparing the community in the event of an emergency, and responding to manage the problem that exists. This program will provide insights into the best practices in managing your modern day ESO. The target audiences for this program are those members that currently occupy management level positions in an ESO or those who may desire to one day become part of the management function within an ESO.

This program is a train-the-trainer program which is designed to teach the necessary instructional methodology in order to successfully deliver the program. Upon completion, an instructor kit will be provided. Every day we are called to scenes involving patient movement from simply putting a patient back in bed, to some of the most complex calls which challenge even the most experienced EMS provider. We have a variety of patient-moving devices available to transfer patients from point A to point B, safely. Why do we continue to drop patients? This program is intended to make patient care providers more aware of the issues surrounding patient transfer and preventing patients from being dropped.

The program is designed for field supervisory personnel and training officers. Risk Control for Mid-Level Managers reintroduces the student to risk control with emphasis on identifying, managing and controlling risk as well as potential risk pitfalls associated with Emergency Service Organizations. The program is instructor driven and interactive through group discussion. The program concludes with review of case studies covering various risks including vehicle operations, medical malpractice, general liability from a facilities perspective and employment practices liability. The overall goal of the program is to provide an understanding of how each individual position within an organization plays an integral and vitally important role in overall risk reduction. Risk reduction will aid in the creation and sustainability of a safety culture within your organization. Additional topics include written policies, rules and regulations, as well as equal and equitable enforcement. This program is applicable to career, volunteer or combination departments both fire and EMS.

This awareness session addresses the many areas of exposure that fire service personnel, providers of pre-hospital care and patient transportation face in their day-to-day operation. Subjects discussed include professional liability, fire suppression and rescue, report documentation, incident reports, and adherence to standing operations. Actual case scenarios will be used to highlight the importance of the topics discussed. The participant will acquire a deeper appreciation of the need to provide care according to their protocols or standing orders, scope of practice, and the present standard of care expected in their part of the world.

Emergency service demands and operations are constantly changing. These changing demands and operations require public safety professionals to change as people, equipment, operations and expectations change. The first step in the change-management process is to understand and modify organizational culture to meet those new expectations.

The Traffic Incident Management (TIM) for Emergency Service Personnel program was developed by responders — for responders, with the objective that nationally; all organizations who respond to roadway incidents acquire a common set of core competencies that promote a shared understanding of the requirements for achieving the safety of responders and motorists, quick response, and effective communications at traffic incident scenes. VFIS has partnered with the Federal Highway Administration in making our program a SHRP2 equivalent program. A VFIS/SHRP2 certificate will be issued upon completion of this program. The target audience for this class includes a mix of Fire, Law Enforcement, Fire Police, EMS, Dispatchers, Road Department, Towing, and Traffic Management Professionals.