Adding the Final Step to the Education Process

As the cooler days of fall quickly approach, so does the annual firefighter training season. The staff at Lake Superior College, along with Mesabi Range Community and Technical College will soon be developing schedules for Firefighter I and II, Fire Apparatus Operator, Fire Instructor, Fire Officer, and many other much requested training programs. Area firefighters will be changing, and rearranging personal schedules to fit in family commitments, work responsibilities and firefighting classes.

We all know the drill. Summer vacation comes to a close and fire training begins. Classes will increase the ability and understanding of personnel to respond more effectively to the emergency situations that occur on a daily basis. Classroom lectures will be supplemented with hours of hands-on training. The combination will turnout a firefighting force prepared to man apparatus when the time is right.

Will that complete the process of training and preparing students to become better firefighters in the community? Where is the check to verify the student has mastered the presented curriculum? What insures competent performance of skills? My contention is there is one final step in the process that is missing. The step is the validation of skills and knowledge.

Scheduling a certification test at the culmination of training will provide the verification needed to insure that firefighters are performing at expected levels. Setting an expected level of performance ensures competencies that translate into safe and professional behaviors. Crews operate safer and customers receive a higher level of service. Isn't that what the fire service is all about? Isn't that part of your mission?

The certification process in Minnesota is a service, developed and maintained by the fire service, which provides you with the satisfaction, documentation, and proof that personnel have mastered a predetermined level of performance. Many fire departments across the state have seen results that make certification examinations a regular part of the course curriculum. When firefighting classes are scheduled this fall, I ask that you take the final step in the training of your personnel and schedule a certification test as an assurance that your training dollars are spent wisely, and your firefighters can perform the way you expect them to.