This can easily be done on duty in the course of the daily activities, but it requires both parties to have an appreciation for both personal and career development. While many point fingers at their leadership, saying they are not being sent to enough training classes on or off the job, or that their department as a whole is not fully preparing them to do their job (and the one they may be preparing for), there is a much cheaper and easier method: mentoring and coaching by oneвЂ™s supervisor.ДЇor example, a firefighter or engineer preparing to be a captain or a captain preparing to be a battalion chief should have that person (their supervisor in the respective position) mentor and coach them to be the best they can be. This training can occur in the firehouse, the classroom and even in the field.

Prziborowski: While there is no one-size-fits-all solution for anything, the best approach is through simulated training. Steve Prziborowski, deputy chief for the Santa Clara County (California) Fire Department, has over 27 years of fire service experience, the last 13 as a chief officer.ДЇireRescue1: What is the best approach for training new officers to command their first fire? This is a team sport, and there should be no harm in having as much support as possible at the command post, especially for a new officer who has not had the opportunity to command many (if any) fires.вЂќ I kindly chimed in, вЂHave you considered requesting a third alarm?вЂ™ He had not, but immediately got on the radio requesting one, looking at me and saying, вЂThank you.вЂ™ I realize he would have eventually caught that he needed one, but IвЂ™ve also realized how easy it is at the command post to get task overloaded and sometimes forget key things because of all the distractions.

I had a smile on my face and asked, вЂHow can I assist?вЂ™ He said, вЂHow about hanging out here for a bit?вЂ™ As he was doing a good job assigning personnel and resources, I remember him almost using up all of his resources in staging, and the incident was nowhere near being under control. Prziborowski relayed a story of how he arrived on the fire scene (as a deputy chief) and offered his expertise to a new battalion chief: вЂњI could tell the new battalion chief was a bit overwhelmed, and he was very happy to see me. Steve Prziborowski, deputy chief for the Santa Clara County (California) Fire Department, has over 27 years of fire service experience, the last 13 as a chief officer вЂ“ and heвЂ™s run more than a few fires in his day. As such, mentoring, coaching and on-scene guidance are critical. Running command for your first time is a stressful experience, particularly because itвЂ™s almost impossible to get actual on-the-job training for commanding a fire.

Fire commander chrome