BY BRIAN SMITH, JOE ZALUDEK, AND STEVE AUFEROTH
The FEAT (Firefighter Emergency Abilities & Tasks) test is a 12-station evolution that uses common fireground tasks as exercise parameters. It is performed in full personal protective equipment (PPE), including SCBA, and allows the participants to gauge the level of their physical fitness, their air-management techniques, and their ability to perform firefighting tasks in a stressful environment. The FEAT test is similar to most fire department physical ability entry tests, especially the CPAT-it’s just longer. Some members of the Eugene (OR) Fire & EMS Department (EF&EMSD) have referred to it as “a CPAT on steroids.” The FEAT test does not work in isolation; it is a part of a total fitness program developed for recruit academies to assist new fire department members in gaining and maintaining good fitness habits.
CHRONOLOGY OF THE FEAT TEST
In 1999, a $20 million bond measure allowing for the construction of two fire stations, a 9-1-1-dispatch center, and a training complex was passed. The training complex included classrooms, offices, and a new drill field with training props and structures.
On occupying the new training facility, the staff began planning for a new physical fitness program for its recruit academies and probationary firefighters because the line firefighters felt that the fitness level of new firefighters was not adequate for the physical intensity demanded on the fireground. Also, there had been several heat injuries at structure fires over the past few years that might have been prevented by better fitness levels and awareness of the limitations for working in full PPE.
At this time, the entry-level physical abilities exam was a slightly different version of the Combat Challenge course,1 and the training staff wanted to expand a physical abilities course to test recruits-not for five minutes but for 30 minutes, roughly the expected duration of an initial work period on the fireground from first assignment until first bottle change.
The staff chose basic fireground tasks-pulling hose, climbing stairs with a hose bundle, ventilation, forcible entry, and climbing ladders-as the exercise parameters. They also included such mundane tasks as donning turnouts and rolling hose to provide challenges once a level of fatigue had been reached. Using old decommissioned hose and equipment lying around, and after fabricating a ceiling-pull prop, the course was set. On-duty crews were used to refine and somewhat validate the course. The predetermined time limit was set at 30 minutes. In Spring 2001, Recruit Class #1 (the first class in the new facility) participated in the first FEAT test at the training center.
FEAT TEST COMPONENTS
The FEAT test consists of 12 stations spread out on the drill field and around the five-story drill tower.
• Stations 1, 2. At the “Go” order, participants don their turnouts (Station #1) and walk to the hose pull (Station #2), where they pull 100 feet of three-inch hose down the drill field to a marker at 200 feet. They go to the opposite end of the hose and pull it back to a curb, pulling it back 200 feet.
• Stations 3, 4. The SCBA is donned (Station #3). Participants are loaded with a 100-foot, 13⁄4-inch hose pack and an old steel air cylinder that has a hand strap attached. They go on air and begin the stair climb (Station #4), a five-story climb in the drill tower.
• Station 5. Once back on the ground, they drop the air cylinder and the hose pack and proceed to the second floor of the tower. They then must lift an old smoke ejector to a five-foot shelf and back down to the ground four times. This is the first part of the equipment lift; it will be repeated four more times when the participants come out of the search maze.
• Station 6. After the initial four ejector repetitions, participants are directed to one of two doors that lead into a small adjoining room housing an SCBA confidence course. This course can be changed, and visibility is reduced using theatrical smoke. This is the search maze. The firefighters are given a wall to follow and an exit door to find. A usual layout will include entanglements, narrow openings, and dead ends. Once the participants are out of the maze, they repeat the equipment lift.
• Station 7. They are then directed down a set of stairs to the ground floor, where they will climb a ladder to the third-floor parapet. Once on the parapet, they hoist a hose bundle up to the third floor and back down. They enter the tower on the third floor, exit a window onto the fire escape, and then climb down to the ground using a roof ladder.
• Stations 8, 9. They then move to the ventilation prop (Station 8). There, the firefighters climb onto a roof ladder set on the prop, which has a 12/12 pitch. They then swing a sledgehammer 10 times to the right side and 10 times to the left side, striking the roof of the prop. They descend the roof and move to the forcible entry area (Station #9). This prop is a “force machine” similar to that used in the Combat Challenge, where an eight-pound dead-blow hammer is used to move a weight a certain distance.
• Station 10. The firefighters pick up two decommissioned chain saws and carry them around a fire hydrant and back, for a total of 200 feet.
• Station 11. The participants move to a ceiling-pull prop and pull on a weight, using a pike pole 10 times; they push on another weighted area 10 times using a pike pole. Once this station is completed, the firefighters go off air and doff their SCBAs.
• Station 12. They go to the hose-rolling area, where they must roll and unroll a 100-foot section of five-inch hose, a 50-foot section of three-inch hose, and a 50-foot section of 13⁄4-inch hose. When completed (this is easier said than done at this point in the test), the participants move to the finish line and receive their times.
TEST CONDITIONS AND DETAILS
Generally, two participants run at a time. The clock is a running time; the expectation is to finish in 30 minutes or less, using a single tank of air. The participants breathe off the SCBA from Station #3 until completion of Station #11. If their low-air alarm sounds, they must change out bottles, pick up the next station activity, and complete the course. An average time for firefighters in reasonable shape is between 20 and 25 minutes. The fastest time recorded was around 13 minutes.
A rehab trailer and an air and lighting truck are available to provide spare cylinders, shade, and fluids for participants. Once the participants are finished with the test, they rehab and then help other participants with the course (give moral support, for example), or they help pick up the course equipment when everyone is finished. Other safety personnel are in place to ensure that the participants stay on track and avoid dangerous situations. These personnel are positioned on the third-floor parapet, the ground floor near the entrance to the drill tower, and at the entry to the maze. In almost five years of running the FEAT test, no participant has suffered an injury except perhaps for a damaged ego or shattered pride.
As mentioned earlier, the FEAT test is primarily an exercise for the recruit academy and probationary firefighters. It is administered weekly, generally on Friday afternoons, for 13 weeks. In fact, the recruits sign an expectation sheet that states that failure to consistently complete the FEAT test in the required 30-minute time frame will result in termination.
ADJUNCT FITNESS COMPONENT
A fitness program has been developed as an adjunct to the FEAT test, to assist the recruits in succeeding in the FEAT test. The program has been so successful that none of the 56 recruits who have passed through the past six recruit academies have failed to meet the FEAT time. These recruits did not come into the academy meeting the time but were able to meet FEAT test criteria by the end of 13 weeks.
Once on the line and on probation, the firefighters must complete a FEAT test every three months for the rest of their one-year probation period and meet the 30-minute time frame. The probationary employees must be disciplined and stay in shape; they can be terminated if they don’t pass the FEAT test. It is part of their probationary testing procedure that also includes written and practical tests.
TEST BENEFITS
What has been gained with the introduction and usage of the FEAT test? It definitely gives new firefighters an appreciation of the potential physical effort needed at the scene of a structure fire, motivating them to maintain proper fitness levels to adequately fight fire. For firefighters who have experienced firsthand the effort necessary, the FEAT test allows them to gauge their current level of firefighting fitness. The time limit placed on the test motivates the firefighters to better their previous time, causing them to find ways to improve their time by improving basic task techniques and being more efficient on the fireground.
The initial purpose of the FEAT test is to ensure that recruits are physically able to perform their duties as firefighters and consistently complete the FEAT in less than 30 minutes. Once the firefighters have shown this ability, the FEAT test can be added to and slightly altered to provide excellent training opportunities. Refinements to the test have allowed the stresses associated with the test (physiological reactions like increased heart rate, increased breathing rate, increased heat levels working in full PPE, and disorientation from reduced visibility) to be used to provide a more realistic platform for increased training in air-management skills, developing a proper fireground pace, firefighter survival skills, and teamwork.
Air-management techniques can be introduced to the FEAT test by directing participants to constantly monitor their air usage and to change out their cylinder before the low-air alarm sounds. The most recent recruit class members learned how to convert their cylinder psi figures to remaining personal air time in minutes. They knew their own personal air usage at different activity levels and had things broken down into one-quarter tank increments (this is what shows on their shoulder strap gauge). When asked for their remaining air, they announced four minutes, six minutes, or eight minutes per quarter tank (until the low-air alarm would sound), depending on their respiratory rate, which was a sign of their activity and fatigue level.
Developing a proper fireground pace is tied to air usage and fatigue levels. It doesn’t pay to go out too hard too early during the FEAT test, or you will outpace your ability to finish the test on a single cylinder and become overfatigued early in the test. It is important to learn how to work hard and control your breathing rate. A proper fireground pace allows a firefighter to work hard, be effective, and accomplish the mission without running out of air and becoming overly fatigued or overheated, creating the need for extensive rehabilitation before the firefighter can return to the fireground work rotation.
Firefighter survival skills can be incorporated into the FEAT test as well. The maze portion of the test is used as an SCBA confidence drill. The difficulty of the maze can be increased by adding the need for reduced profile maneuvers or bottle removals, or by adding other emergency SCBA scenarios like buddy breathing.
Teamwork has been incorporated into the test by forcing participants to run the course as a “buddy” team (a team of two), completing the course together and thus obtaining the same final time. Although firefighters must accomplish each task by themselves, they can help each other through encouragement, pacing, and perhaps assisting each other through entanglements in the maze. Slower participants are paired with faster participants, to help speed up the firefighters who need better times. The stronger members also learn that the pace of a team can be determined by a slower member‘s instilling the need to maintain accountability and avoid the urge to surge ahead.
Initially, the FEAT test was developed to be a standardized physical abilities test, perhaps as an entry-screening test for the EF&EMSD. Fortunately, the CPAT was adopted in late 2002. It is not fair to compare the FEAT with the CPAT because they have different purposes and meet different needs.
For the EF&EMSD, using the CPAT as an initial screening test and the FEAT as a training and development test has proven advantageous. The CPAT is standardized and, therefore, inflexible because of its purpose. The FEAT test has a different mission and can be adjusted and refined once the recruits show that they have the physical ability and fitness to be firefighters. The CPAT shows that applicants have a basic level of fitness and ability. The FEAT takes recruits to the next level and shows them a more realistic (in our opinion) version of the effort necessary to be a firefighter. The FEAT allows the training staff to add or subtract from the test and increase the difficulty as the recruits learn new skills and get stronger. As an example, each recruit class is given an initial briefing on the FEAT test. The first test is run in full PPE, including the SCBA, but recruits are not breathing air. The second test is run in full PPE and while breathing air. The maze is simple and merely dark, not full of theatrical smoke.
During the course of these first few weeks, the recruits are learning skills to support the FEAT mission: SCBA operation and emergencies; accountability in the form of the “buddy system” (National Fire Protection Association 1500, Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program, 2002); fireground search techniques; and other firefighter survival techniques. With each new added skill, the recruits are tested each Friday during the FEAT. At the same time, the recruits are participating in a fitness program on Monday and Wednesday that is strengthening them for the upcoming FEAT tests.
About the fourth week of the academy, the course is in a fairly standard configuration, and the training staff has a better idea of who is and who is not having issues with fitness levels. The recruits are then run through a course that remains the same for a few weeks, to ensure that they can easily pass the 30-minute time frame.
There are various ways to increase the difficulty without changing this basic course. One way is to have a hard drill day prior to running the FEAT so that the recruits learn to overcome a certain amount of fatigue and to get the job done even when fatigued. An easy drill day prior to the FEAT allows the recruit to push forward and obtain a better time.
Once the recruits show that they can consistently meet the expectations of the training staff, the test can be used for greater training opportunities like those mentioned earlier. Being able to use the FEAT for more realistic training opportunities by recreating the basic physical stress of the fireground has allowed the training staff to gain more ground with recruit academies than ever before. This has become more important as fire departments across the country have become busier in day-to-day tasks, forcing them to maximize every training opportunity.
What happens if a recruit does not meet the FEAT standards? We don’t know, because, as mentioned before, the EF&EMSD has not had to terminate anyone for not meeting physical fitness standards during the probationary period since the inception of the FEAT test and the associated recruit physical fitness program. The training staff has had only a few individuals who needed more than six weeks to meet a FEAT time. The use of the CPAT has given the department good people with whom to work, and the FEAT test and fitness program have brought them into a higher level of fitness.
ISSUES TO BE CONSIDERED
Even though the FEAT has been an incredible success story for the EF&EMSD, there have been some issues along the way. An ongoing concern is to ensure that no one gets injured during the test. We need to continue developing a consistent policy for ensuring enough personnel and procedures are in place to keep participants safe. The training staff, for example, has considered the need for medical monitoring during the test.
Another issue involves competition among participants. Most firefighters are hard wired to always improve their efforts; for a FEAT test, this involves improving their finishing time. Competition is a great motivator for fire training, but it must be controlled or it can be counterproductive. The training staff is always trying to find ways to keep motivation levels up while discouraging participants from striving to obtain “the best time in the department.” One idea has involved pairing participants-one who is faster and the other slower-forcing the faster member to stay with and finish with the slower member. Another idea has involved running two FEAT tests back-to-back, forcing participants to pace themselves over the two events.
The issue of participation of incumbent or line personnel deserves a lot of attention, more than can be given in this article. Incumbent personnel are not required to participate in the FEAT test or the associated fitness program, but many do. Most firefighters in Eugene use these in-station fitness opportunities, but there is no mandatory program or fitness evaluation or testing. Even though there are some obstacles to getting incumbents to participate in the FEAT program, there could be some great strides made toward better fitness that should help make the fireground safer.
This brings up another issue involving documentation and study of how the FEAT program has lowered or could lower injuries during on-duty time for firefighters. This is something the training staff would like to see but hasn’t been able to bring about.
• • •
The Eugene Fire & EMS Department has benefited greatly from the introduction and development of the FEAT test and associated fitness program. It would be encouraging to know of any other fire departments that have a similar program or physical abilities test. The training staff in Eugene encourages departments to take a hard look at this type of training activity. It is easy to set up and is limited only by your imagination in using on-site equipment and some type of training area to conduct the test. The best part is that the FEAT test is a concept that can be adapted to your department’s needs and resources. It doesn’t have to look exactly like the Eugene version; it should meet your own department’s needs and expectations. ■
Endnote
1. The Combat Challenge competition (the idea for which was born in 1991) highlights the relationship between fitness and job performance. Chief David Gratz, director of Montgomery County (MD) Fire/Rescue Services, conceived the concept. He asked three doctors at the University of Maryland Sports Medicine Center to develop a physical ability test that would help determine if an applicant had the capabilities to perform the essential job functions of firefighting. The U.S. Fire Administration funded the program’s research and design.
