VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOLs: FUTURE labor POOL

BY CHRISTOPHER GARNIEWICZ

It is 0800 hours. Captain Malarick begins to check out the SCBA while Lieutenant Lucas inspects the medical kit. Once the morning duties are completed and their turnout gear is placed in a ready position, they start to settle into their morning routine. This may sound like an ordinary day at the station, but these officers are still high school students.

An increase of population and commercialism in rural communities has made it hard for combination and volunteer fire departments to maintain adequate staffing during the normal business day. Some communities can’t offer a competitive enough wage to entice outside applicants to apply to their departments; others are faced with budget restrictions that limit their ability to train new personnel. In South Carolina, the Beaufort and Jasper County Fire Chiefs Association joined forces with the Academy for Career Excellence (ACE), a local vocational high school, to overcome these problems.

(1) Student Instructor Chris Chambers demonstrates rope and knot skills for first-year students.

Together, the ACE and the Fire Chiefs Association have created a program of firefighting technology to help boost the available labor pool in the area. The aim of this program is to give interested students a taste of the fire department and fire department life by offering them firefighting training on par with that offered at the fire academies, as part of a vocational high school curriculum.

THE PROGRAM

This program is unique among the academic programs offered through the Beaufort and Jasper County school systems in a number of respects. It is delivered to young adults who are expected to learn and work within the rigid disciplinary and organizational paramilitary structure normally associated with the fire service. With the exception of junior ROTC programs, such discipline and teamwork are not typical of high school education. The program is rapidly paced and intensive. In addition, course materials are designed for adult learning, making this program a challenging, yet rewarding, experience.

The primary focus of this program is to provide a comprehensive view of the issues, procedures, and tactics associated with emergency response and control. A myriad of ideas on the best practices that lead to superior performance, based on years of working with many departments, provides students with an unprecedented wealth of knowledge. The specific objectives for the program are as follows:

Provide training and experience for possible future employment in the fire and rescue service or its allied professions.
Broaden the understanding of public safety and fire service as part of governmental responsibility.
Provide a better understanding and appreciation of community service.
Provide a basis for individuals to continue their education in emergency services beyond high school.
Provide more highly trained members and future leaders of the Jasper and Beaufort County fire and rescue services.¹

INCORPORATING NATIONAL STANDARDS

The foundation for the Firefighting Technology curriculum at the ACE is based on Occupational and Safety Health Administration (OSHA), Department of Transportation (DOT), and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards. These standards, along with the academic requirements set by the Department of Education, are what make the program viable. The program gives these students not just a high school diploma but also a basic working knowledge of firefighting, which makes them more likely candidates for local employment.

DEMANDING THE MOST

To maintain eligibility for the program, students are required to pass the firefighting courses and maintain at least a passing grade in their academics. The firefighting portion of the curriculum is two years minimum and breaks down as follows:

Year 1

Personnel accountability systems,
Introduction to firefighting,
Basic first aid/CPR,
Infection control for emergency responders,
Fire department orientation,
Basic firefighting, and
Introduction to hazardous materials.

Year 2

Advanced firefighting,
Automobile extrication,
DOT medical first responder,
Flammable liquids and gases,
Job shadowing/unpaid apprenticeship,
Incident command system,
Confined space rescue, and
Methods of enhancing safety education.

During the first few months, as students learn basic skills, practical sessions are used to familiarize the students with tools, equipment, and procedures. By the end of their first year, students participate in drills that are run in ‘real time’ and require the combination of a number of skills to be used concurrently. Their attitude and ability to perform in training and actual situations are noted in quarterly performance evaluations. With their other grades, these evaluations determine the studen’s rank and eligibility to participate in an unpaid apprenticeship.

(2) Students make their way into the burn facility to begin search-rescue and fire attack scenarios. (Photos by author.)

The students are evaluated through written exams and practical evolutions in all of the material. This allows the students the chance to prove themselves in the classroom and on the training field. The instructors design most of the exams; others are national (such as DOT First Responder) or local exams that are accompanied by certification in a specific subject area.

It is not uncommon to see one of the firefighting technology students assume the roll of incident commander at a training session, transfer command to another student, and pack out and assist with search and rescue. Nor is it unusual to see one of the student ‘officers’ with a medical bag coming to the aid of an injured student.

APPLYING THE PROFESSIONAL ELEMENTS

Through a strict uniform code, rank structure, and discipline, students are taught responsibility and accountability. ACE Fire Fighting Technology students are easy to spot; they wear uniforms-including dress shirts and appropriate badge/collar insignia for each rank-to class every day. The students are expected to adhere to strict hair, jewelry, and personal appearance policies.

All first-year students are referred to as cadets; second-year students, through a series of written and practical exams, are promoted to the rank of senior. One student is designated as captain and another as lieutenant. With rank come new responsibilities for these young ‘officers.’ They are required to assist the cadets with their work, run fire and medical calls on the school property, and assist with preincident planning for the school. Inasmuch as the second-year students learn about responsibility, they also learn another lesson about pride because only two officers are offered positions. The students who are promoted seem to carry themselves a little higher and work a little harder.

As part of their education, second-year students also spend time ‘on shift’ running calls within their local communities. During their time with the local departments, students must abide by yet another set of rules and regulations- the local fire department’s. This unpaid apprenticeship is understood to be a privilege for students, not a right. Students are expected to familiarize themselves with the local department’s SOPs, personnel policies, and any other pertinent information. They are required to have their performance evaluated by the officer under whom they serve. This information goes in their personnel file in class.

If the second-year students are successful in their training, they will also get to participate in live fire training at the local burn facility. The local departments have been instrumental in affording this experience to the students by letting them participate as part of their crew during live burns. This experience is an excellent way for the fire departments to evaluate the students’ abilities and knowledge. By the end of the year, the students should have developed a good idea of what being a firefighter is all about. Ideally, they will have earned an offer of employment with a local department.

Out of the students who complete the program, nongraduating seniors are also eligible for a student instructor position. There is only one student instructor each year, and that student is the one who not only has the highest grade point average (including academics) but who also has demonstrated proficiency in all of the manipulative skills and the ability to lead peers. Since this is the highest rank afforded to a student, the student is expected to perform above and beyond all other students. The student instructor answers directly to the instructor and is involved in disseminating information to the class. The student instructor is also in charge of all classroom paperwork (training logs, hydrant maintenance, run reports, and so on) and directly oversees student officers’ work.

GAINING ACCREDITATION

Because this program is the first of its kind in South Carolina, the Department of Education (DOE) had nothing to compare it with for vocational competencies; therefore, it took almost three years to get state accreditation. During the last academic year (2000-2001), the competencies were finally accepted, and the Firefighting Technology program became an official vocational course of study.

The school administrators and the Firefighting Technology instructor needed to break the program down into ‘competencies’ for the DOE. The DOE uses these competencies to validate the program’s merit and to accurately gauge a student’s accomplishments and ability to perform certain tasks. Bureaucratic limitations required the competencies to list the material covered in a highly simplified form, but each simple explanation still incorporates all of the related policies.

Competencies

The following is a partial list of the competencies for the program.

Demonstrate the ability to use an accountability system to track personnel and resources.
Demonstrate proper lifting techniques.
Identify the major operational positions within the incident management system.
Define the following: energy, work, power, fire, flameover, and rollover.
Explain how fuel gases evolve from solids and liquids.
Explain why thermal layering is critical to firefighting activities.
Don and doff articles of protective clothing and equipment.
Conduct a search and rescue in a structure operating as a member of a team.
Identify the types of fire service ground ladders.
Select the facts about the properties and extinguishing capabilities of water in an oral exam and on a written test.
Complete CPR training as prescribed by American Heart Association standards.
List the advantages of ventilation for specific rescue, attack, conservation, and fire control operations.
Assume and transfer command within the incident management system.
Determine developing hazardous building or fire conditions.
Complete a basic incident report.
Perform a preincident survey and complete related documentation.
Complete medical first responder curriculum as prescribed by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Outline ideas and plans for applying safety education to a local fire department.

LOCAL INVOLVEMENT

This program would never had been possible without an excellent working relationship between the school system and the local fire departments. These agencies used their individual expertise to formulate a program that not only fits the DOE requirements but also the fire departments

The ACE made a classroom available and agreed to hire an instructor, propose a budget, help accredit the course, and assist in enrolling students; the local departments assisted with outfitting the classroom and forming an advisory council to help oversee the choice of competency content. Each agency defined its role within the program and determined what it desired to gain from the program, which made the creation process relatively smooth. This relationship also made it less costly to start and to maintain the program.

The largest hurdle for this program has been equipping the classroom. As anyone involved in the fire service knows, firefighting equipment can be quite costly. The local fire departments have been very generous in donating used turnout gear, hose, and volunteers to help with student training. They have allowed the students into their stations and onto their apparatus. Some departments have even invited students to participate in their live fire evolution. (Students are insured through the school and are covered under vocational education standards for participating in fire evolutions.)

On a larger scale, a few large corporations have also volunteered to assist the program. As we all know, fire departments can’t provide all the equipment necessary to train the students; some items such as SCBAs and forcible entry tools, are too expensive to donate. The manufacturers have donated equipment for the classroom or have provided it at reduced cost.

EMPLOYMENT FOR STUDENTS

At the end of their high school career, the students from the Firefighting Technology program will have a distinct advantage. On top of a basic working knowledge of firefighting and a high school diploma, they will also have had the chance to build a working relationship with a number of the local fire departments. This relationship might be considered similar to that of a college co-op student, where the chance for full-time employment is greater because a relationship between the employer and graduate has already begun. The students will also have an advantage in pursuing a college degree. If they choose, they may study fire science or fire technology; they already have some of the knowledge necessary to pursue this course of study.

Although the program is still in its infancy, the local fire departments have already hired some of the graduates of the past two years and have begun to consider hiring students who will be graduating this year. The course’s popularity seems to be increasing and hopefully will continue to grow so that the ACE will be able to continue to assist in the training and placement of future firefighters. This program can be implemented in other communities facing the problems of meeting the demands of a quickly growing area.

Endnote

Academy for Career Excellence Program Guide, 2000-2001 Academic Year, L. Lucas, assistant chief, Hilton Head Island (SC) Fire and Rescue.

CHRISTOPHER GARNIEWICZ is a senior firefighter/NREMT with the Bluffton (SC) Township Fire District. He has a B.S. from Northeastern University and is the lead instructor for the ACE Program, an American Red Cross instructor, and an IFSAC-certified instructor I.