Proficiency Based Training


By David K. Walsh
NYSAFC Fire Education Committee

We have all sat through a class or drill where we knew everything the instructor was going to say next. You likely attended because you were required to attend a certain number of drills each year.

Why does every fire department have specific drill requirements? It’s probably due to the fact that OSHA requires all personnel to be "trained." Here’s exactly what one part of OSHA’s Fire Brigade (fire department, fire district, fire protection district, fire company, etc.) regulation 1910.156(c)(2) says:
"The employer shall assure that training and education is conducted frequently enough to assure that each member of the fire brigade is able to perform the member's assigned duties and functions satisfactorily and in a safe manner so as not to endanger fire brigade members or other employees."
It continues on to say, "All fire brigade members shall be provided with training at least annually."

And the last portion says, "In addition, fire brigade members who are expected to perform interior structural fire-fighting shall be provided with an education session or training at least quarterly."

The key phrases here are, "able to perform...assigned duties and functions" and "training at least annually." Those few words say a lot! What are your firefighters’ "assigned duties?" What task may they have to perform at an incident scene? Chances are that is a huge list of skills, and is one that every authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) should compile. 

A term that is heavily used in all New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control Fire Instructor courses (Principles of Instruction, Fire Service Instructor I & II) is "KSA." This stands for knowledge, skills, and abilities. Knowledge is information that your brain has, can use, and can apply. Skills are the hands-on activities, and collectively knowledge and skills allow a person to safely and efficiently perform a task, which in turn is the ability. Collectively, they are "KSAs." No matter how basic a task is, it always contains both knowledge and skills. Take Yogi Berra’s famous quote and change it slightly – firefighting is "90 percent mental and the other half is physical." No matter how hard you are physically working at an incident, your brain better be fully engaged!

Knowledge + Skill = Ability

If forcing the door is the task, the knowledge portion is the reading of the door, its hinges/direction it opens, locking mechanism types and locations, construction and the door’s weak points, and why you must control it once it is opened. The skills portion involves using a set of irons, hydra force tool, battering ram, etc. Together, these equal the ability to force a door. Training must always be focused on a specific ability. 

What is training, or more specifically, what is its goal? The only goal of any training must be to, in the end, ensure that the personnel now can perform something better than they already were able to do, or they can now perform something they couldn’t perform before, or they know (and can apply) some knowledge that they didn’t have before. Training must be objective based; it must have a specific objective you want to satisfy. If you have just obtained a new tool, your objective would probably be to ensure that all of your personnel know everything about it – how and when to use it, where it is stored, any routine maintenance it needs, and all safety issues related to that tool. The objective is not simply to teach them, but rather to make sure that they have learned and comprehended the information and can apply it. The "teaching" part is just one tool that can be used to make certain they are now proficient in it and its use. 

For a drill or class, what are the KSAs and how well must members perform them at the end? Without a specific and clear objective, a drill or class cannot succeed. Drills or classes that are based on time will usually do just that – use up (waste) time. 
 
When identifying an objective for a drill/class, you must be specific. Exactly what must members do at the end, how well, and how quickly? A critical component of the "how" part is to identify the exact components of how members must perform the task. Always tie this part to an established source, such as a fire service book from IFSTA, Fire Engineering, or Jones & Bartlett, manufacturers’ literature, your SOPs, etc. This ensures that you follow established procedures. Be specific in exactly how well members must perform the task in the end. A great example comes directly from the Firefighter 1 course where, "The candidate, given a complete set of PPE, will don full personal protective equipment, according to manufacturer’s recommendations, within one minute as outlined in IFSTA Essentials of Fire Fighting and Fire Department Operations, 6th edition." There is no confusion here – it spells out exactly what, how, how well, and how quickly it must be performed. That gives the student clear direction as to what they must do. It also gives the instructor a clear direction as to what they must require the student to do in the end.

Before we further discuss training frequency, let’s talk about, "How good is good enough?" Firefighting is a life or death system. Today’s fires are the most dangerous man has ever faced. Synthetics, lightweight construction, and airtight structures all create fires that are dramatically more potent and dynamic than yesterday’s fires.  These oxygen hungry monsters are drastically different than yesterday’s fires. Couple this with the fact that fire prevention efforts are working and the frequency of fires continues to decline. Yet, the number of firefighter fatalities and injuries from fire seems to remain fairly constant. Less fires, but the same fatalities and injuries – hmm.

So, how good is good enough? Is 99 percent good enough? If 99 percent is good enough, then:
Source: Education World

With all of these mistakes, other folks are impacted. With firefighter "mistakes," the firefighter is impacted, possibly fatally!

Our goal with any training should always be proficiency by the attendees, but how do we measure proficiency? Why not use the skills sheets that already exist within many OFPC courses, including Firefighter 1 & 2? They were created to measure a student’s abilities during a course, so why not use them to regularly measure proficiency? Make the skills sheets readily available to everyone so that members can use them as study tools, and identify exactly what you are looking for, where members can find reference material on the skills (IFSTA, manufacturers’ literature, videos, SOPs, etc.), and exactly what members must do to demonstrate proficiency in the end. And, of course, require proficiency – not 99 percent, but rather true proficiency, a level that will insure members can safely and efficiently handle life and death situations. The fire service is said to be a "brotherhood," but this does not mean we are doing anybody any favors if we accept 99 percent.
   
So, if our goal is to ensure that in the end members demonstrate that they are proficient in a task, maybe there is another way to do this. Firefighters are inherently pretty smart folks, especially when the topic interests them. If you tell them that next Monday, rather than attend a drill they can come in and demonstrate proficiency in some KSAs, they will probably practice them in advance so when they come in they can show off their abilities. So, next Monday when they come in and demonstrate that they are proficient in these tasks, we have achieved our goal without having them sit through a drill or class. If they are less than stellar in demonstrating a skill, they must come back and complete some remedial training and then demonstrate proficiency in that KSA. Which would you rather do, quickly demonstrate proficiency or sit through a remedial drill and then demonstrate proficiency? Traditional evening drills can be reserved for new tools or information, or putting a bunch of skills together, such as a live burn at the training center, simulated MVAs, or water supply.

Training is what is required, but demonstrating proficiency, besides satisfying the "training" requirement, ensures that your folks can really safely and efficiently perform whatever tasks they may be assigned at an incident. Attending a drill or class does not guarantee anything except that they were there. A few additional pluses to this proficiency system is that folks feel good about themselves and they practice on their own. You eliminate the frustration of folks having to sit through drills or classes when they are already proficient in the KSAs, and ultimately, it takes less time. Time is a valuable resource; none should ever be wasted. Using a proficiency system will create an environment where everybody knows exactly what each person can really do and that they can do it with expertise. 

Always remember, training is about ensuring the safety and efficiency of your personnel, not satisfying requirements.

New York State Association of Fire Chiefs