Training videos are an excellent resource to ensure your crew has the same basic knowledge before hands-on training begins. However, building an adequate video training library can be a daunting task when it requires half of the year’s limited training budget to get the programs needed. Tom Christie of the Stanford Heights Fire District found a great way to test the waters with Action Training Systems products before committing a large percentage of his budget funds.
“Before I got into the chiefs’ office, I knew we needed to update some of our training videos,” Christie said. As the daytime trainer for the all-volunteer fire district serving the towns of Colonie and Niskayuna in New York, Christie knew that he needed something better to supplement his drills. “Our other videos were really old. I’m talking early 80s. They weren’t really worth looking at anymore, but they had some basic stuff.”
Once he was promoted to 1st Assistant Chief, Christie had more freedom in the selection of new training materials, and that is when he first encountered Action Training Systems DVD programs. He was in need of new training videos, but he wasn’t ready to put all his budget eggs in one basket. “At the time, we wanted to try a few DVDs out and see how they would work with our training. The more we saw of them, the more we knew they were right on target.”
Christie purchased three DVDs from the Essentials of Fire Fighting: Firefighter I series and reviewed them with Chief Dale Monlea and the Stanford Heights Board of Fire Commissioners. All were pleased with the quality of the training programs, but Christie still wasn’t ready to commit to acquiring the full DVD series. He worked with his ATS training consultant to select three more DVDs so he could see how they worked with Stanford Heights’ training structure before investing in an entire series.
“In the beginning, we started with the basic stuff,” Christie said in reference to the Firefighter I series. “We tried them out and everyone liked them, so we kept adding on and on, and we pretty much have the full library now. Once we got the whole Firefighter I, we got into Vehicle Extrication and then the whole Fire Service Rescue series because we do a little bit of everything here.
”Christie said the Firefighter I series is a great fit for his all-volunteer fire district. “It covers all the ‘meat’ of what we do in the fire service.” Because they have a lot of probies that must take Firefighter I before they can become regular firefighters, Christie sees even more value in the DVDs on their probie training nights. “For example, if there’s inclement weather, they can watch the DVDs on their own and focus on advancing hoseline or ventilation and get a basic idea of where to start and how to do it.”
Christie added, “It saves us time, but it obviously doesn’t replace hands-on training. We can watch DVDs all day and we won’t know for sure until we get to the hands-on, but the DVDs get us going.”
Why did he choose Action Training’s DVDs over the competition? “It’s all up to date. ATS always updates their stuff. It looks good, it’s straight-forward and it’s quality.”
For more information on the Stanford Heights Fire District, visit: http://www.stanfordheightsfire.com/
