Bernalillo County Fire Continuing Education Program PDF

**POLICY** It is the policy of the Bernalillo County Fire and Rescue (BCFR) to establish a formal Fire Continuing Education (FCE) program in which all field personnel will be provided with valid and pertinent information that they will be able to easily learn, retain, and set into action. It will e...

**POLICY** It is the policy of the Bernalillo County Fire and Rescue (BCFR) to establish a formal Fire Continuing Education (FCE) program in which all field personnel will be provided with valid and pertinent information that they will be able to easily learn, retain, and set into action. It will establish the roles and responsibilities of all personnel involved and clearly lay out the way the program shall be applied, evaluated, and documented. **PROCEDURE** I. **ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES** A. Training Division -- Will develop, produce and disseminate Company Training/Drill (CTD) course material. Including but not limited to lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, handouts, videos, quizzes and tests. Additionally, they will maintain all records of student participation received from the field which will consist of Training rosters and course/instructor evaluation forms. All forms will be entered into current BCFR Learning Management System. B. All field personnel -- Will be responsible for completing all required or assigned training as defined by the department or county management C. Battalion Commanders - Will audit the participation of the crews in their region by ensuring that all officers have entered training into the learning management system (LMS). Commanders will be responsible to conduct, administer or delegate a monthly regional drill and confirm it is completed in a manner suitable to the region's needs. Commanders must also complete the assigned monthly Officer Continuing Education (OCE). D. Captains -- Will fulfill all the roles and responsibilities as described for the Lieutenants as it pertains to their station. Additionally, they will maintain consistent communication with the company officers to ensure that all members, to include floats, have received their training. Captains must also complete assigned monthly OCE training. E. Lieutenants -- Will manage and coordinate the assigned monthly Company Training/Drills (CTD) of their crew. If a Lieutenant misses training due to an absence (Sick leave, annual leave, etc.); they will ensure that they are caught up on all missed training. It is up to the Lieutenant's discretion of how to complete the assigned training. The flexibility of CTD's exists so that other station tasks aren't neglected. Lieutenants will log all training into the BCFR LMS for every completed CTD. All of the assigned months CTD's must be completed by the end of the month for every member of the crew. If they are not, they must justify this in writing to their Battalion Commander. Lieutenants must also complete assigned monthly OCE training. F. Engineers, Paramedics and Firefighters -- Shall maintain awareness and actively participate in all departmental CTD training. If an individual has missed training due to an absence (Sick leave, annual leave, etc.), it is their responsibility to notify their supervisor of what they have missed so that they may catch up. Engineers and Paramedics on a promotional list will be required to complete the assigned OCE monthly training. Engineers and those holding a BCFR Engineer's Certification will be required to complete monthly Engineer Continuing Education (ECE) training as well. G. Floats -- Regardless of rank or position, floats must meet the requirements as stated above for their job class and ensure that they are current on all assigned training. Float training will be maintained by the North Commander (BAT 6) H. Reporting Training - All training will be recorded in the department LMS using the appropriate submission form. II. **CONTINUING EDUCATION COMPONENTS** A. Company Training/Drill (CTD) 1. Motivated by Insurance Services Office (ISO) requirements, the FCE program provides field personnel with continuing education in fire service related skills and knowledge. 2. ISO requires 192 hours per year of *"company training at fire stations", Ref. [www.ISO.com](http://www.ISO.com).* This equates to a minimum of 16 hours per member per month (for maximum credit). 3. The Department or the Training Division may assign more than 16 hours per month based on the needs of the department. B. Officer Training 1. ISO requires 12 hours of officer development training per officer per year C. Driver Training 1. ISO requires 12 hours of Driver (Engineer) training, per engineer, per year. D. New Driver Training -- This category has been added by ISO and will require 60 hours for those personnel who are training to become new drivers. 1. This category will include the rank of firefighters looking to test for Engineer. 2. The training in this category will include the IFSAC Emergency Vehicle Driving, IFSAC Pump Operations courses, and any and/all training during the time prior to testing for Engineer. Credit for these classes will be awarded when the certificate of completion and training hours are submitted in current BCFR LMS. E. Wildland 1. All members will be required to complete all annual wildland training as required by the department. F. Fire Inspector 1. This category is for all deputy fire marshals that are assigned to conduct fire safety inspections. Each inspector will complete 24 hours of fire safety inspection continued education hours annually. G. Fire investigator 1. This category is for all deputy fire marshals that are assigned to conduct fire investigations within Bernalillo County. Each investigator will complete 40 hours of fire investigator continued education hours annually. H. Fire and Life Safety Educator 1. This category is for all members that are assigned as a fire and life safety educator. Any member that is assigned as a department fire and life safety educator will complete 10 hours of fire and life safety educator continued education annually. I. Facility Training 1. ISO requires 18 hours per year, per member, of training done at a designated training facility. a. The designated training facility is the Fire Academy. b. For the purposes of tracking training for ISO, the BCFD Training Division will coordinate the use of other designated training facilities. III. **CONTINUING EDUCATION CONTENT REQUIREMENTS** A. The purposes of the ISO requirements, courses must be of a fire service related concepts to count towards ISO credit. EMS CE's do not qualify per ISO requirements. B. Acceptable Fire Continuing Education (FCE) categories that will qualify include but are not limited to: - Firefighter I & Firefighter II - ICS/NIMS - Wildland - Pump Operations - Specialty Rescue (i.e. Confined Space, Rope, Aquatics) - Hazardous Materials - Auto Extrication - Aerial Operations - Departmental SOG/P&P's - BCFR Competencies - Professional Development IV. **DOCUMENTATION** A. The company officer will log training in the LMS and add all members who attend or participated in the training. B. The completed training submissions will identify the course, the instructor, and confirm that an evaluation of the lesson was administered. 1. If a practical exercise is required to complete the training, the exercise will be completed in the department practical exercise software. (Evaluations +) C. All monthly trainings at the station will be entered as "Company Training, NFPA 1001 -- Officer Led Station Training". D. Regional Drills will be entered as "Regional Drill". E. For the purposes of ISO tracking and reporting, training is broken down into the following types and Training Facilities on the Roster: 1. Type: a. Company Training/Drill b. Officer Training c. Driver or New Driver Training d. Hazardous Materials e. Wildland f. Fire Safety Inspector g. Fire Investigator h. Fire and Life Safety Educator i. All other types listed (i.e. FCE) ARE NOT TO BE USED F. Training logs will be submitted via current BCFR LMS, and audited by Captains and Commanders. V. **DAILY APPLICATION** A. Officers will log training for crews performing Truck Checks, Equipment Training, or other daily "Company Training/Drill" activities. 1. This is logged for a maximum of 30 minutes (0.5 hours) each cycle. 2. Officers are encouraged to participate in Daily Truck Checks, as well as include themselves as a "Student" on the "Daily Activities, NFPA 1500 -- Daily Apparatus- Equipment- Tool Familiarization". B. Officers will log training for their daily briefing under "Daily Activities, NFPA 1500 -- Officer Daily Briefing". 1. This will be logged for 15 minutes from the start of the briefing (10:30 hrs or otherwise scheduled/specified time) until completed (10:45 hrs or otherwise scheduled/specified time). This will include time in which the Officer passes on the information to the crew members. VI. **MONTHLY APPLICATION** A. The 16 hours of Company Training/Drill will be split into manageable blocks of training for the month. 1. There will be a minimum of three, two-hour courses per month totaling six hours of Company Training. These are to be facilitated by the company officer. 2. There will be 10 tool familiarization trainings per month, each being 0.5 hrs. This will total five hours per month. 3. Officers may document four hours of physical exercise per month. This is the maximum allowable amount per ISO. 4. The Regional Drill will count for 4 hours and will be accomplished by participating in a regional training each month administered by the Battalion Commander and/or Captain. If any unit/company is involved for more than the scheduled 4 hours, the extra hours should also be logged as Officer Led Station Training. B. The 12 hours of Driver Training will be accomplished by: 1. Engineers will document a minimum of 1 hour per month of any engineer training done at the station. a. This includes an assigned Driver Training from the Fire Academy Training Division, driving in your district (i.e. district familiarization) or any other training performed (pump operations, drafting, etc.) 1. This will NOT include responding to calls/emergency driving or operating a Rescue. C. The 12 hours of Officer Training will be accomplished by: 1. Assigning a minimum of a one hour Officer Training every month targeted at NFPA 1021 (ISO requirement), totaling a minimum of twelve hours per/year. 2. Officer meetings (briefing) per month. - 15-minute meeting x 2 = 30 minutes (0.5 hours)/month, - This will equal six hours per year. - The 15-minute block includes a 10-minute meeting and 5-minute briefing of their crew on department information covered during the briefing. 3. Individuals not in the rank of Lieutenant, but are on the promotional list, will be required to participate in the Officer Training courses as well. VII. **REGIONAL TRAINING DRILL** A. This one-day training is worth four hours of the 16 hours required and may or may not consist of skills and concepts related to the Company Training for that month. 1. Monthly drills will be credited as follows: a. Preparation (reviewing lesson plan/reading material) = one hour/month b. Drill = two hours/month c. Drill follow-up/review = one hour/month. 2. See "800-006 Continuing Education Program Regional Drill" P&P for specifics. {#section.ListParagraph.PPHeading} {#section-1.ListParagraph.PPHeading} VIII. **EVALUATION** A. For a training course to be valid and effective, it must possess some form of evaluation. The following forms of evaluation may be administered for any given Company Training/ Regional Drill/ Officer or Driver Training. 1. Test or Quiz 2. Skill Sheet B. Company officers must administer the evaluation attached to every course. C. The purpose of evaluations and testing is to determine how well students have learned and retained the course material. D. Tests or Quizzes may be comprised of a combination of, or exclusive to one of the following question types: 1. Multiple Choice 2. True/False 3. Matching 4. Fill in the Blank 5. Short answer **Reviewed/Revised** **[06/18/2024]** - Updated roles and responsibilities for Training Division, Battalion Commanders, Captains, and Lieutenants (Section I, A-D). - Added requirements for wildland and facility training (Section II, E-F). - Defined continuing education content requirements (Section III). - Revised documentation procedures for training (Section IV). - Detailed daily and monthly training applications (Section V-VI). - Updated evaluation methods for training effectiveness (Section VII).