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Received a message from a New Jersey rescuer who is frustrated with what he sees as a lack of professionalism among vehicle rescue instructors...
Ron,
Is there any type of standard or requirements on who/what is required to be an Extrication Instructor? I am from NJ, and as far as I can tell, all you need to teach extrication is a pulse. I have been teaching it to my Squad and some other local Squads for about 15 years now. I am a State certified Fire Instructor. I have run across many people teaching classes in Extrication that learned it from the "older members" and unfortunately, don't know what they are doing. I have seen people teaching obvious things, like to "disregard air bags because they really aren't a concern at accidents". Is there any kind of National standard or something?
My Reply:
There would be a 'standard' for an extrication instructor to adhere to if there were something within a state's fire training program requiring it and the class that the instructor were teaching was state-certified and entitled the participant to a certificate. Several states have done this; PA, Illinois, Maryland, Colorado, for example. They have state-certified extrication classes with educational and training requirements for the instructors. Also, the instructors teach from a standardized curriculum and are kept up to date through refresher training programs sponsored by the state training academy, State university of college system, etc.
What you and I see the most is the guy I refer to as the local "junkyard junkie". Never been out of their local area and have gained all their experience cutting cars in the junkyard. Someone should tell them that those vehicles are probably 20 years old or more and don't truly represent what is out there on the street today.
You can make a difference in this unfortunate trend. You can adopt a requirement within your department that your trainers have certification in courses like Educational Methodology or Methods of Teaching before they can present material to your members. This is a real good idea anyway because if something ever were to go to court later, the better your trainers are certified to teach, the better for the department. You can then adopt a standard curriculum for training materials like IFSTA materials or what is being done in neighboring Pennsylvania. They have a state vehicle rescue curriculum. You can also look at the Instructor Resource Guide offered with my new vehicle rescue book. Make a standard teaching curriculum into your department's rescue training standard. Colorado and Illinois adopted my lesson plans and book state-wide.
Actions like this would standardize your training, keep it up-to-date, and mark your training as a cut above the rest when it comes to new info, current techinques, and accurate material.
In addition, work closely with the TERC USA organization. <www.terc.org> This is a bunch of highly motivated vehicle rescue professionals across the US that you would be wise to associate with.
There's no national standard for vehicle rescue instructors but that doesn't mean you have to sit back and do nothing about it. Be a "change-agent" and make a difference!
Ron Moore, Batt Chief/Training Officer
McKinney(TX) Fire Department
214-578-3405
Ron,
Is there any type of standard or requirements on who/what is required to be an Extrication Instructor? I am from NJ, and as far as I can tell, all you need to teach extrication is a pulse. I have been teaching it to my Squad and some other local Squads for about 15 years now. I am a State certified Fire Instructor. I have run across many people teaching classes in Extrication that learned it from the "older members" and unfortunately, don't know what they are doing. I have seen people teaching obvious things, like to "disregard air bags because they really aren't a concern at accidents". Is there any kind of National standard or something?
My Reply:
There would be a 'standard' for an extrication instructor to adhere to if there were something within a state's fire training program requiring it and the class that the instructor were teaching was state-certified and entitled the participant to a certificate. Several states have done this; PA, Illinois, Maryland, Colorado, for example. They have state-certified extrication classes with educational and training requirements for the instructors. Also, the instructors teach from a standardized curriculum and are kept up to date through refresher training programs sponsored by the state training academy, State university of college system, etc.
What you and I see the most is the guy I refer to as the local "junkyard junkie". Never been out of their local area and have gained all their experience cutting cars in the junkyard. Someone should tell them that those vehicles are probably 20 years old or more and don't truly represent what is out there on the street today.
You can make a difference in this unfortunate trend. You can adopt a requirement within your department that your trainers have certification in courses like Educational Methodology or Methods of Teaching before they can present material to your members. This is a real good idea anyway because if something ever were to go to court later, the better your trainers are certified to teach, the better for the department. You can then adopt a standard curriculum for training materials like IFSTA materials or what is being done in neighboring Pennsylvania. They have a state vehicle rescue curriculum. You can also look at the Instructor Resource Guide offered with my new vehicle rescue book. Make a standard teaching curriculum into your department's rescue training standard. Colorado and Illinois adopted my lesson plans and book state-wide.
Actions like this would standardize your training, keep it up-to-date, and mark your training as a cut above the rest when it comes to new info, current techinques, and accurate material.
In addition, work closely with the TERC USA organization. <www.terc.org> This is a bunch of highly motivated vehicle rescue professionals across the US that you would be wise to associate with.
There's no national standard for vehicle rescue instructors but that doesn't mean you have to sit back and do nothing about it. Be a "change-agent" and make a difference!
Ron Moore, Batt Chief/Training Officer
McKinney(TX) Fire Department
214-578-3405
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