Top Skills You'll Learn in a Fire Fighting Course

A fire fighting course is an incredible resource to anyone looking to gain skills that will turn them into an invaluable asset. These courses are filled with key knowledge and critical skills needed to combat fires and safeguard lives.

This article will delve further into the specifics thereof, describing eight key skills instilled into a firefighting student throughout the course; including fire behaviour, suppression techniques, search and rescue, equipment use, communication, risk assessment, first and physical readiness. Each skill will be further broken down into more componential skills and assets, giving a clearer picture of the contents of a course.

This article is brought to you by EMCARE, one of South Africa' foremost providers of emergency service training courses, helping turn members of the public into guardians.

1. Fire Behaviour and Combustion Basics

The old adage rings true "Know thy enemy." One of the most important and therefore first things that any training firefighter will learn is how fires behave and the basic science behind combustion. Concepts such as the "fire triangle (fuel, heat, oxygen), how heat transfers and different kinds of fire will allow students to better understand not only how fires start, but how they will spread and react to different environments.

This knowledge is absolutely critical in formulating an effective fire management strategy and will allow quick tactical decision making based off of observed fire behaviour.

2. Fire Suppression Techniques

Once equipped with the knowledge needed to understand and anticipate a fire, the next skillset will teach students how to directly combat it. Students will be introduced to a variety of techniques and technologies designed to suppress fire, including but not limited to water, foam, dry chemicals and CO? extinguishers.

A part of understanding each of these methods will be an introduction to each suppressant's pros and cons, highlighting the repercussions of whatever choice is made. With this knowledge in mind, students will be taught how to factor each into a tactical approach to suppressing structural, chemical and wildfires.

3. Search and Rescue Operations

Although much of firefighting is just that, fighting fire, students will also be taught to take on a rescue role in a fire scenario. The course will include techniques for finding and extracting victims from burning and/or smoke-filled buildings, highlighting the importance of speed, safety, good communication and teamwork. To these ends, students will also be taught how to use technology such as personal safety equipment and thermal imaging devices.

4. Use of Fire Fighting Equipment

A firefighter is at all times surrounded by a variety of useful equipment, which can be both unfamiliar and even unsafe to use for the uneducated. This is why a fire fighting course spends a lot of time familiarizing students with equipment such as hoses, nozzles, motors, ladders, personal protective gear, vulcanized clothing, masks and much more.

They'll be given hands-on-training with every piece of essential equipment, taught how to use it safely and effectively, especially under pressure. The goal is also to get students confident and familiar enough with the equipment that they are able to perform maintenance and operation checks on all of it before heading out into a fire scenario.

5. Incident Command and Communication

One of the most easily overlooked parts of a firefighter's job is the ICS, or Incident Command System. This is a standardized communications system used to help coordinate emergency response both within and between different departments and will be a key intelligence-sharing channel for any firefighter. Students will be taught when and how to use this channel, using the proper radio techniques to communicate and coordinate with their leadership and other emergency services during a fire scenario.

6. Safety and Risk Assessment

Whilst firefighters are famed for their role in keeping others safe, a significant portion of a fire fighting course will revolve around keeping them and their teams safe. The course will hammer in the importance of situational awareness in crisis scenarios and use this skill as a baseline when reaching students how to identify unique hazards and how to minimise one's exposure to them.

7. First Aid and Emergency Medical Skills

A part of a firefighter's rescue repertoire will include a basic first aid course. This first aid component will factor in the context and emphasize issues relevant to fire scenarios such as managing smoke inhalation, burns of all degrees and trauma. Students will learn to use first and CPR to stabilize victims until professional help arrives, helping to far increase the rate of survival.

Skills like these are essential to protecting not only members of the public who have fallen victim to fire, but potentially also team members who have been injured whilst on duty.

8. Physical Fitness and Endurance Training

Firefighting is a physically demanding job that requires a variety of different kinds of fitness. A fire fighting course will push students towards meeting these requirements with training components that seek to build strength, stamina and resilience of both the physical and mental variety. After all, a hardened body is of little use if the mind behind it hasn't been conditioned to withstand the stress of a fire scenario and the potential trauma associated with it.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a high-quality fire fighting course will empower students with a variety of important skills and attributes that may go on to save their lives and the lives of others. From understanding basic fire behaviour, to various fire suppression techniques, first aid or even physical training. A good course will see students transformed throughout the duration of their education.

Once successfully completed, students will emerge as certified firefighters, an invaluable asset to their communities. Should you yourself want to undergo a similar evolution, check out EMCARE's emergency service training courses today.