Essentials I is the first installment in the Essentials Program. The Essentials Program is designed to introduce new and novice firefighters to essential skills in the fire service. Each level of the Essential Program, levels I, II, and III will introduce firefighters to skills that will build upon one another as participants progress through the program.
The Essentials Program is designed to meet the requirements of NFPA 1403 the Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions and parallels the Illinois Fire Service Institute’s Minimum Fire Fighter Training Guide. The scope of the Essential Program is to prepare personnel for supporting the station and exterior firefighting operations.
This Essentials I Course will immerse the firefighter in skills related to Orientation and Firefighter Safety, Personal Protective Equipment and Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus, Fire Department Apparatus, Hose and Fire Streams, Firefighting Tools and Equipment, Ground Ladders, Building Construction, and Fire Dynamics.
NOTE: Protective Clothing Required -- Participants must furnish approved helmet, turn out gear, eye protection, gloves, SCBA and boots for this class. This course is delivered at local fire departments
This program is designed to teach students how to utilize different types of rope and knots commonly used in the fire service. The focus will be on the application of ropes and knots in firefighting functions.
The course shows students on how Leadership, Accountability, Culture, and Knowledge (LACK) impact firefighter safety. It assumes the student has a firm understanding of the Everyone Goes Home®, Courage to Be Safe® campaign, and that the student can communicate to others how to integrate life safety initiatives into their organization. While discussing how Leadership, Accountability, Culture, and Knowledge impact firefighter safety, the LACK Trainer utilizes the LACK Program as an opportunity to explain how the Courage to Be Safe® 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives can be a blueprint for a personal and an organizational improvement action plan. The program examines the root causes of line of duty deaths (LODDs) and the role of Leadership, Accountability, Culture, and Knowledge. LACK helps fire instructors gain a better understanding of the root causes of firefighter fatalities and how lacking these four elements affect firefighter safety. This knowledge is then used in the program to help fire officers understand how to improve survivability. Special emphasis is placed on discussing and understanding how fire service culture impacts line-of-duty injury and death.