I attended 19 national, regional and local training events from December 2017 through March 2019. This experience redefines my understanding of passionate fire service tradecraft and the world of Warrior-Instructors.
THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR-INSTRUCTOR
The Warrior-Instructor is a practicing firefighter, paramedic or fire officer who is on a mission to share knowledge while making a difference. There is a hierarchy of instructors:
10,000 Righteous Regional Instructors
Righteous regional instructors function like non-commissioned officers in the military. They are dedicated to making their students confident and competent emergency service warriors through constant training. They are the backbone of the hometown emergency services community.
These 10,000 often are state-certified as a fire/ems instructor, faculty at the community college or fire school, or part of a limited liability company (LLC) established to support their mission. They have a dozen projects somewhere between concept and completion.
It is the 10,000 that move local emergency services to excellence, as well as providing new perspectives at regional and national conferences. Some instructors will move into the 500.
500 Outstanding National Level Instructors or Subject Matter Experts
The 500 have mastered a technical, conceptual, legal or political aspect of the job. They generously share their information with others and are the “go-to” person on that topic.
Many of the 500 have a social media presence, some have written a book or completed a video. They have developed a training seminar or a hands-on program. You see them at regional and national conferences.
They are part of an enthusiastic cadre of working firefighters, paramedics, and officers seeking to make a difference through research, education, practice, and persistence. It is the 500 that move our profession forward with new ideas, procedures, perspectives or technology. Some instructors will move into the 50.
50 Keynote or FDIC “Big Room” Speakers
The 50 can be a keynote speaker at a national conference. They have a unique or compelling story that is effectively presented with emotion and vivid imagery. These are the speakers that fill up the “Big Room” at the Fire Department Instructor’s Conference.
The 50 validate and reinforce fire service ideals, concepts, and best practices. Some will challenge us with a new idea or approach. Their words have a lasting impact.
5 WAYS WARRIOR-INSTRUCTORS MOVE THE FIRE SERVICE FORWARD
1) Expert knowledge
The warrior-instructor has expert-level knowledge on their topic. They perform a detailed study of NIOSH Line-of-Duty-Death and after-action reports. Every release of new fire behavior research is critically examined. They seek out the subject matter experts, vendors, and other instructor-warriors. They do deep dives into the literature and participate in UL/NIST research.
2) Hands-on experience
If the topic involves operating equipment or performing evolutions, the warrior-instructor has done enough sets and reps to be unconsciously competent in these tasks.
3) Share information through multiple digital venues
A well-worn path to get to the FDIC Big Room was to get an article published in Fire Engineering magazine. Due to the high number of submitted articles, it takes months to get an article in print. FDNY Lieutenant and FDIC Big Room speaker Ray McCormack has been mentoring rising warrior-instructors and noted a change in preferences.
McCormack read a great article on the Fire Engineering website by a rising warrior-instructor. He learned that the instructor preferred to have the article immediately posted on the website rather than wait for the article to show up in the magazine months later. The warrior-instructor immediately provided a link to the article on his website.
4) Collaborate with colleagues
The new warrior-instructors are more inclined to work collaboratively with others to move the fire service forward. This was observed in the brand new regional conferences I attended. It was a “Band of Brothers/Sisters” working together to make the conference a success.
5) Students get dirty
Firefighting consists of physical tasks requiring the coordinated use of hose, ladders, tools and specialized equipment. The regional Hands-On-Training (HOT) sessions are very extremely popular. In two of the regional events that I attended the HOT sessions filled up within minutes of online registration opening.
Next week I am joining many of you in Indianapolis. I may be found on some evenings with the Jones and Bartlett Learning team at the Ram Restaurant and Brewery, 140 South Illinois Street Central.
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Feature photo is from (2018 March 7) “Top-notch training facility opens” Niceville.com, (Florida)
1-on-1 fire hose instructor is Eric Hanks from South Florida State College
Hydraulic rescue instructor is Chief Brock Archer North American Heavy Rescue Symposium