www.thebackdraftmagazine.com | A Volunteer Fire Service Publication | Volume 5 | Issue 1 | Backdraft Magazine 23
interfere with drill preparation. That is why planning the drill
schedule and assigning drill leaders needs to be done well
ahead of time.
When an officer is assigned the task of leading a drill, they
must put some time and effort into developing it successfully.
Sometimes that means reviewing department SOP's and
equipment instruction manuals. Sometimes that means
pulling tools off a rig and brushing up on its operation.
Sometimes it means sitting down with a senior member to
learn about something that member is very experienced
with. The bottom line is officers need to prepare. They need
to ensure they are comfortable with the topic, well organized
and ready to go on the assigned date.
If the officer planning the drill needs assistants he should
seek them out well ahead of time. He should clearly
communicate the objective of the drill and let the assistant(s)
know what their role will be. This gives them time to properly
prepare as well. They cannot be notified when they arrive at
the firehouse that they are expected to help teach drill that
night. Yet, this happens so often. It causes many problems
and not only can the assistants come across as unprepared
and unfamiliar with the material, it can lead to mistakes and
people can get hurt. We want the assistants to be well
versed in the topic as much as the drill leader.
Officers not acting as the lead instructor or assigned as a
drill assistant should be expected to participate in the drill
as a student. They should involve themselves in drill and
not wander around acting as if they receive some special
dispensation because they wear an officer's helmet. If you
are at drill, participate!
There is no shortage of drill and training topics. Look around
your firehouse and ideas should jump out at you. There
certainly are more ideas and things to drill on than there is
time. It is unimaginable to me that department leaders have
a hard time thinking of things to train on.
Consider focusing on drills that are pertinent to the
department's operation and equipment. Not that there
is anything wrong with practicing advanced or seldom
encountered scenarios, but shouldn't we nail down our
basic fire attack procedures and prepare to handle the
emergencies we are most likely to encounter first? Most
fire departments I know are expected to be able to stretch
hose lines and quickly get water on the fire. Yet, it amazes
me when talking with some departments how seldom they
pull lines off the rigs. They have their weapons of mass
destruction training in order and they have taken the latest
ICS class, but they can't remember when they last practiced
getting that first line properly stretched and in operation.
Plan drills covering equipment carried on the rigs. Look
over your rigs. What are you carrying? Are you and your
members confident and competent with that wide variety
of tools and equipment? Do you even remember what is in
each compartment? Nothing looks more amateurish than
when a tool is called for and the member sent to retrieve
it runs around the rig opening and closing compartment
doors trying to find it. I call that the dog chasing tail and it
can be very embarrassing for the department.
Have you actually picked up that tool and handled it and
checked it over to become familiar and re-acquaint yourself
with it, or have you just opened the compartment and glanced
at the equipment and closed the door without giving it much
more thought? We can go years without using some of our
equipment, but when we need it hopefully our members
are at least familiar with it because they worked with it at a
recent drill. One night at my firehouse, we spent the entire
three hour drill simply walking around our heavy rescue
truck opening up every door reviewing the operation of
everything inside. If there was a kit inside the compartment,