Crew Leadership course in District 10

 

Monday night and the District 10 crew leadership course has begun. Six CFA firefighters head into the West Sale classroom. After brief introductions, it was clear the motivation to lead was strong.

 

Before long the presentation ploughs headfirst into the Emergency Management ACT 2013 and we are discussing the State Emergency Management priorities. 

The room echoes with laughter as all students reference either Dan Murphy's or Thirsty Camel as an example of Priority number 4 - Protection of assets supporting individual livelihoods and economic production that supports individual and community financial sustainability.

Homework for the week ahead is set to practice the WORDBACK and SITREP before the class re-convenes the following Friday evening.  Suggested opportunities to practise fireground comms in private include being in one’s own vehicle, the shower or while doing the housework. Learning the prompts and linguistics of uttering slick fireground comms takes practice.

Friday evening and we are back at West Sale discussing radio disposition codes to communicate a deceased patient, a request for peer support and VicPol response. 

The QR codes pinned to the whiteboard provide excellent smart phone access to CFA doctrine and the Field Emergency Response Guide. The presentation wanders through the responsibilities of a Crew Leader and how to manage a crew, and by 10pm that evening we have concluded for the night.

9am Saturday morning and back in the classroom with strong coffee. The students are working in pairs to implement SIZEUP and RECEO considerations for a variety of level 1 incidents ranging from an industrial bin fire to a power pole fire.  Learning the principles of SIZEUP opens the pathway to forming a SMART objective which is carried into the mission statement of a SMEACS briefing.  So much lingo but hey, this is Crew Leadership, no one said it was easy!

After morning tea, the students confidently deliver SMEACSQ briefings on cue before commencing a 30-question knowledge exam. The silence in the room is deafening as the firefighters enter deep concentration.

Sunday morning practical and there is excitement in the air, and quite literally, lightning in the far distance! 

Truck checks are complete, and the first crew is turning out to a reported car fire at VEMTC West Sale. Excellent demonstrations of incident control are bubbling to the surface as the fundamentals of crew leadership are being grappled with. The instructors are delighted that careful deliberation is occurring over the appropriate WORDBACK status.  STOP, UNDER CONTROL, NOT YET UNDER CONTROL, INVESTIGATING.

Curious? Interested in upskilling? We look forward to seeing you on the next intake of CFA Crew Leadership CFA06501.  Contact your local Brigade Training Officer for details.

 

Submitted by	Leigh Roberts