Fire Officer Training / Requirements in NYS

[Remember585 815]

This is kind of a spin-off about the minimum training in NYS.

Is there any "required" training for Company or Higher-Level Officers in the fire service in NYS? Everything I have been told, found online or read elsewhere more or less "suggests" what we all should do.

In addition to this, I have another question along this line. If Fire Officer courses are hard to find or don't come up often enough, what's to say a certified instructor from your own or another department can't teach some form of officer training, provided it mirrors the NYS or NFA programs?

Here's a perfect example. I, myself, am a certified instructor - can I instruct a program that covers what is done in a NYS class and would it be considered "compliant" with the NFPA's recommendations?

Thanks...

[dwcfireman 656]

This is a solid question. Having been a young officer myself in a few departments, the only "qualifications" set forth seem to be those set by the company by-laws. I understand NYS has it's suggestions, and NFPA has it's qualifications, but what should we really be doing to prepare younger officers for their new found roles? What classes should they be taking? And how can we expand on this training, especially since the number of fires keeps falling and the number of EMS and rescue calls are rising?

[JM15 386]

OSHA requires that supervisors have more advanced training than the general membership under the fire brigade standard. It does not specify what that training should be though. It is the responsibility of the employer to provide that training, and so as long at it is more than what you require from a firefighter you are meeting the requirements. Similar to the other topic OFPC has their "best practices" guide out there. In the eyes of OSHA/PESH in-house training is acceptable as long as the instructor has some credentials and the curriculum is appropriate.

[SageVigiles 1,194]

There's a difference between teaching a certification class and a training course.

If you're not Fire Officer I, you can't teach Fire Officer I. But can you provide additional command-level decision making and leadership training to your members? I'd argue you'd be foolish not to.