Fire Command Training is pleased to announce a new training series that is now available nationwide. The series, "The Company Officer Academy" was developed in response to numerous requests from chiefs and company officers in departments across the country. Many departments do not provide any training at all for newly promoted or elected company officers. This results in most of these new officers having to "wing it" or figure out what they are doing and how to do it. This new training series was developed by FDNY battalion chief John Salka, and his partner, Rick Lasky, the former chief of the Lewisville Texas FD. These two chief officers have over 60 years of fire service experience in both the career and volunteer arena. They have experienced just about every hurdle, problem and roadblock that a new company officer can expect to face, and they have learned some solid lessons that they have integrated into this new series. Some of the elements of "The Company Officer Academy" are;

Decision making             Problem Solving             Discipline 

Planning                           Communications            Delegation

Evaluation process         Safety                                Training

Contact us today at 914-755-6866 to schedule this new and exciting program for your departments future leaders                

Chief Salka has recently added a brand new program to his long list of seminars. The new program is titled "Are You A Survivor?" and is based on the research and information from several excellent human survival books.There are many skills and abilities that firefighters need to operate safely and effectively at structural fires. Many of these are tactical skills, things like search ability, forcible entry skills, staying oriented. But there is another group of skills that firefighters often ignore, or maybe don't even know about. Survival skills also include how you will respond when faced with sudden and deadly situations. How will you react when you discover you are lost, really lost? How will you react when you run low or out of air? What will you do when you become entangled and can't quickly free yourself. Well, there is another set of abilities that we all have that can help us survive. Join FDNY Battalion Chief John Salka as he discusses and examines some of the physiological reactions that humans display when faced with danger. Learn how to best train yourself and your crew to remember and react properly to sudden hazardous situations. Find out what "muscle memory" is and how it can save your life. Firefighter survival is not always about jumping out a window or finding your way out. Sometimes it is as simple as thinking.

 
Program elements;
1. Mental Preparation- Are you prepared for something to go wrong? Will you be able to take immediate decisive action when faced with danger?
2. Tactical Preparedness- Are you completely familiar with your SCBA and all of its features and hardware? Do you know the two basic SCBA emergency procedures and how to perform them successfully in real emergency situations?
3. Muscle Memory- Do you know what "muscle memory" is and how it can either save you or doom you? 
4. Training to Survive- Does your department or company have a specific firefighter survival training program? Do you know and practice firefighter survival tactics on a regular basis?
5. Physiological Responses- Did you know that there are several specific predictable responses that people display when faced with sudden life threatening situations? Did you know that when your heart is racing because you are distressed, it may negatively affect your ability to see and hear?
 
All of the above listed issues are discussed during the interesting and informative program. Once these concepts are learned and understood, a firefighter faced with a life threatening situation will have a much greater chance of emerging from the event alive.
 

Across the country we have all come to recognize that the high level of firefighter death and injury is unacceptable. The question always asked is, "Who is responsible?" Chief Salka will take a hard hitting look at the cause of actual incidents so that we can all learn the role we play in our own safety. This seminar will deeply examine several actual recent firefighter line-of-duty deaths with a focus on what the "real" factors were that contributed to the death. The contributing factors and the responsibility for the firefighter's death rest with several people including the firefighter himself, the company officer and the chief or incident commander. We are all trying to reduce firefighter in juries and deaths, so we must take an honest look at these operations and find out what we are doing wrong to learn how we can increase the safety and survival of our firefighters.

Fire Command Training has just announced the creation of a new firefighter survival hands-on training series. This new three part program contains several important elements of the total firefighter safety and survival theme; "Firefighter Survival Series - 2007" "Training Your Firefighters to GET OUT ALIVE!" This program has been in existance for over 10 years and is updated and revised every year. It is a personal escape skills class that highlights a few of the most effect survival skills that firefighters can learn including the emergency rope slide, the ladder bail, the wall breach and room orientation. Each of these four skills can save your life if trapped inside a burning building and can be learned and practiced at your fire station or training center. "Rapid Intervention School" This program concentrates on the skills, tactics and tools required for a basic rapid intervention team. Whether your firefighters provide RIT for your department or a neighboring department, these RIT specific skills are a must. Learn the tools, positions and tactics that successful rapid intervention teams use across the country "After The MAYDAY" This is the newest of the programs in the series and concentrates on how to solve your survival situation after transmitting the call for help. Whether you are tangled, pinned or running out of air, there are specific tactics and techniques that you can perform to survive. The rapid intervention team may be on the way but you can still save yourself using these vital skills.

NEW HIGH RISE SEMINAR - High rise firefighting is not something you can figure out when you arrive at the scene. Knowing the important principles, strategies and tactics is vital to an effective and safe conclusion. Whether your fire department protect a few or a few hundred high rise buildings, every member of the department needs to be properly TRAINED to handle these rare and dangerous operations. Chief Salka and Fire Command Training have developed several high rise seminar programs that will prepare both officers and firefighters for these challenging operations. PHOTO right- FDNY Battalion Chief John Salka confers with other chiefs at a 2nd alarm high rise fire.

FDNY Battalion Chief John Salka has announced the release of his latest leadership training program titled, "First In Last Out - Leadership Lessons from the FDNY". This brand new program is based on the chief's popular leadership book of the same title and is available immediately for your departments or organizations upcoming seminar or conference. This new program was recently presented to the Osceola County (Florida) Fire Department and received excellent reviews from that departments company and chief officers. Contact Chief Salka today to get on the schedule for this dynamic and informative presentation.