FAAC News

  Firefighting foams are essential tools for fighting fires, making firefighter foam training essential to every fire brigade. When it comes to particularly hard to extinguish fires, like those whose source includes flammable liquids and/or petroleum (i.e., Class B fires), aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) is still the recommended option where lives or critical infrastructure are … Continued

U.S. traffic fatalities have climbed throughout the pandemic, despite 30 years of steady declines. Early this year the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that in just the first nine months of 2021 traffic fatalities increased 12%. That’s the largest such jump in fatalities since 1975. In total, 31,720 people died in traffic accidents … Continued

Fights on the bus. Verbal harassment and assault. A bus window smashed with a hurled rock. These aren’t new problems, nor unique to Detroit and other major urban hubs. But the tight labor market and high-stress/high-stakes nature of operating public transit in a COVID context has helped the rest of the world sit up and … Continued

Given the realities of climate change and energy production, we are moving to a ZEB (zero-emissions bus) world sooner than later and not looking back. As more agencies explore what it will take to transition their fleet, they’re beginning to appreciate that, as one European transit agency recently put it, “buying the [zero-emissions] bus is … Continued

Back in 2011, Noel Maitland (at that time lieutenant and 15-year veteran with the FDNY) wrote an excellent fire department training op-ed for Fire Engineering. Maitland recalled: “I had an officer who taught me to always test the hydrant on a fire run, even if it’s for one of those annoying automatic alarms that always … Continued

In a November article for Fire Engineering, Burlington (NC) Fire Department battalion chief Paul Watlington sang the praises—and spoke to the brain-bending complexities—of pump operations. It isn’t just that each department has a unique mix of equipment. And it’s not only that new equipment and apparatuses enter the market, altering some of the fundamentals underlying … Continued

Michael Stewart, a training equipment specialist, spoke to the significance of the technological advancements the military base has. He pointed out how the simulation training center has capabilities for marines to experience simulation training in convoys as well as 12 other marine vehicle trainings. “The benefits are immeasurable. We get the marines in here — … Continued

In a recent article in EMS World Barry Bachenheimer (EDD, FF/EMT) wrote about how the first 60 seconds of a call—and the impression you make on the people at the scene—has an enormous impact on how that call will proceed. “A professional appearance,” Bachenheimer writes, “inspires confidence. If you have pride in your look, it … Continued

As we’ve discussed in the past, one key to the effectiveness of public transport simulation training is “presence“—i.e., the trainee’s convincing subjective experience of being in an actual vehicle. As Rob Raheb (an internationally published author and expert in simulation and driver training) has noted: “The more realistic the simulation is, the more ‘buy in’ … Continued

  An increasing number of law enforcement agencies are engaging in increasingly lively discussions around use-of-force training. These are extremely important conversations—often difficult, always complex. Part of the challenge is that use-of-force training is a hot-button topic. But a good deal of complexity arises from the simple fact that it’s hard to have a national … Continued