Volunteer leaders in the north-west recently received valuable training about incident management and size-up.
Presenter David Maxwell, Assistant Chief Fire Officer for Training Delivery based at CFA Headquarters, has extensive operational experience and a long history of supporting career firefighters as they prepared for the practical assessment components of promotional courses.
The presentation was attended by volunteers from Swan Hill, Woorinen South, Beverford and Nyah Nyah West.
ACFO Maxwell described the fireground application of the size-up process and how to form an incident management plan to resolve the emergency. His insights and methods of operation to effectively perform the role of incident controller was well received by the participants.
During the evening, the volunteers also used the district's urban TEWT prop that allowed the incident control theory and methods to be played out in a hands-on, practical manner. The drills created on the prop generated valuable discussion and enhanced the training compared to a theory-only session.
"The session was established to assist the development of effective decision-making during critical components of emergency management, ensuring the safety of first responders while performing our role of protecting lives and property," ACFO Maxwell said.
"It's important that our incident controllers and brigade leaders are confident when using operational doctrine such as RECEO, size-up, dynamic risk assessment and SMEACS in a connected system to enable successful emergency management, whether in a rural or urban environment.
"It was great to see the application from participants across a broad range of incidents during the session."
The visit to the district also allowed ACFO Maxwell to understand the training needs of brigades and to hear first-hand about the successes and challenges that our volunteers experience when participating in training activities.
This presentation was one component of a broader volunteer command and control course being run in District 18 to enhance the operational leadership skills of our volunteer leaders. The course was put together by the district operations team and is being piloted this year around the Swan Hill area with the intention of expanding it to other areas of District 18 in the future.
