Suppression Training:

Live Fire Training this year was curbed by government regulations and enforcements of Lee County Building Codes. We did have access to seven houses this year for hands-on training. Three were located to Tower Road and we used them for forcible entry and fire suppression techniques. The other four were on Quail's Nest Drive, where two were used only for exterior attack and two were used for live fire evolutions according to NFPA 1403 guidelines.

Standard Training consists of college courses, in and out of house training, and all training related to firefighter's duties. The department massed over 22,509.57 hours of fire and EMS related training in 2008. This equated to 23.44 hours per person per month, exceeding the ISO recommendation of 20 hours per person per month.

Training Programs:

Driver Training is administered by the Training Division. This was done in 2008 for 12 firefighters. It is a complex program that included maintenance, apparatus knowledge, equipment familiarization, non-emergency driving, and pump operator skill evaluations. The program had two important goals.

1. To determine the readiness of newer driver/operators to get behind the wheel.

2. To get new department personnel on the same page when it comes to pump and apparatus operations.

Officer Training was completed by hosting three leadership classes. The courses were open to all personnel. The classes were co-sponsored with North Naples Fire Department and Estero Fire Department. Each class had approximately 200 students. The classes were delivered by Chief Sullivan of Worcester, MA Fire Department, Chief Laskey of Louisville, TX and Dr. James Reese, a former FBI profiler.

Recruit Training was conducted for five individuals. They were Daniel Platas, Christopher McDaniel, Jonathan Whitlock, Benjamin Bogacz, and Roy Brown. We welcomed them all to our family.

The Training Division's special project for the year was a video production center. The Division has devoted many hours learning the program and its video applications. This has given the Department the capability to provide the District with live internet access to our board meetings, along with a recorded version for the Cablevision TV12 network. Public Service Announcements will be available in the near future also.

Emergency Medication Technician and Paramedic Training was provided to recertify our employee's state certifications which is necessary every two years. These training hours are provided in several ways. First, our Medical Director, Dr. Michele S. Nathan, MD., conducts monthly in-service training sessions to include cardiac care, trauma emergencies, pediatrics, orthopedic injuries and care, respiratory emergencies, and pharmacology to name a few. Additionally, Deputy Chief Daigle and the EMS Training Lieutenant Bill Clemens conduct monthly department in-service instruction and practical evaluations. This monthly in-service training covers more hours and subjects necessary and practical evaluations. Along with this, paramedics attend specialized classes in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Basic Trauma Life Support, Advances Pediatric Life Support, and others to maintain competency in their field. The Health Stream Interactive training system on the internet was utilized this year for the majority of the EMS recertification hours. It costs around $1 per week per student to receive enough EMS credits in a two-year period to complete their license requirements. All the classes offered on it are approved by the State of Florida. All EMT's and paramedics recertified this year and received their updated certifications and licenses.