2018 Virginia Fire + Rescue Conference

Sessions Speakers Exhibitors Floor Plan Buzz

Residential Primary Search: Training for Success (Classroom) (Room 3A)

The importance of a primary search is second only to getting water on the fire and in some cases, the argument can be made that it even ranks number one. This hands-on training course is filled with skill building to ensure the search is done both effectively and efficiently. One of the biggest reasons for a poor search is lack of practice and being comfortable in zero visibility. This course will provide the skills and repetitions to perform a successful search. The fire service has unknowingly handicapped firefighters by limiting search training to concrete buildings with oversized doors, windows and stairwells. These buildings typically lack any amount of furniture along with other items typically found in homes in our county. The training environment and operational reality simply do not match. Without the ability to see, FF’s are forced to visualize where they are searching by creating a mental map. When the training environment does not have the same feel of floor coverings, furniture, actual bedding or contents of most homes, a flawed mental image is engrained into our minds. This course will provide real world training and the repetition to master the residential primary search. Requirements: Full firefighting PPE, SCBA with extra bottle and mask, and be SCBA proficient. This is a 12 hours course with a full 8 hour hands-on work component preceded by a 4 hour classroom session. This course can be physically demanding at times. Students should be in good physical condition. This H.O.T portion of this course will be held at the Virginia Beach Training Center and the classroom portion will be at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. There is a 28 student limit for this class; students must attend both sessions in their entirety.