It will have escaped nobody’s attention in the Dutch Fire Brigade. The basic principles of firefighting theme is HOT. Especially to train these principles, FireWare was allowed to help to set up two temporary training centres for Safety region Haaglanden.
One of the temporary training locations was set up in an industrial setting. The other training location was located in a residential building. Both training locations were packed with scenarios. This way, every station that came to practise could make a choice from the "menu" of training objectives and scenarios!
Preventing object saturation: converting an existing building into a training location
Nothing is more annoying to a trainee than a training environment with an extremely high level of predictability. At FireWare, we call this object saturation. For a number of years, the Haaglanden Safety Region has been taking advantage of this situation by temporarily converting existing (vacant) buildings into training centres. These temporary "pop-up" exercise centres remain in place for about six months. During these six months, all stations and teams from the region can come to practise. This brings enormous operational advantages. For example, the staging can remain in place. Moreover, extra attention can be paid to the staging itself. This benefits the perception.
Not the first rodeo
FireWare and Safety Region Haaglanden have been working together intensively for a number of years in realising temporary training locations. Special locations have already been built for exercises with the water tender, O-bundles, technical emergency response scenarios, scenarios for the fight against terrorism and multidisciplinary deployments. This year, it was time for the basic principles of firefighting. The staging teams of the Haaglanden Safety Region and FireWare worked together as one team during preparation, execution and conclusion.
A menu with exercise objectives and scenarios
Not every station or team has the same training needs. The safety region therefore wants to facilitate customised exercises. Different scenarios have been drawn up, from which a selection could be made:
- Stop and think
- Outdoor exploration
- Advancing low
- Anti-ventilation: the smokestopper
- Cooling capacity
- Medium-sized fire scenario
Each of these scenarios could be trained in a residential environment or in an industrial setting. Of course with the corresponding circumstances, dilemmas and context. If desired, the scenarios could be made more difficult. In this way, each team was able to put together his or her own training and achieve the intended goals.
Extremely realistic staging
Because the locations remained in place for a longer period, there was time and space to pay a lot of attention to realistic staging with interactive controls. By means of the special staging cards, the instructors, training staff and coordinators were able to get to the bottom of the scenarios and staging very quickly. This way, they did not have to worry about the staging and could focus on the students.
By using Cumulus and Stratus smoke machines, among others, it was possible to create an extremely realistic layer of smoke. A thick layer of smoke high up in the room, with the optical illusion of black smoke. Ideal for low level exercises and the use of the smokestopper during an anti-ventilation scenario.
By using several Phoenix Silkflames, FireSpots and Vesta fire extinguisher trainers, a great simulation of the various fire loads could be staged. The sound boxes provided realistic sound effects
The simulation specialists at FireWare ensured that the windows were painted in such a way that the soot deposits and moisture streaks could be clearly seen during an outside exploration. All of the staging was based on "what you see is what you get". And best of all: the buildings were not damaged. The entire staging was carried out non-destructively.
Unexpected circumstances: acting quickly
In the scenarios, various elements were introduced to "guide" the exercise. Think of an immobile, morbidly obese patient weighing over 180 kilograms. Or a number of very valuable art objects that were in a gallery in the industrial building. But, also the use of livestock. For, what should happen to the chickens in the henhouse? These are all unusual elements in an exercise which, if done well, can give an extra dimension to the exercise.
Coordination between scenario and staging
The team of Safety Region Haaglanden has come up with a wonderful concept full of very nice scenarios. By continuously fine-tuning the scenario and the staging, a beautiful result is achieved. This tuning ensures that the objects are used as much as possible in their "real" state. The entire team has been working as hard as possible to avoid the phrase "imagine that this is a ...". And it showed!
Full-fledged on-site training location
Besides scenarios and staging, there is much more to a temporary training location. Think of parking facilities, but also of having a suitable evaluation facility. These were provided at both locations, complete with coffee and tea facilities. By also taking care of all preconditions, a fully-fledged training location was created on site!
A taste for more
The FireWare team looks back on a fantastic project with the Haaglanden Safety Region. Actually, our hands are itching to set up the next temporary training facilities!
Do you think: a temporary training centre is also something for us? Please contact FireWare. We are happy to help. And it's not our first rodeo...
