¤I am a member of a small fire protection district in rual washington state.
¤I am interested in any information regarding DRIVER TRAINING &
¤CERTIFICATION.

¤We are a volinteer department, with many members that have been on the
¤department longer than I have been alive (34 years) some with 40 years, I
¤think this is great that they are still here, but the problem that exists
¤is multi fold.

I'll attempt to answer your questions one at a time.

¤1) new members want to drive, but have had no experience with large
¤equipment

I belong to Claymont [DE] (Volunteer) Fire Company.  We have a rather
intensive Driver's Training (DT) program.  Before any member can even start
DT, they must be at least 21 years old (insurance reasons) and have
permission from the Chief to begin DT.  Second, the member must take the
Delaware State Fire School "Driver/Operator Course."  This gives the
trainee the basic knowledge of driving an emergency vehicle which, as you
well know, is a LOT different than just jumping into a truck and turning
all the lights on and heading out the door.  Our DT progression then starts
with the Ambulances (the smallest vehicles).  The member is taken out
several times with a driver trainer (I being one), during which time the
trainee must perform certain driving tasks listed on a checklist.  Once the
trainer is comfortable with the trainee's performance and all tasks have
been checked off, the trainee must then schedule a "check ride" with the
Chief Engineer.  If the Chief Engineer approves he will advise the Chief,
who has the final approval.  Once that has been done, the new driver can
only drive the ambulances.  After 6 months, the driver can request to start
training on the Seagraves engine.  The cycle starts all over again (without
the Driver/Operator course, of course).  Get permission, start the DT, have
the check ride, Chief says "OK.", drive the Seagraves.  Below is the time
breakdown for the DT progression:

        Start --------->  Ambulance
        6 months -->  13-4 (Seagraves)
        6 months -->  13-1 (E-One Hush 6-man)
        6 months -->  13-3 (E-One Hush 10-man)
        6 months -->  13-5 (E-One Hust 9-man, first out piece)
        12 months-->  Ladder 13
        12 months-->  Rescue 13 (which I've sent you a bitmapped file of!)

All these times are MINIMUMS!

¤2) older members do not have the reflexes, or response timing anymore and
¤can be dangerous to all persons in the general area. (not to mention this
¤is dificult to talk to some one who has driven forever)

This is a responsibility of your Chief's or Chief Engineer's offices.
There comes a time when the "Good Ol' Boy" rule does not apply!  This
sounds like it's being used here.  Make them aware of the liabilities they
face by allowing incompetent and/or untrained drivers to drive.  With the
country being so lawsuit happy these days, the Fire Departments are
constantly being sued for stupid stuff.  Imagine the lawsuit if (God
forbid!) one of your drivers gets into an accident and seriously injures or
kills a civilian!

¤3) When there is an accident there is no set policy to prevent persons from
¤driving for reasons of probation.

Yes there is!  The Chief's Rules!  Your Chief needs to sit down and write
up guidelines (SOPs, rules, whatever) of the Dos and Don'ts in the station.
Also, establish a Driver's List.  If a member is NOT on the Driver's List,
that member does NOT drive!  Violating this carries a severe punishment
(i.e. 30 days suspension from ALL company activities (including alarms) and
company property, fines, etc...).

¤4) I would like to establish a set of policies, procedures for training,
¤certification, and review of all drivers in our department.

Here's a couple phone numbers that may be helpful to you:

Mine (naturally<g>):  VoiceMail Pager:  (302) 657-2978, or return e-mail
My mailing address is:  Arthur Burke
                                                  38 Denham Avenue
                                                  Claymont, Delaware  19703

FF Steve Calzone, Asst. Training Officer, Claymont Fire Company,
(302) 798-9274

Chief William Kelly, Fire Chief, Claymont Fire Company,
(302) 798-9274

If you send me your snail address, I'll mail out a copy of our DT checklist
and program.

¤If anyone can assist I would be greatful.
¤--
¤Jerry D. Beck
¤J...@WHIDBEY.COM

-----------------
Arthur Burke, ArtBu...@bdsnet.com
Firefighter/EMT, Claymont Fire Company, Claymont, Delaware
Voicemail (302)657-2978; Fax (302)798-0924