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Volunteer Fire Department Management Course
Introduction The purpose of this FREE VFD Management Course is to help volunteer and combined fire departments enjoy better general management, decision making, financing, effectiveness, public relations, personnel relations, and the benefits of putting "organization" into the organization. It is FREE to use on-line to all, with the explicit understand of the agreed compliance to this limited use and all provisions set forth in the Copyright Notice Participation in this VFD/EMS management course is FREE to use as an on-line resource to assist officers and officer candidates to become more competent in their positions, however for those seeking certification, it does require a registration. Registered and certification candidates will also use our chat room for scheduled discussions to be announced. Registrants will be notified by e-mail of their acceptance and in advance to the special group discussions. Likewise we will use a moderated message board forum, so that only registrants can post questions, issues for discussion and commentaries, and to interact with instructors in an on-line classroom setting. Only a limited number of FREE registered participants for certification will be accepted as scholarship enrollees at any given time. Registered participants, who are seeking certification, will be accepted for enrollment by VFD-Funding, who exercise their total right of making the selection of successful candidates by any determination they choose on any application. Those registered participants, who wish to enroll in the VFD Management Course for certification for themselves and for a class of officers from a single department or group of officers from neighboring (mutual-aide) communities, who are not selected for the limited number of FREE certification enrollments and those wishing to use this Management Course as a training program to receive a federal or state level grant should contact griffin@VFD-Funding.com for more information. After doing much research into the matter, we found that there is no really practical fire department administrative management course specifically oriented toward VFD/EMS services. Many officers find that they continue the same practices as their predecessor, albeit these practice have traditionally proven not to be effective, or as effective as altering them due to the changing environment and conditions. Often new officers, emphasis administrative officers, find themselves overwhelmed and asking themselves what they were thinking, when they agreed to run for office and signed onto accepting an administrative officer's position . . . same is often true for line officers. We will address many issues that are common to volunteer and combined fire departments in this VFD Management Course, but we will not try to suggest a "cookie-cutter" approach, given that there are differences between departments and their needs, which we all know have changed much just in the past few years alone. Likewise, some departments already practice many of the points and methodologies suggested, but perhaps these could use a bit of polishing and refinement. What we wish to do is to help define some of the fundamentals, so that officers and officer candidates are better equipped with the tools they need, to manage their responsibilities and their roles in the general management of the volunteer fire department. Where possible and appropriate we will cite examples of both good and bad practices we have seen in various VFD/EMS services. We will not cite specific companies, because some of the examples will describe what we've seen in more than one department, if not most departments. Thus, we have taken literary license to come up with fictitious companies and officers. We will also try to inject a bit of humor where appropriate, because if we describe something that isn't applicable to your department, you probably know at least one where it is. Plus, sometimes laughing at the bovine feces situation can be the best and first step to getting prepared to remediate it. The reason we have decided to develop this VFD Management Course, is that is has been long needed and there is nothing like it anywhere. One of the problems that VFD, combined and even paid departments long have had is that their best firefighters are often promoted to line officers positions, when they are not trained to be and they best serve as firefighters. Example: Firefighter Fred and Firefighter Frank are about the same age, have the same firefighting training, about the same firefighting skills, and years of experience. Firefighter Frank is a bit more aggressive, agile, and athletic than Firefighter Fred, who is a bit more cautious, looks at the bigger picture more, has some management experience in his vocational life, and is more of a people person. Now would you vote for Firefighter Frank or Firefighter Fred for a line officer's position? Who would also make the better administrative officer? Although we will primarily focus on the administrative officers of a VFD/EMS company, we will also address the roles, responsibilities and issues which relate to line officers, given that in many situations, notably the chief, they participate in both administrative and line officer functions. Also, as we've all seen to be true, whether in our own department or in a neighboring department, you'll see the administrative officers on one side and the line officer on the other, where then what they do looks like two monkeys trying to fornicate with a football, with similar results. Throughout this course, we will refer to these examples as: "Monkey Business". This VFD management course and series of articles will be a continuous and evolving process, it will lead to a recognized certification program and will contain the a number modules, lessons and exercises for each lesson. To view the syllabus topics covered in each module visit: Table_of_Contents Each of these modules may have one or more "lessons" in them and each lesson will be followed by 5-10 examples/exercises. Some will seem to overlap, however, in practice many times this is true also, as form follows function. As we continue to develop this VFD Management Course, what we believe to be the best means of credentialing and certifying a successful completion is for the participant to put some of these "lessons learned" into practice within their VFD/EMS department and to respond with the results and how they were achieved. As we develop this management course, we are also working towards making it recognized by various community colleges and universities to give the successful completion of it to be worth 3-6 college credits. However, it does appear that the credit awarding institutions may most probably charge a fee for each credit hour given. They receive this fee, we do not, therefore, you will need to contact your local college or university for more information. Finally, whether or not you receive college credit for your participation, we cogently believe you'll benefit from the knowledge that you gain and likewise so will your department and the citizens you serve in your community. We will work diligently with all participants to make the matriculation through this course to be as self-paced, individualized, beneficial, informative, and as much fun as is possible. Register to Participate in the VFD Management Course Last modified: April 13, 2008
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