Firefighters pass National Firefighter Certification Testing Program
By CHIEF LARRY NASER Eight firefighters from the Meade County Fire District and one from the Ekron Fire-Rescue Department took part in the firefighter skills testing held Oct. 22 and 23 at the Bowen fire training complex at Elizabethtown Community College. The International Fire Service Accredidation Congress (IFSAC), in conjunction with Kentucky Community Technical College System (KCTCS), provides both skill and written testing to a national standard for firefighters. This program has been in use in Kentucky for approximately five years and is designed to insure the firefighter has both skills and knowledge concerning their profession. The IFSAC test is based on skills and does not differ for career or non-career firefighters taking the test. Firefighter 1 skills that were tested on Oct. 22 were taken from the fourth edition of the Essentials of Firefighting text. This document provides basic and advanced instruction for structural firefighters. Skills such as how to extinguish a vehicle fire, how to remove an unconscious person down a ladder, how to find your way out of a building when disoriented by smoke, how to properly tie and hoist tools up a ladder and providing medical first aid were all covered. Six of the eight Meade County firefighters successfully passed each station. Two junior firefighters with Meade County successfully passed the one station they were allowed to test. Capt. James Perguson from the Ekron Fire-Rescue Department also was successful in his attempts. Oct. 23 brought rainy skies and more difficult tasks as the candidates attempted the skills for Firefighter 2 certification. These skills, also taken from the Essentials of Firefighting manual, including extinguishing a room and contents fire, correct use of extrication equipment such as the Jaws of Life, proper techniques for preplanning a building, how to correctly flow test a fire hydrant and two other skills that were drawn by the candidate. Due to the hard work in preparing themselves for this test, all candidates from Meade County and Ekron were successful. Meade County should be proud of the accomplishments of these firefighters. Firefighters from career departments in Hardin and surrounding counties all participated in this program. Meade County Fire District will host the final segment of this testing process on Dec. 17, when the written examination portion of the test will be given.
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