The Northshore Fire Department Training Division directs the education and training needs of forty one uniformed fire fighters.  The division is responsible for the delivery of basic fire fighter skills training such as fire hose deployment, breathing apparatus, and ladders all the way to technical rescue capabilities that include confined spaces, rope rescue, trench rescue, and structural collapse.  The training includes classroom, training ground practice, and performance evaluations of skills learned.  Fire fighters must train in all areas where they are expected to perform.  This translates into an ever-widening arena in which fire fighters’ must prepare for and act with some knowledge base in almost any given situation.  Training in so many fields requires planning, efficiency, and an energetic and enthusiastic group of fire fighters.

Coupled with fire and rescue is training in emergency medicine – the mainstay of our regional fire service organizations.  Emergency medical intervention consistently accounts for approximately 70% of the requests to 911 for assistance.   For training purposes, this means that our fire fighters receive initial training and then spend a good part of their available training hours studying, practicing, and being tested on their skills as emergency medical technicians.  Each fire fighter is required to maintain their skills as an EMS provider by completing the competency-based training curriculum developed by King County Emergency Medical Services.  

Through the Training Division, the Northshore Fire Department also supports training outside the routine in-house provided instruction.  We encourage our members to attend fire-service related classes at the community college level, at the National Fire Academy, and through regional programs that prepare fire fighters for higher levels of responsibility within the organization.   

Along with routinely scheduled training with hose deployment, ladders, breathing apparatus, and emergency medicine, the following are additional areas the department is working on for the second quarter of 2009: