February 5, 2008
IDHS Announces Changes To Fire
Course/Test Applications and
Fire Officer Strategy and
Tactics Reference Material
Fire Course and Testing
Application Changes
The
Indiana Department of Homeland
Security, Division of Training
announces online applications
for fire courses and testing are
now available. The
Certification Section has been
working hard to update and
streamline these application
processes to better serve the
needs of fire instructors
throughout the state. This new
online process allows fire
instructors to submit their
course and testing applications
directly from the IDHS web site
at
www.in.gov/dhs
. The course application may be
accessed from two locations on
our site, on the LEFT side
through CERTIFICATION, then FIRE
CERTIFICATION, the application
is the second item on the page.
Or, more directly, in the upper
RIGHT of the Home Page, in the
brown ONLINE SERVICES box. The
direct link to the application
is:
https://oas.in.gov/hs/training/public/fireApp.do
.
This application, while allowing
for online submission, serves
the instructors of fire courses
and examinations by IMMEDIATELY
issuing a course / test number
to the instructor. An
electronic copy of the
application will be sent to the
e-mail of the instructor making
the application. This
confirmation will remove doubt
for the instructor as to whether
the Certification Section staff
has received their
application(s) or not.
The Certification Section will
continue to accept paper
applications over the next few
weeks but as we make the “leap”
from the sluggishness of paper
to online, we will no longer be
accepting paper course or test
applications after
03/28/2008. After
that date all applications will
need to be submitted using this
website process.
Don’t forget, the board rule
requiring at least 15 days prior
notice for testing applications
still applies.
You may
direct questions you may have
about filling out this
application to Sam Steinhilber,
Test Manager at:
ssteinhilber@dhs.in.gov
or 317-695-0467.
Fire Officer Strategy and
Tactics Reference Material
Changes
Based upon
recommendations from many fire
instructors, the reference
materials and the test
validation for the Fire Officer
Strategy and Tactics
certification have been
updated.
Effective
June 1, 2008, the
testing materials for the FOST
certification will reference and
be correlated to Strategic
and Tactical Considerations on
the Fireground, James P.
Smith, 2nd Edition,
Brady Publishing and also to the
objectives found in the Board of
Fire Fighter Personnel Standards
and Education certification
rules.
The FOST objectives are found in
the board rule cite of 655 IAC
1-2.1-7.1. The validation
committee has determined that 11
of the 55 objectives set forth
by the board are
not covered or disagree
with the Smith text. Those
objective numbers are: 5, 7,
12, 13, 15, 16, 30, 33, 52, 53
and 55. The objectives listed
in 655 IAC 1-2.1-7.1(b) must
follow the definitions found in
the following section, 7.1(c).
The reference discrepancies are
between the definitions found in
section 7.1(c) and the Smith
text.
Instructors must be aware of
these differences and tailor
their lesson plan and
instructional materials
accordingly by using the
definitions found in the rule.
The BFFPSE will be addressing
these differences in future rule
revisions, but for now the
instructor will need to make the
differentiation for the
students.
You may
direct questions you may have
about the FOST objectives and
the differences to Sam
Steinhilber, Test Manager at:
ssteinhilber@dhs.in.gov
or 317-695-0467.
IFSAC Payment Process Change
Effective immediately, the
Certification Section will
no longer accept cash payments
for IFSAC certification
applications. Payment must
be by Money Order or Credit
Card.
Personal checks will not be
accepted. Corporate
and public safety agency checks
will be accepted. The form
required for credit card payment
is available on the IDHS web
site, on the Fire Certification
web page.
Special Note to Instructors
The Certification
Section has been working
diligently to improve their
customer service, their
responsiveness, and their turn
around time for the tests and
certifications provided to the
fire service. Last year we
provided over 30,000 fire and
EMS certifications. That is
only the number of
certifications; it is not the
total number of tests and
practical skills processed.
Those numbers would push them to
near the 40,000 mark. The
number of fire certifications
being processed has increased
about 16% and is a “two-edged
sword.” It is great that you
are doing more training and more
development of our Indiana
firefighters. The other side of
that blade is the increased
demand and volume for our
Certification Section staff.
We ask your help
with some issues which will aid
in more efficient and effective
processing of your certification
and testing materials:
o
Adhere to Submission Deadlines
When an application for testing
is submitted in less than the
required 15 days required by
board rules, the instructor
places us in a very difficult
position. We are either forced
to say no and make the
instructor reschedule the test
or, we have to interrupt our
processing to try to meet this
request. This hurts the whole
system and slows the processes
for everything. Proctors
returning tests weeks or even
months late cause us to have to
deal with phone calls from
students looking for their
certifications and requires
additional work to match up
information that may be quite
old. Unfortunately, it is the
students who suffer when we have
to refuse to process the tests
that are returned so late.
o
Application Completion Errors
and Omissions
Recently, we did a survey of all
of the returned testing packets
coming back for processing. We
noted that in more than 40% of
the packets there were errors
that caused us to have to
contact the Proctor or
Instructor or Student so that it
could be processed. The time it
takes us to make phone calls or
send emails is time that we
could be processing your
materials more quickly.
Missing information on the
applications, missing answer
sheets, missing skill
information, missing signatures,
etc. all add up to slow the
system. You can help by double
or triple checking the
information before returning it
to us to make sure all of the
boxes have been completed,
signatures affixed and required
contents included.
o
Give Students Realistic
Expectations
o
Currently fire certifications
are running 4-6 weeks for
processing. Our goal is 3 weeks
or less, but we need your help
to get there. We are
prioritizing the processing of
Mandatory and FF 1/2
certifications over others so
that the entry level
firefighters can get to work
more quickly.
o
Discourage Phone Calls and
Emails Too Soon
§
While we enjoy talking to you
and your students, each minute
we are on the phone or answering
an email takes us away from
processing your paperwork. Let
students know how long it will
most likely take.
o
Point Students to the Web Site
§
Certifications will show up in
our system and on our web site
before they will appear in your
mailbox. Have your students
check there first.
o
Be Familiar With Board Rules
o
Learn and understand the
processes for certification and
testing, for the process of
variances and reciprocity, for
the duties and responsibilities
of the instructor, evaluator,
and the proctor.
o
Know
the prerequisites associated
with the course you are
teaching. Students applying for
certifications requiring
prerequisites they do not have
or that we do not have record of
will not be granted that
certification until the
requirements are satisfied.
Please make sure your students
know that up front so they are
not disappointed when they do
not received their
certification.
We do
appreciate your efforts and
dedication to public safety and
want to support you the very
best we can. Please share this
information with your fellow
instructors and training
officers. You are encouraged to
send any questions or
suggestions for improvements in
the services provided by the
IDHS Training Divison to Tony
Pagano at
tpagano@dhs.in.gov
, or John Buckman at
jbuckman@dhs.in.gov
.
Train
as if lives depend on it,
because they do!
John M. Buckman III, CFOD
