The Ohio Association of Emergency Vehicle Technicians' 12th annual training academy was this week in Columbus, Ohio.

More than 120 technicians attended this week-long event at the Ohio Fire Academy. Classes were hands-on and ranged from troubleshooting electrical systems and electronics to pump and aerial maintenance. Some 24 classes definitely provided a bumper-to-bumper, aerials-to-tires training opportunity. EVT Certification testing was offered at the end of each day.

I visited the OAEVT training program about 10 years ago. At that time, it was limited to classroom sessions at the Ohio Fire Academy. The growth of both the scope of topics and types of classes is amazing and confirms what we heard 15 years ago: Wrench-turners are a dying breed. Today, apparatus mechanics have earned the title of "technicians."

Jim Salmi is vice president of aerial operations for Crimson Fire and chair of the NFPA 1901 Aerial Task Group Committee. In an interview for the October apparatus issue of Fire Chief magazine, Salmi predicted that electronics will continue to have a significant impact on apparatus and EVTs will become increasingly less mechanical. "They didn't grow up working on cars; they didn't come off of a farm," Salmi said, "so products are going to need to be very easily maintained and easy to operate." Salmi sees manufacturers accomplishing this in two ways: either by making troubleshooting more computer-oriented or by "designing the product so that maintenance becomes almost obvious just by looking at it."

Salmi's right on target. The next generation is not a "paper" generation. They were raised on "chips" -- chips that are tiny, fast and easily replaced.

What was particularly interesting to hear at the OAEVT banquet was that the majority of the technicians attending the classes were sponsored by their fire departments. Fire chiefs were picking up the tab (less than $350 for all five days or a daily rate of $110). Ten years ago, most of the technicians I talked to were on their own dime.

One technician told me that for years he had put in a request to attend the training academy but was turned down. "This year," he said, "my chief gave me the form to fill out." He added, "It's working... The chief got the message."

Paraphrasing a popular cigarette ad from the '80s: "You've come a long way, Buddy!

Janet Wilmoth, Editor