Today the fire service faces a deadly paradox. Fighting fires is a very small part of the firefighter's workload - so small, in fact, that actual fires are too infrequent to maintain firefighting skills - yet firefighting skills are the basis that all other operations are built on. A sad sidenote is that it's during firefighting that firefighters are being injured and killed.

Given this situation, how do firefighters and officers build and maintain basic firefighting skills? The solution begins in each firehouse, because firefighting is a team activity. It begins when the career company officer sets the tone for the day - anticipating that the alarm for the big one is just about to ring - with roll call, checking personnel and gear, job assignments, focused training and team building. It also begins when the volunteer officer brings these same tasks into training sessions and scheduled meetings. A key component is realistic essential skills training.

In 1998, the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute surveyed fire departments across Illinois to identify specific training needs. The respondents identified a need to focus training on the core skills at each level: firefighter, engineer, line officer, operational chief and department chief. Most requested hands-on live scenario training that addressed the following priorities:

1) Firefighter basics,

2) Firefighter rescue/rapid intervention teams,

3) Water supply and pumping,

4) scba,

5) Hands-on line officer training,

6) Rescue,

7) Hazmat, and

8) Automobile extrication.

In the summer of 1998, the Illinois State Fire Marshal sponsored a Claims Reimbursement Task Force composed of representatives of all the major fire service organizations in Illinois. That task force allocated $200,000 for two-day "core competency" courses and one-day burns. In just three months, 10% of the state's fire departments have sent more than 700 firefighters to this training.

For the course, a core set of skills was selected from Firefighter I and II standards:

* Hoses (loads, advances and handling),

* Breathing apparatus (donning and working in),

* Ladders (carrying, raising and climbing),

* Tools (using and caring for),

* Fire behavior,

* Water supply and pumping,

* Basic building construction, and

* Basic tactics (vent and enter).

After a series of hands-on training scenarios, these skills are applied to a live-fire training evolution in a house or training tower.

The courses are offered locally to groups of 25 or more firefighters on weekends. The class-size requirement has had the added advantage of putting mutual aid agreements into practice as departments have worked together to achieve enough enrollment. In many cases, the career departments in an area or the regional association has sponsored the event, breaking down barriers between career and volunteer departments. Our experience shows that these two simple training events are bringing hands-on training to even the smallest volunteer departments.

"Basics" shouldn't end with new recruits. At uifsi, we've found the need to return to core skills in all of our hands-on courses.

For example, "Saving Our Own" analyzes firefighting events where firefighters have lost their lives, providing more than a dozen specific drills using basic tools and techniques to overcome potentially fatal scenarios. To date, we know this class has helped save at least seven firefighter lives in six separate incidents.

"First-in Officer"examines the basics of emergency decision-making. You are the first officer in charge of the lead engine responding to a fire. The fire is potentially "the big one," and the tactical decisions you make will directly affect the ability of every firefighter who may eventually respond to save every life possible, gain control and reduce property loss.

What must you decide? What facts are critical? Important? Irrelevant? What is size-up, and how will you use it to initiate your attack and call for additional support? ics, sops, pre-fire surveys, and the strengths and weaknesses of each of your firefighters are all basics you must know instantly.

"Engine and Truck Company Operations" is a reminder that complex tasks begin with individual firefighters performing basic firefighting skills. First engine secures water, lays hose and commences the hose attack. First truck/ladder ventilates, secures forcible entry and conducts primary search/rescue.

In what order are these tasks performed? With a two- or three-person crew? How do you maximize the capabilities of your people and apparatus for this particular fire? Where's incident command located, and how do you pass command as the response grows with extra alarms? Teams are assigned to accomplish specific critical tasks, but individuals and basic skills still serve as the foundation.

"Where the Battle Begins" reinforces the core values of the fire service. Using an interactive seminar approach involving hundreds of firefighters, we've found that firefighters share common goals of integrity, courage, dedication and compassion. Many have also developed the attitude of doing whatever it takes, whenever it's needed. The ability to reinforce these values in training, operations and daily routines should be among every senior officer's basic skills.

Where else can we apply the "back to basics" rule? Anywhere firefighters must translate theory into practice on the fireground, in the firehouse and beyond. Observe your firefighters, companies and departments in action and training. Do they fail to perform fundamentals correctly? Is a lack of skills reducing firefighter safety and impeding their ability to combat fires and save lives and property? If so, then perhaps it's time for you to roll out your own "back to basics" program.