As of: February 7, 2024, 10:00 a.m
By: Ulrike Wilms
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Spoiled for choice: The aspiring squad leader Klara Kempter has to decide which tools and equipment to use.
© Wilms
Eleven new officers from the FFW Eching have completed their training to become squad leaders - and have proven that a few mean things from the examiner won't stop them.
Eching
- “Help, help!” was heard loudly and seemingly desperately from the roof of the Eching fire station on Waagstrasse on Saturday morning.
Fortunately, this is not a real emergency, but rather an authentic simulation of one during the final exam of modular squad training.
After long preparation, a total of eleven new and mostly young managers underwent this demanding final hurdle to become a squad leader in theory and practice.
They successfully mastered the requirements set and monitored by the examination committee headed by Florian Ferdinand (specialist district fire master training), which is now also documented in the form of a promotion certificate to squad leader or, for the only female aspirant Klara Kempter, to squad leader.
In addition to Kempter, the course participants are Markus Graf, Fabio Holz, Stefan Mayr, Felix Meier, Dominik Murr, Pascal Nettel, Bartek Prawica, Jonas Schlenker, Sebastian Schredl and Christoph Schuster.
First the theory, then the practice
At the beginning, the aim was to test the knowledge learned in a multiple-choice theoretical exam with a lot of practical relevance to technical and tactical questions from various topic blocks.
For example, it was about the properties of carbon monoxide, or what to do first if you are in danger - or about the question of which different fire extinguishers are suitable for solid and liquid substances.
Immediately afterwards, the examinees went on to the practical tests.
For this purpose, realistic operational scenarios that could have arisen from real life were simulated at three stations.
In contrast to the intermediate examination to become a squad man, which qualifies you for participation in operations and, to a certain extent, completes your “basic training”, the final examination places particular emphasis on independent thinking and work, communication between the individual squads and leadership quality.
Difficulty in the “smoky basement fire” scenario in the basement of the hose tower: One of the two firefighters loses consciousness and has to be brought out of the danger zone.
© Wilms
When leading the two-person squad, the squad leader acts as an extended arm of the group leader.
Therefore, unforeseeable difficulties were deliberately built into the individual tasks, which required not only the necessary know-how and knowledge but also strong nerves and caution.
“We always add one or two unexpected ‘meannesses’,” noted Florian Lugauer, responsible for training at FFW Eching.
Incidentally, it was the last course for him in this role, as he will be moving to the district fire inspection as district fire chief in the future.
As described at the beginning, a team of three people had to bring a person on the roof of the fire station to the ground and to safety using a ladder, while coordinating and monitoring all the necessary steps and safeguards.
Another situation simulated a car accident in which the driver hit a wall and injured himself.
There was a third simulation
Now the prospective squad leaders had to stabilize the damaged vehicle, rescue and care for the accident victim, and fight the fire on the car under the strict gaze of the inspectors.
In a third simulation, the examinees were given the task of extinguishing a fire in a basement filled with heavy smoke and one person was missing.
The situation is made worse by the sudden circulatory collapse of one of the two breathing apparatus wearers in the task force.
Despite this dramatic escalation, those examined controlled the situation.
“That was really confident,” said examiner Peter Ramisch Jr
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It doesn't hurt to have a head for heights: rescuing a person who has escaped onto a roof using a ladder, with the examination committee in the foreground.
© Wilms
When handing out the eleven certificates of appointment, Ferdinand particularly emphasized the top result in the theoretical knowledge test: He had never seen a written exam in which so few mistakes were made.
He also thanked all participants as well as the trainers and examiners for the time they spent.
And since the volunteer fire departments also consciously rely on the principle of lifelong learning, the newly appointed squad leaders have qualified for further courses at the Bavarian fire brigade schools - because after the exam also means before the exam.