All posts by brad.kirkpatrick

Working under severe hot or cold weather conditions can put individuals’ bodies at risk. TargetSolutions’ Working in Extreme Temperatures course educates personnel, according to OSHA standards, on how to prevent heat and cold stress disorders.

June 2017 has been a hot start to the summer season; reaching record breaking temperatures and starting wildfires across states such as Arizona, California and New Mexico. In these conditions, agencies and organizations across all industries need to understand the hazards of working in extreme heat.

Individuals working in extreme heat or cold can develop heat or cold stress disorders if they don’t follow safety guidelines. TargetSolutions’ course, Working in Extreme Temperatures, provides an overview of how these disorders develop based on climate factors and how to effectively treat them in the case of an emergency.

This 10-module course takes roughly one hour to complete and addresses the causes and symptoms of temperature-related stress disorders.

“It talks about preparing yourself as an individual, working in these temperatures, and what you can do to mitigate these potential hazards. The course is applicable for all industries.”

Jennifer Jones, Director of Product and User Experience, TargetSolutions

Heat stress disorders occur when individuals are unable to maintain their body temperature in a hot environment. Disorders range from heat rash, heat exhaustion to heat stroke and carry symptoms such as mild skin irritation to fever and loss of consciousness.

Cold stress disorders such as hypothermia and frostbite take over when the human body loses too much body heat. If untreated, individuals risk loss of limbs or even death.

TargetSolutions’ course is compliant with federal OSHA standards. For organizations looking to satisfy specific state requirements, platform administrators can simply add their content to the end of the course and deliver it to personnel.

As weather patterns continue to create more polar seasons, individuals must protect themselves when working in extreme heat or cold. TargetSolutions’ Working in Extreme Temperatures course provides necessary information for employees to prevent themselves from falling ill and identify when others develop heat or cold stress disorders.

For questions about TargetSolutions’ OSHA online training catalog, please contact us today (800) 840-8048!

TargetSolutions’ four new courses for Florida firefighters explore state-specific updates for NFPA 1 and NFPA 101.

TargetSolutions is excited to announce the release of a series of courses that focus on the 2015 Florida-specific version updates to NFPA 1 and NFPA 101. Packed with eight hours of brand new content exclusive to Florida-state compliancy, these four courses are split evenly with two modules dedicated to the NFPA 1 Fire Code and the other two to NFPA 101 Life Safety Code. All courses are written with Florida-Certified Fire Inspectors I and II in mind.

Each lesson comes equipped with its own set of learning lessons – 52 across four courses – and is followed up with a 10-question exam. The information in each course is delivered in an audio-driven format and is loaded with rich content and images.

Behavioral objectives of this new training series include the following:

• Explain the summary of changes within the 2015 Florida-Specific Version of the NFPA 1 Fire Code
• Explain the summary of changes within the 2015 Florida-Specific Version of the NFPA 101 Life Safety Code
• Interpret the definition changes in both codes
• Recognize the importance of the Florida-Certified Fire Inspector role

“We’ve catered this training specifically for the state of Florida because there’s a lot of ground to cover. These new courses will enable Florida compliance while keeping Florida-Certified Fire Inspectors abreast of any changes.”

Bryan Fitzgerald, Content Manager, TargetSolutions

Module one of NFPA 1 covers the Florida-Specific Fire Code through Chapter 13 while module two reviews Chapters 14-75. Module 3, which is where NFPA 101 comes into play, reviews Chapters 1-6 of the Florida-Specific Life Safety Code. Module 4 wraps things up with Chapters 7-31.

For more information on Florida-specific NFPA 1 and NFPA 101 training, please contact TargetSolutions today at (800) 840-8048.

Using TargetSolutions for more than a year has paid dividends for the Oklahoma City Fire Department as it now boasts the prestigious Class 1 ISO Rating.

When discussing the future of training in the fire service and how technology plays a part, Chief Keith Bryant of the Oklahoma City Fire Department put it very simply: “This is the future.”

Prior to implementing TargetSolutions in January of 2016, Bryant and his staff were unanimous in selecting the powerful management software as a go-to solution for all of its training needs. Needless to say, the results were almost immediate.

Gone are the days of battalion chiefs having to ascend through mountainous summits of paperwork. We’ve entered an era of streamlined recordkeeping that has culminated into the highly coveted Class 1 ISO rating for the full-service metro department with TargetSolutions’ ISO Training Tracker.

“Our training records are much improved so we’re better at capturing training at the station level than ever before,” Bryant said of his department’s Class 1 ISO rating. “It’s one of those pieces of technology that makes us better at what we do. This was something we needed for a long time and we’ve seen immediate improvements.”

“The mass data that you have to collect and give to ISO for their rating, that’s more readily available. With TargetSolutions it’s better, more accurate.”

Chief Keith Bryant, Oklahoma City Fire Department

Consisting of 877 uniformed firefighters, the Oklahoma City Fire Department responds to more than 70,000 annual calls, 70 percent of which are medical emergencies. However, even as fires continue to decline, the need for consistent quality training has never been higher. Complacency, an all too familiar foe, threatens to set in if firefighters aren’t consistently training to sharpen their skills during downtime.

“The less we do our jobs, the more we need to train,” declared Bryant.

Program Analyst and Business Manager Clint Regier, who aids in managing the department’s use of TargetSolutions, echoed a similar sentiment and stressed the need for a program that personnel would buy into.

“We have control over what it looks like, what we put in there, how we build activities,” Regier said. “The selling point of TargetSolutions is that it’s easy to use and easy to modify and there’s a lot of flexibility in the platform.”

To assist in the transition as well as working toward a Class 1 ISO rating, Regier developed a comprehensive three-point plan that was geared to maximize every facet of the platform.

Point 1 – Full-time Recordkeeping: Ensure that everything that needs to be recorded is indeed tracked. Rig inspections, physical fitness, training activities; employees need to be accountable for tasks they’re expected to do.

Point 2 – Training Strategy: Create and implement a training strategy utilizing the various avenues provided by the platform. This is an ongoing process and while Regier maintains that there is still a ways to go, the ability to track and record data as well as delivering information is vastly improved.

Point 3 – Intermittent Tracking: As with every department, special circumstances will always pop up. For example, the department employs two fitness trainers who help employees achieve their health goals; this needs to be tracked.

“There are so many different variables and situations (firefighters) prepare for,” said Regier. “The training that’s required to understand those different situations and the availability of the information to pick it up whenever they need to know it, having a platform like TargetSolutions to get that information in front of their eyes in an instant is going to be critical to the evolution of firefighting.”

Seeking buy-in from a department of nearly 1,000 personnel to enter a brave new world of technological innovation is no easy task. Despite this obstacle, both Bryant and Regier reported a smooth transition and positive reception.

“Obviously there were some people who were skeptical in the beginning,” said Regier. “But every time someone walks down to administration, I’ll ask them how it’s going and 100 percent across the board everyone says it took a minute, but once they realized they’re putting everything in there, it’s really easy for them to use.”

Drawing on his nearly 40 years of experience in the fire service, Bryant views the future of firefighter training as a reflection of the past. “You’ve never seen a major event here in this country that didn’t initiate a lesson learned or something that we had to change with our training methods or practices,” said Bryant. “I can only speak for Oklahoma City, but our approach to firefighting is smarter now than we’ve ever been and a lot of that has to do with the escalation and use of technology in our work.

“Obviously, training and education, I have to put those two together, as they’ve been a great part of that.”

President Donald Trump recently announced his intent to appoint Chief Bryant as head of the U.S. Fire Administration, a division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency that oversees federal firefighting programs.

It’s critical for every fire department to implement and operate an effective firefighter training program. Here are five critical firefighter requirements for developing a successful strategy.

Saving lives, cost reduction, improved efficiency. All serve as the pinnacle goals of fire department training officers everywhere. But how do you get there? Where do you even begin when taking on the mammoth task of creating a firefighter training program?

The truth is there is no simple cut-and-dry solution, but there are options available. With that in mind, here are the top 5 requirements for an effective firefighter training program.

Implement a Learning Management System (LMS)

Gone are the days of tracking training and credentialing on a spreadsheet. That sort of archaic recordkeeping will skyrocket costs and burn through daylight, leaving your training officers flustered and your expenses high. The learning management system is an online hub that can centralize and streamline your department’s training and recordkeeping. TargetSolutions’ learning management system is the fire service’s leading provider of online training and records management and the perfect implementation for any effective firefighter training program.

Custom Content Creation

Why is relevant custom content important for firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics when training? Because it builds knowledge for critical life or death situations where the outcome will require skilled first responders who can act on a moment’s notice. Recertification compliance, ISO documentation, and best daily practices for training are just a few of the custom content options that will help bolster your effective firefighter training program.

Plan & Follow Through

You wouldn’t sail across the ocean without a map and likewise you’ll need direction if your effective firefighter training program is going to succeed. Write out a roadmap of where you envision your department and what your goals are. Budget accordingly and be prepared for an eventful transition.

Health & Wellness

Both are hot topics in EMS and the fire service. Cancer, heart and lung disease are just a few of the ailments affecting firefighters everywhere. Part of the epidemic is due to the toxicity of modern fires, but an unhealthy diet and lifestyle can be just as dangerous. The addition of a health & wellness plan into your effective training program will keep your battalion happy, healthy, and at the top of their games.

Employ a Training Officer

For your effective firefighter training program to succeed, there must be a face to the LMS just as their needs to be someone who personnel can go to for direction and assistance. Usually this is a training officer, but whoever it is needs to demonstrate mastery in the system for when issues or questions arise.

As the industry’s ultimate training solution, TargetSolutions is proud to provide remedies for the items above. No goal is too great and no task is too small. Fire instructor and subject matter expert Paul Costello, FF/EMT-P, writer and director of the recently released NFPA 1410 Evolutions bundle of courses, summarized the list rather elegantly:

“Report generation that yields real-time data? Got it. Need to verify ISO compliance? Done in minutes with accuracy,” Costello said. “TargetSolutions easily tracks any credentialing need, as well as the requisite recertification progress for every major credential that the fire service or EMS requires as part of their reviews, not to mention the cadre of SMEs who are constantly creating and refining our accredited content.”

For more information on how TargetSolutions can help your fire department achieve its training goals, please contact us today at (800) 840-8046.

In honor of National Safety Month 2017, TargetSolutions is highlighting a collection of its most popular safety courses in various fields.

Preparedness is the key to personal safety and the safety of others. To respond as effectively as possible to an emergency, or mitigate everyday risk, one must be prepared and understand proper procedures. This can range from getting enough sleep to avoid fatigue to preparing for active shooters.

National Safety Month 2017 brings awareness to these prevention tactics during each week of June:

Week One: Stand Up to Falls

Week Two: Recharge to Be in Charge

Week Three: Prepare for Active Shooters

Week Four: Don’t Just Sit There

As safety compliance is a priority for those serving communities, each industry has its own unique protocol to prevent accidents and injury. In honor of National Safety Month 2017, we’re highlighting some of TargetSolutions’ most popular safety courses in various fields.

Fire: Fire Service Health and Safety

While physical disease and behavioral disorders may affect firefighters differently than civilians, it’s important to recognize firefighter wellness and how it’s developed into an issue. Fire Service Health and Safety is specific to firefighter ailments and discusses the importance of being proactive when dealing with common diseases and causes of death.

Users taking the course will explore preventative measures to reduce risk such as safe driving to avoid crashes and keeping in good physical shape to prevent cardiac disease.

OSHA & Compliance: Bloodborne Pathogens Safety

Ensure your team is compliant with OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standard and the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act with TargetSolutions’ Bloodborne Pathogens Safety course. This 20-module course is one of TargetSolutions’ most widely utilized across numerous industries.

Upon completing the course, learners will better understand what bloodborne pathogens are, how to minimize exposure and protect workers from infection.

Motor Vehicle Safety: Driver Safety Orientation

Traffic accidents are a leading cause of incidental deaths among U.S. workers. To ensure best driving safety practices, this course delivers information to aid employees in operating vehicles safely.

Driving Safety Orientation delivers tips on avoiding collisions, sharing the road with motorcycles and how to act in emergency situations.

Law Enforcement: Firearm Safety in the Home

Officers undergo extensive training to keep neighborhoods safe, but Firearm Safety in the Home assists officers in also maintaining safety at home. This course describes the potential dangers faced by family members with a duty firearm in the house and how to prevent injury.

After completing the course, officers will be able to make more informed decisions on how to create a safer environment in their home and the community.

Human Resources: General Office Ergonomics

Improve workplace safety by understanding the physical and psychological stresses of the work environment. General Office Ergonomics deepens learner’s understanding of ergonomic principles and musculoskeletal disorders. Through this course, users will be able to minimize workplace injuries by performing workstation evaluations, applying safe practices and using good form while on the job.

Water and Wastewater: Ladder and Scaffolding Safety

While the first week of National Safety Month 2017 is dedicated to Stand Up to Falls, there is also an entire month dedicated to ladder safety. This is because complying with safety procedures is crucial for employees regularly using ladders and scaffolding.

The TargetSolutions Ladder and Scaffolding Safety course is mandatory for personnel utilizing this type of equipment and goes over: the use and placement of different ladder types, necessary equipment and criteria for accessing scaffolding.

School Districts: Food Safety, Foodborne Illness & Kitchen Sanitation

It’s important for those working in schools to protect students and staff from preventable, common foodborne illnesses. The Food Safety, Foodborne Illness & Kitchen Sanitation course explains the legal responsibilities concerning food safety, food preparation and how to ensure food item deliveries are received safely.

Requiring this course reduces the risk of injury or illness for schools and reduces school liability.

EMS Continuing Education: First Responder Operations Level Refresher (Modules 1 – 4)

This four-part series provides comprehensive lessons in hazardous material response in emergencies.

Responding to chemical crises, such as a terrorist attack, requires a deeper understanding of chemical types, decontamination and how to assess the risk of each hazard class. After taking this course, users will be able to identify and respond more effectively to these urgent situations.

National Safety Month 2017 focuses on what you can do to better prepare yourself and those around you to prevent accidents and respond to emergencies. Regardless of the industry, TargetSolutions offers courses that improve safety compliance and develop the skills to protect personnel.

For questions about these courses or other courses in TargetSolutions’ online training catalog, contact us today (800) 840-8048!

Cherry Hill Fire Department earned the highly coveted Class 1 fire department ISO rating on its own but has since turned to TargetSolutions’ online training system to help keep it.

When the Cherry Hill Fire Department in the Cherry Hill Township of New Jersey received a Class 1 fire department ISO rating – the highest possible classification achievement for such an entity – it knew keeping it would be easier said than done. Simply reaching that elusive mark was a monumental task that took countless amounts of man hours and money to organize all of the documentation that was required.

That’s why the department turned to TargetSolutions. When all was said and done, one of the momentous benefits of implementing such a platform is simplifying otherworldly challenges, such as ISO audits, into straightforward everyday tasks.

Just talk to Lieutenant William Riess, who regularly champions modern methods to track and manage fire department records and found TargetSolutions and its ISO Training Tracker to be the answer.

“That was the selling point. We know what we went through,” said Riess when recalling all the work that went into earning the Class 1. “All of what we just went through is alleviated by going with TargetSolutions.”

Manned by a force of 200 firefighters, EMTs, and civilian support staff, Cherry Hill Fire Department provides round-the-clock service to more than 70,000 residents and 4,000 businesses. Beginning with a trial of the platform last September, the department made TargetSolutions its official training management software this past January and hasn’t looked back.

“We were using about a dozen different programs to capture what TargetSolutions does for us in one,” said Riess. “The feedback across the department is that they love the program. It’s taken less time out of their day.”

“It’s empowering to a degree where it gives back to the workers that it’s their training. It doesn’t come from the department. It doesn’t have to. It allows them more opportunities to be creative.”

Since implementing the platform, Cherry Hill hasn’t been shy about maximizing the numerous abilities of the system. Customizing content, tracking various training and instructor documentation, and employing a barrage of credentials are just a few of the features that Cherry Hill routinely capitalizes on. “When I sold this program to our chiefs, I said this program right now is a 10. What I think we’ll be able to accomplish in the first year or two is a three. That alone is where we already were as an ISO 1 department.” said Riess. “We can not only maintain that, but we can surpass the level of being a Class 1 department and improve our tracking documentation.”

Riess is currently serving as an administrator for the Burlington County Regional Training Alliance (BCRTA), an enterprise group focused on bringing regional departments together in an effort to simplify training and embrace camaraderie. As has been his experience with TargetSolutions thus far, Riess wants to promote the notion of maximizing the platform for every member of the Alliance as a way to best serve their communities. As Riess has powered through the various platform features since last year, he is confident in what the Alliance will provide to the region.

“I know this is going to work,” he said.

See what else customers are saying about TargetSolutions and what more the platform can do for you. To learn more about how you can improve your fire department ISO rating, please contact us with any questions at (800) 840-8048.

TargetSolutions has updated three of its most popular EMS training courses with engaging content and new video-based lessons. 

Between three of the most popular courses in TargetSolutions’ EMS Continuing Education catalog, EMS Basic Airway Management, EMS Cardiac Emergencies, and EMS Patient Assessment received over 30,000 completions in 2016.

Due to their popularity and value to new and veteran first responders, these one-hour training courses have been revised with refreshing content packed into visually enticing video-based lessons. As users progress through each video module, they are guided with audio narration and related images for a more engaging learning experience.

After completing each module, users are tested for comprehension with a one-question quiz and at the end of the course, must pass a brief exam. These tests reinforce crucial concepts and help first responders perform procedures during a call.

“Knowing these three EMS courses are some of our most highly utilized offerings, we’ve completely restyled and updated our content. The learning objectives in each course, such as basic airway management, are comprehensive and are perfect for both new first responders and veterans looking for a refresher.” 

Bryan Fitzgerald, Content Manager, TargetSolutions

EMS Airway Management Basic recalls the anatomy of the respiratory system for EMT personnel to identify signs of inadequate breathing. This basic airway management course covers the steps to safely clear an obstructed patient’s airway as soon as possible.

EMS Cardiac Emergencies Basic highlights the signs of cardiac arrest and how to properly use an automated external defibrillator (AED). As half of the 600,000 annual deaths from cardiovascular diseases occur before patients reach the hospital, immediate and correct defibrillation is crucial.

EMS Patient Assessment Basic lays the foundation for determining a scene’s safety and recognizing symptoms of an abnormal condition in a patient. Based on the assessments, personnel will be able to perform the appropriate tests and identify changing conditions throughout the interaction.

These courses provide an overview to essential practices for first responders. Users will understand basic airway management, how to properly use an AED, and analyze patients’ conditions. Utilizing these skills will reduce mistakes in time sensitive situations and increase patients’ chances of survival.

For more information about these updated courses or TargetSolutions’ EMS Course Library, contact us today (800) 840-8048!

When it comes to developing an effective fire department training plan, training isn’t linear. In addition to providing more than 450 hours of fire department training courses, TargetSolutions supports a variety of third-party content so departments can customize users’ training experience.

Incorporating third-party content into your training keeps firefighters’ skills fresh with engaging, dynamic courses. TargetSolutions can deliver video, Articulate and SCORM presentations and scenario-based training. The ability to assign these different training formats from a single platform makes TargetSolutions an all-in-one solution for agencies.

Easily Upload Videos for Custom Activities

Whether it be a training clip found on YouTube or a department’s own recording from a drill-yard training session, administrators can distribute video content on TargetSolutions. Uploading videos and creating related activity questions is straightforward through the File Center and Activities Builder. Simply embed or insert a link from YouTube or Vimeo or post a video file directly into the File Center. TargetSolutions is compatible with most video file types under two gigabytes such as MOV, MP4, and AVI.

Sarnia Fire Rescue Services utilizes this by uploading exercises from SimsUshare’s fire department training plan simulators.

“(With TargetSolutions and SimsUshare) one system doesn’t replace the other. I’ve even recorded SimsUshare sessions and uploaded them to TargetSolutions as customized courses.”

Russ Lloyd, Safety and Training Officer, Sarnia Fire Rescue Services

Recording and posting training allows departments to analyze decisions made during simulations and test for comprehension of procedures. Related questions also reveal gaps in training and give insight on how to improve performance.

Engage Users with Articulate and SCORM Presentations

Articulate and SCORM presentations help trainers get creative and produce dynamic content. Trainers can design interactive exercises with Articulate or keep users engaged with narrated SCORM PowerPoints.

In addition to enhancing the user-experience, delivering Articulate and SCORM presentations with TargetSolutions can save time and resources. Rather than coordinating around a fire department training plan schedule for live instructor-led classes, these presentations can be accessed at the user’s convenience.

Once presentations are created externally, they can be uploaded to the training platform. Articulate presentations can be added to the File Center and assigned to users through the Activities Builder. Once SCORM presentations are uploaded, they can be assigned as a TargetSolutions course and be available in the Course Library.

Include Scenario-Based Training in Your Fire Department Training Plan

When dealing with the uncertainty of an emergency, every decision can make the difference between a success or tragedy. Fire department training simulators give firefighters the opportunity to practice making tough decisions during high-stress situations.

AlphaTRAC’s firefighter-specific scenario training, AlphaACT, can be purchased and delivered directly through TargetSolutions. AlphaACT scenarios react as users attempt to resolve an emergency. This provides a safe setting for firefighters to apply their skills to realistic situations without the resources of hands-on training. These exercises also reinforce concepts learned through TargetSolutions’ continuing education courses.

While TargetSolutions offers pre-built AlphaACT scenarios, fire departments can also create their own. Custom simulations replicating past calls help firefighters leverage experiences to make better decisions in the future. After completing each session, training officers can access results to understand a student’s strengths and areas for improvement.

Organizing a fire department training plan that sufficiently prepares agencies should utilize a variety of training forms. TargetSolutions’ compatibility with diverse types of third-party content gives administrators control over their fire department training plan. TargetSolutions’ dynamic online firefighter training courses, combined with customized third-party content, helps firefighters retain key information and can respond to any emergency.

For questions about third-party content supported by TargetSolutions, please contact us at (800) 840-8048!