Sergeant Doug Kazensky and Solutions Engineer Johnny Roberson recently sat down for a riveting discussion on how Longview (WA) Police Department uses Vector Solutions’ (TargetSolutions) suite of software to automate and simplify their training, manage their equipment and schedule their staff.
Learn from Longview Police Department’s first-hand experience moving from an outdated system with fragmented data to a modern, time-saving suite of solutions that provided better insight, tracking, communication, and reporting. The solutions have helped them improve officer performance, reduce liability exposure, and better manage their resources.
How do you provide 24/7 service and find valid training methods in today’s challenging public safety climate complicated by budget cuts, staffing shortages, and COVID-19 restrictions?
Vector Solutions’ online training courses have helped many law enforcement agencies, like yours, address these challenges by supplementing field and classroom training with online courses. By creating a blended learning environment, officers can better comprehend mission-critical public safety concepts at their own pace.
Keep reading to learn about 7 new online law enforcement courses that can help reduce liability and improve performance in your department.
The unprecedented risks and challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has created for fire safety training and inspections for many public safety agencies are significant. For the 441 fire departments in Ontario, relief is coming in the form of $5 million in funding from the province’s government to help municipal fire services better support crucial fire safety training and inspections.
With a tight deadline of Friday, March 19, municipality fire departments must act fast to submit proposals for the initial $4,500 base grant plus funding dependent on population served. This one-time funding designed to facilitate blended learning environments–combining in-person with online training–will help fire departments of any size and capacity increase access to additional mission-critical training.
More than 7,000 agencies rely on Vector Solutions’ training platform to help ensure personnel meet training requirements and recertification deadlines. The learning management system helps Fire Departments deliver, track and report on all types of training, whether in the classroom, drill yard, or online. The training platform also includes more than 450 hours of online firefighter training so agencies can deliver quality training in safe settings and convenient formats to accommodate diverse schedules.
This $5 million grant is a vital step in assuring critical frontline fire personnel can continue to provide life-saving services to the communities they serve during this global health crisis. And Vector Solutions has the industry’s most trusted distance learning platform to help fire departments stay up-to-date on essential fire safety training and certifications to protect those communities better.
The immense public safety challenges brought on by the 2019 novel coronavirus exist worldwide. The Ontario government’s investment in initiatives that will enhance public safety during these difficult times by providing the technology required for fire safety training and inspections to persist amid an evolving climate is imperative. For more information on applying for this one-time grant, please visit Get Funding from the Ontario government. Don’t miss out on this crucial funding opportunity. Apply before the Friday, March 19 deadline.
To find out how Vector Solutions’ online training platform can help your department meet training and certification demands during COVID-19 and beyond, contact Judy Smith, Regional Sales Manager, Canada, at 519-820-7751 or judy.smith@vectorsolutions.com.
To learn more about this special grant for fire agencies in Ontario, please click here.
Firefighting requires a mastery of countless skills and competencies. This mastery requires countless hours of training and regular assessments to ensure skill proficiency and safe practices. While many of these skills can be tested and measured for each individual, there are countless others that are practiced and measured as a crew to more closely mimic live incidents, which require teamwork and cooperation.
What is blended learning? Blended learning is a combination of off-line (face-to-face, traditional learning) and online learning that complements each other.
Today, many public safety agencies are facing budget cuts, staffing shortages and COVID-19 restrictions while needing to continue providing the same level of service AND finding valid methods of conducting training. Public safety professionals must work through the additional challenges of shift coverage, territory/zone coverage and out-of-service/overtime personnel costs.
Vector Solutions’ (formerly TargetSolutions) offers multiple training catalogs for public safety professionals to meet recertification requirements, complete continued education credits, and learn important skills relevant to their job. Our catalogues for fire, law and EMS include:
450+ hours of training for fire departments. Courses are based on the NFPA codes and standards, including NFPA 1001, NFPA 1021 and the NFPA 1500 Series. Courses also cover wildland fire, response to terrorism, first responder operations, and much more.
250+ hours of EMS continuing education courses that are accepted in most states. Our courses allow first responders, EMT-Basics, EMT-Intermediates and EMT-Paramedics to complete their continuing education requirements in an interactive and easy-to-use format. Courses cover a range of topics from endocrine emergencies, mental health for first responders, geriatric emergencies, and more.
240+ hours of law enforcement courses covering a multitude of topics for law enforcement officers. Our online law enforcement training courses are accepted in many states and includes an exclusive 25-course series from industry leader Calibre Press. Newly created courses cover topics around the physiological response to stress, leadership, and effective communication.
Check out the latest regulatory updates for our fire, law enforcement and EMS courses:
As a flexible training platform that has gained top customer ratings for user-defined configuration, Vector LMS (formerly TargetSolutions) has added more functionality for users to organize their reports.
Kannapolis Fire Department Division Chief, Greg Summitt, recounted how Tim Riley, a Vector Solutions employee and former fire department training administrator, helped him set up their training platform. “Back when we started with the TargetSolutions training platform (now called Vector LMS), Tim Riley was a tremendous help with our initial setup,” said Chief Summitt. “It can be a daunting task and having someone to help optimize the use of the system can make a big impact. I like to pay it forward and have helped several fire department training administrators with their Vector LMS setup. In one case, the fire department was printing everything off individually resetting dates on training credentials, which took about 16 hours. By changing a setting in the LMS credential parameters, they were able accomplish the same thing in just 10 minutes.”
Training Webinar E-learning Skills Business Internet Technology Concept.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted many paradigms, including how we train professional skill sets and cognitive development. While training in the law enforcement profession differs broadly across regions and agencies, the need for more training in a safe setting has risen dramatically over the past year. Sgt. Shawn Roby, Training Sergeant for Show Low Police Department, is leveraging Vector Solution’s training platform to deliver more timely and relevant online training at a lower cost and in a more convenient setting.
Staff: 180 staff to train (including staff working in fire suppression, communications, dispatch, fire prevention bureau, maintenance division, and training division)
Implemented Vector Solutions LMS in 2017; EHS in 2020; Evaluations+ in 2020; Check It in 2020
It isn’t an easy process to receive a Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) accreditation. It’s even more difficult to get re-accredited. In fact, St. Tammany Fire Protection District 1 (FPD1) received their re-accredited on March 4, 2020 and remains the only internationally accredited non Department of Defense fire department in the state of Louisiana (ref: website citation). St. Tammany FPD1’s first accreditation included seven years of work to gather and arrange all the information needed. In the reaccreditation, CPSE is looking for information that shows progression and improvements upon the original accreditation data. St. Tammany FPD1 is also holds a Property Insurance Association of Louisiana (PIAL) Class 2 rating.
