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Departments using a personnel accountability system will be interested in this month’s top video inside Community Resources. “Passtag Accountability Training 2010” is a 13-minute video that outlines how Riverside County implemented its system.

Tony Meachem, training chief with Cal Fire and Riverside County Fire Department, describes the importance of having accountability procedures during the video’s introduction. The goal is to eliminate tragic fatalities and near-misses when firefighters become lost or separated from their crews while inside burning buildings.

At the six-minute mark, the video shows a scenario of a two-story apartment building fire in which the department’s Passtag system is utilized. As the incident unfolds, the video shows how the system, which was built to meet requirements of Cal OSHA and NFPA 1500 and 1561, works to increase firefighter safety.

After viewing the video, George Gardiner of City of Charleston Fire wrote in the video’s comments section, “good refresher.” And Byron Sutton of Gordon County Fire Rescue said, “Thanks for this post. I’m glad to finally see someone take the time to make a realistic video on the use of the Passtag System. Stay safe!”

To view this video, please log in to your department’s TargetSolutions site and search “Passtag Accountability Training 2010” under the Community Resources tab. If you have any questions, please contact us at (800) 840-8048.

July 11-14, New Orleans, La.

Booth No. 240

July 13-15, Nashville, Tenn.

July 15-19, Baltimore, Md.

Booth No. 343

July 23-26, Raleigh, N.C.

July 25-26, Columbus, Ohio

Advanced Construction Safety (Modules 1–4) Advanced HAZWOPER Awareness (Modules 1–4) Aerosol Transmissible Diseases Alcohol-Free Workplace Asbestos Awareness Back Injury Prevention Bloodborne Pathogens Safety Building Evacuation and Emergencies Cal/OSHA Log 300 Combustible & Flammable Liquids Compressed Gas Safety Confined-Space Entry CPR Academic Diet & Nutrition Disaster Preparedness Driving Safety Drug-Free Workplace Electrical Safety Eye Safety Fall Protection

Fire Extinguisher Safety Fire Prevention Safety First Responder Operations Level Refresher(Modules 1–4) Forklift Safety General Construction Safety General First Aid Part 1 General First Aid Part 2 General HIPAA Awareness General Office Ergonomics Hand & Power Tool Safety HAZMAT Spill Prevention & Control HAZMAT Transportation Health & Wellness Hearing Conservation HIV/AIDS Awareness Incident Investigation Indoor Air Quality Industrial Ergonomics Laboratory Safety Ladder & Scaffolding Safety Laser Safety Lead Awareness

Lock-Out / Tag-Out Machine Guarding Materials Handling, Storage, Use & Disposal Office Safety Personal Protective Equipment Radiation Safety Respiratory Protection Hazard Communication Risk Assessment Analysis Sexual Harassment Awareness Slips, Trips, & Falls Prevention Trenching & Shoring Welding Safety Working in Extreme Temperatures Workplace Diversity Workplace Stress Workplace Violence

Lafayette Township Fire Department’s mission is to provide residents and visitors with the best fire and EMS protection possible. With that in mind, the department is constantly looking to reinforce its personnel’s knowledge in the field, respond to calls from the community in a timely and professional manner, and educate the public on the prevention of fire and medical emergencies.

The department consists of 44 dedicated members who work to answer approximately 500 calls each year in the communities of Lafayette Township, Chippewa Lake and Gloria Glens. As a smaller combination department, it’s important that personnel maximize their training experience to ensure optimal efficiency. Looking to improve training consistency and compliancy in a more convenient manner, the department turned to TargetSolutions in January or 2014.

Consistency: When it comes to training for emergency responders, it is vital to ensure every member receives the same pertinent information. Making certain everyone is up to date with training can be complicated and difficult. TargetSolutions’ online fire training platform helps Lafayette deliver the same training material simply and efficiently.

“The e-based form for delivering training with TargetSolutions ensures the training is consistent from me to our lead senior recruit,” said Lafayette Township Fire Department Capt. Carl West.

Convenience: By transitioning from manual training and tracking to TargetSolutions’ intuitive web-based platform, Lafayette Township has updated its training management practices, West said. With this powerful platform in place, the assignment and tracking of pre- and post-training coursework for knowledge, skills and abilities testing is simplified.

“Convenience plays a huge part with TargetSolutions,” said West. “The platform is very easy to maneuver. … We are able to streamline training through TargetSolutions’ online training platform, allowing us to make better use of valuable payroll hours.”

Compliance: TargetSolutions’ courses feature detailed lessons, post-course comprehension testing and mandatory timer requirements for EMS continuing education units. Courses are built to ensure users are properly trained on topics covered.

“You can’t cheat the system, no matter how hard you try, which is why I trust TargetSolutions’ training.”

Carl West, Captain with Lafayette Township Fire Department (Ohio)

“Every year the department is required to complete mandated training in sexual harassment, drug-free workplace, and alcohol free workplace. The department is able to put folks through the courses online and subsequently attach our own policies to it. In addition, I am able to require and e-signature to ensure accountability among individuals.”

The ability to deliver important policies through TargetSolutions has helped the department maintain compliance, while reducing in-person training sessions. In fact, Lafayette found immediate success in its first few months using the platform by achieving nearly 80 percent training compliance right away.

“This is a significant improvement over past years because we can actually quantify our compliance in one easy report,” West said. “In years past, it took a lot of manual entry and massaging to obtain the same information.”

About TargetSolutions
TargetSolutions delivers cutting-edge software applications, engaging online training courses, and world-class customer service. The company was founded in 1999 and today there are more than 2,000 organizations across the country using TargetSolutions’ innovative technology to solve their training challenges.

This month’s top resource provides firefighters with a valuable lesson about conducting thorough investigations at all incidents. The video posted by Jay Sumerlin of West Pierce Fire & Rescue (Wash.), titled “Phoenix Fire Liquid CO2,” recounts a liquefied CO2 incident response call by Phoenix Fire Department and is currently being utilized by several clients thanks to TargetSolutions’ powerful file-sharing application, Community Resources.

The video is an excellent real-life scenario that recounts the incident with engaging storytelling over 17 minutes, 36 seconds. It serves as an ideal training resource by reenacting Phoenix Fire Department’s near-miss discovery of a CO2 leak while responding to a seemingly routine call at a local fast-food restaurant. Ultimately, the incident evolved into a hazmat response because of a leaking liquefied CO2 tank in the restaurant.

Sean Murray of Tonopah Valley Fire District (Ariz.) wrote in the resource’s comments section that the video is a “great resource for situational awareness.” Another comment by Mark Harrington of Wilson Emergency Management Agency (Tenn.) wrote, “this makes you think to investigate the area you are in to find the source of the problem.”

And Jason Horne of DeKalb County Fire Rescue (Ga.) wrote, “Good information….Very educational…proactive management. Thank you!”

To view this video, please log in to your department’s TargetSolutions site and search “Phoenix Fire Liquid CO2” under the Community Resources tab. If you have any questions, please contact us at (800) 840-8048.

TargetSolutions’ Advanced HAZWOPER Awareness course has been completely revised with fresh information from updated standards, new case studies, and brand new multimedia.

This eight-hour HAZWOPER refresher course is broken up into four modules, each two hours in length. Each module is divided up into lessons, with study exercises throughout to reinforce content and a 10-question test.

This course is written for first responders at the awareness level, meaning  “individuals who are likely to witness or discover a hazardous substance release” and who are trained to notify the proper authorities (29 CFR 1910.120(q)(6)(i)).

If you are trained to actually respond to an incident, it is suggested you take our First Responder Operations Level Refresher course, which is currently being revised.

TargetSolutions’ Advanced HAZWOPER Awareness course alone does not fulfill OSHA’s HAZWOPER training requirement. However, this course is based on OSHA’s Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) standard, 29 CFR 1910.120. In order to be OSHA compliant, employees are required to take eight hours of refresher training accompanied by hands-on training from an authorized trainer, who is also available to answer any questions employees have regarding the training.

Does your organization conduct mandatory inspections and assessments that need to be tracked? Odds are there is something – whether it is a playground examination, a fire apparatus check, a type of inventory, or a building inspection – that requires routine analysis.

With TargetSolutions you can utilize ready-made electronic tracking forms that can be easily imported into your site – or create your own from scratch – assign them to personnel, monitor completions and generate comprehensive reports. TargetSolutions’ recordkeeping applications are built to streamline the entire firefighter inspections management process.

“If you’re responsible for managing inventory or maintaining a facility, and you need to collect information, TargetSolutions features powerful tracking tools for capturing that data,” said TargetSolutions Strategic Risk Business Unit Manager Kelly Zielinski. “The system is built to track everything critical to your organization. You don’t need to file stacks of paper anymore.”

If you have any questions about tracking firefighter inspections and/or assessment with TargetSolutions, please contact us today at (800) 840-8048.

Platform managers with a desire for more control over reports are going to love the latest series of enhancements to TargetSolutions’ Generate Reports application. Updates have been made to make the online training management system’s reporting functionality even more powerful, efficient and intuitive.

Here are the key reporting upgrades from TargetSolutions’ May product release:

New Overdue Assignments Report: This new report was built to make it easier to run data on overdue assignments, eliminating the hassle of using the Incomplete Assignment report to find information on late assignments. Previously you would need to filter through assignments that were incomplete, but not overdue. To solve this issue, TargetSolutions removed the overdue filter in the Incomplete Assignments report and built a brand new Overdue Assignments report.

“Removing the overdue filter in the Incomplete Assignments report makes it easier for clients to understand the primary use for that report – to find scheduled assignments that are not yet due,” said TargetSolutions Product Manager Misty Pratt, “The Overdue Assignments report will provide a quick and easy way to find the delinquent assignments that warrant action.”

To facilitate one-click reporting, a new type of filter was developed for the Overdue Assignment report.

“This new report really simplifies the user experience,” Pratt said. “The default filter option gives you all assignments more than one day overdue. In other words, without changing anything, you can get a quick report of all overdue assignments and nothing else.”

Of course, more advanced filtering is available, but with options that are more straightforward (see screenshot below).

Credential Selection Dropdown: The single select credential dropdown menu is now searchable for the Credential Summary and Credential Exception reports. In the past, some may have found it difficult to navigate the dropdown menu. Now, finding the information you need is quicker and more efficient.

“Clients with a large numbers of credentials will really appreciate this update,” Pratt said. “In the past, without knowing the category in which a credential was located, it was time consuming to scroll through potentially hundreds of reports. Now, these credentials can be searched, making them easier to locate and saving valuable time.”

Addition of Certain Data Columns for Specific Reports: More options have been added in the Credential Information Columns in the Credential Exception and Credential Summary reports. The added selections give platform managers the ability to gather all relevant data for recordkeeping purposes.

With 28 employees using TargetSolutions online training management system, the District has logged more than 500 training hours (online courses and Custom Activities) and utilized 34 different credentials to track everything from Water and Wastewater continuing education to ethics awareness and in-house training events.

For McKinleyville, it’s TargetSolutions’ three “Cs” that standout most: Customization of Credentials, Continuing Education and Customer Service. These three factors have led to huge success, according to Leadman Erik Jones.

Approximately 25 percent of McKinleyville’s employees require certifications in water distribution, water treatment, wastewater treatment, backflow prevention, and playground safety inspection.

“Prior to TargetSolutions, credential tracking consisted of unorganized spreadsheets,” Jones said. “Now, we are able to consolidate all information into one area within the platform. It’s now simple to check and see if all employees are current.”

Generating reports to pinpoint employee training records and monitor compliance is more efficient with TargetSolutions, Jones said. Whether it is first aid training, HAZWOPER training, or anything else, TargetSolutions’ credential-tracking application streamlines the process.

With McKinleyville being isolated along Humboldt County’s coast, training opportunities are less frequent than in larger metropolitan areas. The ability to utilize TargetSolutions’ extensive course library featuring more than 60 CEUs for water operators for mandatory CEUs is crucial to this special district. Jones said the district also finds value in TargetSolutions’ online safety training courses, including driver safety, sexual harassment awareness, and more.

Online training in tandem with job-specific learning tracks ensures employees are on track for certification. Supervisors can print certificates to deliver to the state and supervisors can scan certificates directly into an employee’s credential for recordkeeping.

“TargetSolutions saves us money and time,” Jones said. “With online training available 24/7, this is a huge cost savings for us. We really appreciate the flexibility that TargetSolutions provides us in meeting our training needs.”

TargetSolutions is focused on helping clients like McKinleyville improve efficiencies. Through monthly webinars or general inquiries, friendly representatives are ready to assist, which helps McKinleyville get the most out of the platform.

“We’ve dealt with other vendors before and haven’t gotten the kind of friendly response that TargetSolutions gives,” Jones said.  “They are responsive and very willing to help.  With the ability to track all manner of training and certifications, TargetSolutions gives small, isolated districts like ours the same resources available to more metropolitan organizations.”

TargetSolutions delivers cutting-edge software applications, engaging online training courses and world-class customer service. The company was founded in 1999 and today there are more than 2,000 organizations across the country using TargetSolutions’ innovative technology to solve their training challenges.