RESEARCH General Education / Home & Garden

ONLINE EDUCATION
Firefighters can now get critical training over the Internet

Craig Chamberlain, Education Editor
(217) 333-2894; cdchambe@uiuc.edu

10/1/2001

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Firefighters have to learn certain things hands-on – about hoses and pumps and working in smoke-filled buildings. But there’s a lot to learn in the classroom, too, and Illinois firefighters now can study online through the University of Illinois. For cash-strapped fire departments and time-strapped firefighters – most of them volunteers – it means a new route to critical training.

The Certified Firefighter II online program, thought to be the first of its kind directed at working firefighters, is being offered by the UI-based Illinois Fire Service Institute (IFSI), with help from other UI units. The institute is Illinois’ statutory state fire academy, providing state-certified training for firefighters through its UI campus facilities and regional training centers.

"One of the challenges in providing training for all Illinois firefighters is that some 70 percent are volunteers or part-time," said institute director Richard Jaehne. "They have limited time and money to attend training. This program was developed to help reach these firefighters."

The institute began developing the course several years ago after seeing what could be done online, with text supplemented by graphics, animations and video, says Rich Valenta, a former Carol Stream firefighter, veteran institute instructor, and coordinator of the online program. They also found through a survey that a large number of firefighters had access to computers and the Internet.

Each year more than 6,000 new recruits join Illinois fire departments, Valenta said. But only about 1,500 of those get the state’s Firefighter II certification, the most-basic certification granted by the Illinois State Fire Marshall. "So it left a pretty big gap out there that showed we had an audience that needed to get this type of education," he said.

The course is offered in three modules, each eight weeks long, and is taught by an IFSI instructor. Much of the material can be covered by students on their own. But the course also includes interactive components such as regular online sessions with fellow classmates and the instructor. Much of the homework, Valenta said, requires students to learn fire-related specifics about their community.

The course formally began in early September, though a volunteer group of firefighters had given it a full test run over the previous nine months. The course was made possible with a grant and other help from University of Illinois Online, which coordinates Internet-based education for all three UI campuses. Technical assistance was provided by experts in the UI’s Office of Continuing Education.

And with a grant from the Illinois Firefighters Association, Jaehne said, the development of the course also enabled the creation of short computer-based critical-skill training sessions, which will be distributed next year to every Illinois fire department.

Additional information about the course can be found through University of Illinois Online Web site (www.online.uillinois.edu) or by calling the fire service institute at (800) 437-5819.