SENTIALS OF FIRE FIGHTING® AND RESCUE CTURAL FIRE FIGHTING: INITIAL RESPONSE STRATEGY AND TACTICS
PUMPING AND AERIAL APPARATUS DRIVER/OPERATOR HANDBOOK
CHIEF OFFICER OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY, HEALTH, AND WELLNESS FIRE INSPECTION AND CODE ENFORCEMENT
VE FIRE INSTRUCTOR
In general, the more highly-used IFSTA manuals are developed on the on the same 5-year cycle as the NFPA Professional Qualifications standards they are covering. Other manuals are not on the same five-year cycle, but are revised no later than the second revision of the NFPA standard that they address. This practice had to be adjusted around 2020 when the NFPA redesigned their standards development process and schedule. In the long term, all NFPA manuals will continue be revised on at 5-year cycle. However, during the interim phases of the changes, some current editions were revised in less than five years. Others, for example NFPA 1001, Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications would actually not be revised for six (6) or seven (7) years. This impacted the development and release of several IFSTA manuals, including the 8 th edition of the Essentials of Fire Fighting manual which is based on NFPA 1001. This manual would not be able to be released until two (2) years later than originally planned. Much of the content was already developed before the brakes were put on the project. Staff closely monitored the development of the new NFPA 1001 as it was revised to determine what changes would be needed to the draft that was already under development. This was aided by the fact that Director Craig Hannan was a Principal Member of the NFPA 1001 committee and Associate Director Mike Wieder was his Alternate Member on the committee. They were able to determine what changes would need to be made to the new Essentials early on so that is could be released when the new standard was released. As noted earlier, for many years the validation committees simply met each July. As the manuals became larger, more complex, and needed to be released on schedule with their appropriate NFPA standard, it was clear that changes needed to be made to the validation process. Keep in mind that these times were before the ability to hold meetings by electronic means. Starting in the mid-1990s, committees were allowed to meet once a year between IFSTA Validation Conferences. This allowed information to be validated in a faster manner and sped up the release of the manuals. These meetings were scheduled in various locations and varying dates throughout the year. FPP paid the travel expenses for delegates to attend these interim meetings. Delegates were still responsible for covering their own costs to attend the annual IFSTA Validation Conference each July. Worthy of note is that the Executive Board began meeting twice per year as well. As with the Validation committees, the interim Board meetings were held in different locations each time. These meetings typically occurred in January of each year. Making the meeting arrangements for multiple meetings held at different times and locations became somewhat of a burden on FPP meeting planning and travel staff members. It was also more expensive than holding a combined meeting in one location. In 2008, it was determined for ease of scheduling/planning purposes that all interim committee meetings and the Winter Executive Board meeting would be held at same time and location. They would be held in either Tulsa or Oklahoma City and they would be scheduled in mid-January of each year. This event became known as the IFSTA Winter Meeting and it is still held annually. FPP continues to pay the travel expenses for delegates to attend this meeting, while the delegates continue to maintain the responsibility for travel expenses associated with the July IFSTA Validation Conference. Additional changes came to the validation process when the technology to hold virtual meetings became realistic for IFSTA and FPP. At the heart of this process was the ability post a digital copy of each draft chapter online and have all of the committee delegates enter their comments on that single document. Thus, every delegate could review all of the comments prior to holding a virtual meeting of the entire committee to review, edit and approve them. Most committees typically met on a monthly basis, for two (2) to three (3) hours, to perform the validation tasks between the two (2) in-person meetings. When the validation committee completes validation of a manual, they make a report. The report documents the process that was followed and provides other information for consideration. This report is then reviewed and acted upon by the IFSTA Executive Board. A manual is not officially validated until the IFSTA Executive Board approves this report. The draft is then turned over to FPP staff for final publishing.
24 IFSTA /FPP: THE FIRST 90 YEARS
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