RheineAfter almost a year of training and nearly 200 hours of lessons, 14 participants from the volunteer fire department Rheine completed their basic training to become firefighters at the beginning of July. The training took place exclusively in their free time and therefore very often on Saturdays and Sundays. Sleeping in at the weekend, long party evenings and time-consuming hobbies were therefore rarely possible during this time.
During their training, the participants went through several stages of theoretical and practical training. And while some already had a solid basic knowledge of firefighting because they had already learned a lot as former members of the youth fire department, others had to learn all the basics from scratch.
The basics were taught in the first training phase, which lasted around 70 hours. What equipment does the fire department use, how does it work and what is it called? These were just some of the topics covered. Legal principles, basic fire department procedures and smaller exercises were also part of the training section.
The next training section lasted around 20 teaching units. During this time, the focus was on the handling of digital radios. This was immediately followed by training to become a breathing apparatus wearer with 25 teaching units. After detailed theoretical instruction on how breathing apparatus works and how humans breathe, the practical part of the course began, which involved wearing and using the breathing apparatus.
The final part involved practical exercises. Firefighting exercises under “zero visibility” in empty buildings and the recognition of hazards at the scene of operations were practiced again and again. Standard operations are rare for the fire department, which is why a great deal of emphasis was placed on varied exercises. This also included site-specific focal points, such as training in the water rescue concept of the Rheine fire department in theory and practice, which was carried out in a simulation facility for strong currents. All participants invested more than 80 hours of instruction in this final training phase.
This year, the graduates were examined by the examination chairman Jürgen Koch, deputy head of the fire department Rheine, the fire brigade commander on the right bank of the Ems, Antonius Hopster, the fire brigade commander on the left bank of the Ems, Olivier Ratering, and the course instructor Ronald Dobitsch. They were able to see for themselves how well the candidates had performed and were delighted with the challenges they had overcome and the examinations they had passed. All of the graduates will now work as fully-fledged firefighters for the Rheine fire department in one of the four fire engines responsible for them and ensure the safety of all Rheinenserinnen and Rheinenser.
(Author: Fire department Rheine – Ronald Dobitsch, Ingrid Hülsing, Thomas Plewa)