South Sioux City
The official government website for the City of South Sioux City, Nebraska
What does it take to be a SSCFD Firefighter
Initial & Continuing Education/Training
Your SSCFD is a continually moving department that provides vital Fire & Life safety Services to the community. To achieve the goals of the department your SSCFD continually trains to maintain the necessary skills to ensure Excellence in Service to our Shareholders and Customers in the community. The initial training of new personnel is necessary to provide the base on which we build upon to provide service to the community.
As new personnel come into the department it is necessary to train on the responsibilities of the SSCFD and ensure each individual is willing to become an active member of our team and commit to service to the community. The training begins with a basic firefighter course of 240 hours of classroom and hands on training. The basic set of skills are introduced and practiced to build the needed muscle memory to ensure every person on the SSCFD is ready to serve our community. The course work covers theory in fire attack, fire behavior, technical rescue in vehicle extrication and rescue tasks that are a part of the service we provide.
The next process of training is to bring forward the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training of an average of 200 hours of class room and hands on training. The skills and class work cover the minimum of the knowledge needed to respond to calls for EMS care from our community. The initial courses will provide the needed knowledge and hands on skills for an Emergency Medical Responder or Emergency Medical Technician.
From this educational experience the personnel of your SSCFD have the opportunity to gain experience and grow their knowledge to move further into the EMS service by continuing the educational experience to the Advance EMT or EMT Paramedic level of service.
Daily your SSCFD Full-Time, Part-Time and Volunteer Staff have worked on preparation, planning and production of the various Continuing Education Courses for EMS and Fire as well as the work for the initial training of new personnel. Having 6 Full-time Firefighter/Paramedic and 3 Full-time Firefighter/EMT’s providing the needed onboarding and initial skills assessment for 2 Firefighter/EMT-P Part-Time personnel and 2 Firefighter/EMT Part-Time personnel, your SSCFD is building a skilled and capable department to provide service to the community.
Your SSCFD works daily to maintain the skills and knowledge essential to providing the service of excellence to our community. These training secessions are scheduled to allow ALL members of your SSCFD to participate and ensure that the service provided is what is expected.
When not answering calls, maintaining equipment, or providing public education. SSCFD personnel conduct training. Depending on the level of the credential the personnel have and the hazards in the community the standard training needs are:
Emergency Medical Technician - Paramedic Continuing Education Annually (51.25)
1.75 Hours of Airway/Respiration/Ventilation
4.25 Hours of Cardiovascular
1.5 Hours of Trauma
4.25 Hours of Medical
3.25 Hours of Operations
7.5 Hours of Local/State Topic training
7.5 Hours of Individual Component Topics (Misc)
4 Hours Basic Life Support (BLS)
5 Hours Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS)
6.25 Hours Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
8 Hours Prehospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS)
Emergency Medical Technician EMT Continuing Education Annually (25.5)
1.5 Hours of Airway/Respiration/Ventilation
3 Hours of Cardiovascular
1.5 Hours of Trauma
3 Hours of Medical
2.5 Hours of Operations
5 Hours of Local/State topic training
5 Hours of Individual Component Topics (Misc)
4 Hours Basic Life Support (BLS)
Fire Service Training
Based on Insurance Service Organization’s (ISO), Community Hazard Mitigation’s Public Protection Classification (PPC®), Firefighter Continuing Education Annually:
Initial Fire Service Training:
NFPA 1001, Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications:
Firefighter Level I:
240 hours of structure fire related training within the first year for all new personnel.
Firefighter Level II:
60 hours of structure fire related training
NFPA 472 Standard for Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Incidents; Operations Level:
40 hours training for incidents involving hazardous materials
NFPA 1002 Standard for Fire Apparatus Driver/Operator Professional Qualifications
80 hours of Driver/Operator Pumps training
40 Hours of Aerial Apparatus Training
NFPA 1451 Standard for a Fire and Emergency Service Vehicle Operations Training Program
12 Hours of Fire and Emergency Service Vehicle Operations
NFPA 1021 Standard for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications
Fire Officer I; 40 Hours
Fire Officer I is a front line officer and a line supervisor in the fire department organization, a person certified to this level will be able to perform routine administrative functions, recommend action for employees, follow department/agency administrative polices, assist in the budget process, interact with the media by assisting press releases, manage single-unit responses to an incident, secure a fire scene, conduct initial accident investigation, and make recommendations to change policy or procedures, and conduct a post-incident analysis (PIA).
Fire Officer II; 60 Hours
A Fire Officer II is a mid-level supervisor who performs both supervisory and first-line managerial functions who has met all the job performance and certification requirement of Fire Officer I as defined in NFPA 1021, Standard for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications. An individual at the Fire Officer II level as part of his or her duties and responsibilities:
- Evaluates personnel job performance
- Prepares a project or divisional budget, news releases, and/or new policy or changes in existing policies
- Conducts inspections to identify hazards and addresses violations and conducts fire investigations to determine origin and preliminary causes
- Supervises multi-unit emergency operations, deploys assigned resources, and develops and conducts post-incident analysis
- Reviews injury, accident, and health exposure reports, identifies unsafe work environments or behaviors, and takes approved action to prevent their re-occurrence
Annual Continuing Education for All Personnel
NFPA 1001, Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications:
16 hours per month in structure fire related subjects as outlined in NFPA 1001;
Average 2 hours per shift and weekly training for Volunteer Personnel every Tuesday evening.
NFPA 472 Standard for Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Incidents; Operations Level:
2 hours per month of training for incidents involving hazardous materials in accordance with NFPA 472.
NFPA 1002 Standard for Fire Apparatus Driver/Operator Professional Qualifications
NFPA 1451 Standard for a Fire and Emergency Service Vehicle Operations Training Program
20 hours of Driver/Operator, Pump and Aerial training per year in accordance with NFPA 1002 and 8 hours of Emergency Vehicles Operations/ Traffic Incident Management per year in accordance with NFPA 1451.
NFPA 1021 Standard for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications
4 hours per month of continuing education for all Company Officers as outlined in NFPA 1021
SSCFD firefighters complete a wellness program to maintain their physical fitness.
The fire station has gym equipment and a work out facility 1-2 hours per day.
To meet the minimum for credit with the Insurance Service Organization’s (ISO), Community Hazard Mitigation; Public Protection Classification (PPC®), and the Emergency Medical Standards for the State of Nebraska each member of the SSCFD must attend a minimum average of 512 hours per year/ 42 hours a month or 4.5 hours per shift.
Continuing Responsibilities
Your SSCFD firefighters are also responsible for the upkeep of the two (2) SSCFD Fire Stations and the Firefighters Memorial Hall. Each day the crew is assigned a daily chore to ensure the stations remain clean and orderly. The firefighters vacuum, mop, sweep, and clean all living areas and restrooms of the fire stations. The firefighters also complete all of the mowing, landscaping, snow removal, and outdoor maintenance of the stations. In addition to the upkeep and maintenance of the stations, the firefighters also maintain the Firefighters Memorial Hall by keeping the meeting room and kitchen clean, and set up tables/chairs for events.
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