Decision-Making for Initial Company Operations W0457

Course only available to on-campus weekend program students.

Curriculum: Incident Management

Training Specialist

Richard Sexton
301-447-7687

Delivery type

2-day on-campus

Continuing education units

1.4

ACE recommendation

In the lower division baccalaureate/associate degree category, one semester hour in fire science or firefighting.

This two-day course is designed to develop the decision-making skills needed by Company Officers (COs) to accomplish assigned tactics at structure fires. All activities and scenarios used in this course are based on structure fires. With the real possibility of being the first to arrive at an incident, the CO’s initial decisions will have an impact throughout the entire incident. It is vital that COs be able to make good management decisions that have a favorable impact on the eventual outcome.

In addition to a possible role as the initial Incident Commander, the CO may well be assigned a subordinate position within the Incident Command System organization. COs need to have a clear understanding of the system, the position that they are assigned to, and their role in the organization if they are to function effectively and help make the system work.

This course is an excellent review for experienced COs.

Student pre-course materials and course syllabus:

https://nfa.usfa.fema.gov/ax/pcm/BYOD_Instructions_0457.pdf PDF 189KB: Instructions to Download Student Manual
https://nfa.usfa.fema.gov/ax/syll/syllabus_0457.pdf PDF 90KB: Syllabus

Selection criteria

This course is specifically designed for newly appointed COs and for firefighters who may have acting CO responsibilities or who want to become a CO.

Prerequisites

Incident Command System (ICS)-100-level and ICS-200-level training. Preferred courses are Q0462 and Q0463, available through NFA Online. Chief's signature attests that the applicant has completed this required training.

Post-course requirements

None

Upcoming offerings

Apply online if you are interested in attending a state or national weekend program.

		Dates	Availability	Location	Contact(s)	CCP	Train-the-Trainer?
		August 29 - 30, 2020		Emmitsburg, Maryland	Mark Waters Program Planner Connecticut Fire Academy 860-627-6363 mark.waters@ct.gov William Higgins Director of Training Connecticut Fire Academy 860-627-6363 william.higgins@ct.gov	Course coordination plan
		September 19 - 20, 2020		Emmitsburg, Maryland	Reid Vaughan Director of Regional Services Alabama Fire College 205-343-7414 rvaughan@alabamafirecollege.org	Course coordination plan
	NEW	September 26 - 27, 2020		Emmitsburg, Maryland
		May 1 - 2, 2021		Emmitsburg, Maryland	James Graves Director Maine Fire Service Institute 207-844-2078 jgraves@smccme.edu Jason Wheeler Maine State Weekend Coordinator Maine Fire Service Institute 207-844-2078 mestwkd@hotmail.com	Course coordination plan
		July 31, 2021 - August 1, 2021		Emmitsburg, Maryland	Terri Brooks Administrative Officer I Pennsylvania State Fire Academy 717-247-3747 tebrooks@pa.gov	Course coordination plan
		August 7 - 8, 2021		Emmitsburg, Maryland	Scott Cathy Captain New Hampshire Fire Academy 603-223-4223 scott.cathy@dos.nh.gov	Course coordination plan

Student comments

Effective, entertaining, and applicable--as good as any class I've had.