Next Level Training

by Candice Temple

Photo by Madelyn Marconi

A building or a tool? Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue’s new Fire Training Tower is both. The tower was completed in 2020 and is the only modular tower constructed of metal in Palm Beach County. Located at the Public Safety Training Complex on property leased through an agreement with Seacoast Utility, the four-story tower is made of steel and concrete, and is outfitted with moveable internal wall panels. It also features a sloped roof to simulate housing structures, an elevator shaft for confined space training, and a garage for live fire exercises.

Planning for this state-of-the-art facility involved input from the Fire Rescue Administrative staff to create a facility that will allow the members of the department to train under realistic conditions while safely demonstrating skills in a controlled environment. It is an important component for keeping personnel acquainted with the latest firefighting techniques, but it also plays a vital role with new recruits who join the department.

“We do a lot of training”, says Division Chief of Training and Safety Andrew Lezza. “It’s good because it keeps our personnel fresh and on task with the latest education.”

This January, Fire Rescue experienced the first class of its New Recruit Academy to use the training tower. It comes at a time when the department is ramping up its training approach on all sides. Prior to the tower being completed, the department outsourced the firefighter portion of the training. Now, they have a vital training tool and a full-time instructor. Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue is also one of the few departments to have a dedicated E.M.S. Instructor.

The most recent New Recruit Academy was conducted over an eight-week period. Chief Lezza shares that this is the largest recruitment class the City has ever achieved. Although seventeen recruits began the program, it ended with only fifteen men and women completing all standards. The best of the best were required to complete four weeks devoted to E.M.S. and another four weeks focusing on firefighting.

TIME IN THE BOOTS

For four weeks, Chief Training Officer David Silverberg takes personnel through the paces at the Fire Training Tower. With a total of 34 years of experience in the fire rescue field which included driving engines and ladder trucks, in addition to working as a fire/medic and an instructor, his primary goal is for recruits completing the firefighter side of training to be an asset to their crew and to earn their place on the team. He is also committed to teaching and testing the skills of personnel to ensure that they achieve expectations. Those expectations are non-negotiable. “It’s what the job entails”, says Silverberg. “We’ve promised our customers and we have to deliver.”

Four weeks are spent familiarizing the new personnel with all the equipment they will encounter at the City. From hoses and hydrants to gear and architectural components represented by the training tower, live fire training is one of the most vital components an instructor can simulate for a new firefighter. In an everchanging field, knowledge must extend beyond the natural materials that may ignite. Synthetic materials have created challenges that did not exist a couple of decades ago. Synthetic products used in furniture and clothing burn must faster and much hotter. Fire Rescue personnel have the opportunity to practice approaching and combatting both.

“It’s a never-ending challenge to stay ahead of building techniques and materials,” Silverberg says, “to keep our people trained for any challenge they encounter.”

Stress inoculation training is on the list of best practices for most fields in public safety. Stress effects vision, hearing, (continues)

Division Chief Andrew Lezza with Chief Training Officer David Silverberg.

Photo by Candice Temple

muscles and concentration. The goal is to train personnel to control all of those things, so they have the ability to think clearly or self-rescue under stressful conditions. Instructors create scenarios that represent situations the firefighters will meet when on an emergency call.

“There’s a lot of stress this job brings, and you have to be able to operate under that level of stress”, says Silverberg. “Most of the time people gravitate to what they’re good at because they enjoy it.”

Silverberg’s hard-earned experience is that reading alone cannot prepare personnel to do the job. Doing the handson work and gaining “time in the boots” is the only way to become proficient in the skills required for firefighting.

“We want our personnel to be proficient in using all the equipment”, Silverberg explains. “To be part of a crew is an honor.”

KEEPING IT REAL

All City of Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue personnel must be dually trained in firefighting and emergency medical services. To train personnel for what is a graphic and sometimes gory job, there is a constant need to create medical training scenarios that come close to what will be experienced in the field. Even after they complete their formal college education, new recruits in the Academy must undergo a basic refresher of paramedic medicine and learn Palm Beach Gardens protocols for everything from CPR to administering drugs to patients.

“With E.M.S., we are trying to make it more realistic; more lifelike”, say Chief Lezza. “The more realistic we make our training, the more prepared our personnel will become.”

Enter Penni Eggers, the City’s E.M.S. Instructor. From the E.M.S. Lab at Station 65, this retired firefighter/paramedic from the west coast of Florida brings extensive knowledge to the table. This includes practical experience gained from two decades in the field, as well as certificates and degrees in Healthcare Simulation, Psychology, Instructional Design and Technology, and a doctorate in progress for Education Leadership. Penni’s approach is to make the subject matter as close to real life as possible and to help personnel retain their knowledge.

ABOVE LEFT: E.M.S. Instructor Penni Eggers uses makeup techniques reminiscent of Hollywood special effects to make training as real as possible. RIGHT: This infant is an example of one of the high fidelity manikins that personnel use for training at the E.M.S. Lab.

Photos by Candice Temple

To do this, Eggers has brought in new technologies, such as high-fidelity manikins, and her unique skills of selftaught moulage makeup techniques to the classroom. The lifelike manikins take the place of actual patients and allow personnel to safely practice procedures. The manikins are often of a realistic size and weight, and some are designed with internal components that allow scopes to be placed and needles inserted, complete with fake blood. The moulage side of accessories allow Eggers to outfit personnel with scars, wounds and other trauma that elevates the level of stress for those learning.

“Most of the time, training scenarios involve cracking open a book and reciting”, Eggers shares. “My goal when I became an educator was to change the paradigm.”

Working under a high level of stress when they reach a home or accident scene is something for which Fire Rescue personnel must be fully prepared. To achieve that, Eggers says her goal is to train their cognitive and psychomotor abilities. At times, that means taking a turn at being the patient, which allows them to retain knowledge about the symptoms and behavior they might encounter with various conditions. After a lesson, there is a debriefing process where staff must selfreflect on their performance.

Over the course of her career, Eggers estimates that she has trained over 1,000 people. She deems the latest class of recruits among the most capable she has seen.

“It was fantastic. This was a great class that came out”, shares Eggers. “These recruits are top notch. They were motivated, smart, and studied hard.”

Firefighters practice extinguishing a car ablaze in a garage at the Fire Training Tower.