Gaines Township (MI) Fire Department

The Challenge

Because new books and training videos can be costly, Gaines Township Fire Department (GTFD) Lieutenant Dale Link needed to find an efficient way to train the members of his department without exceeding the budget. It was important for the GTFD to implement a training solution that offered fire and EMS content for their personnel to meet Michigan state requirements.

The Solution

Since implementing an online training program with FireRescue1 Academy, the GTFD has been able to assign online courses for credit, eliminating the need to send first responders to training classes outside the department. By tracking member progress and assignments for credentials, using the custom courses feature to create courses from training videos found online, and maintaining their ISO rating using the Academy’s tracking tools, the GTFD has simplified its training program for members and department leadership.

Lieutenant Link has also been able to use the FireRescue1 Academy platform to share information when updates occur, as happens frequently with Michigan state protocol. With the FireRescue1 Academy notification manager and announcements section, training coordinators also send standard operating guidelines/procedures updates to members and can track their compliance requirements.

The Results

The GTFD has found success using the FireRescue1 Academy training platform. Not only have they been able to reduce training costs by switching to an online solution, they have improved internal communication with their members. Today, the department uses FireRescue1 Academy to provide custom fire and EMS training, reduce risk and mitigate liability with the ISO tracker, and meet compliance and credential requirements for state approval.