A federal grant will allow the Chattanooga Fire Department to prepare firefighters for situations in which their personal safety is at risk.
The CFD has been awarded the 2018 Assistance to Firefighters Grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The annual grant opportunity gives fire departments across the U.S. the ability to apply for a grant to purchase equipment and training.
The CFD applied to purchase the International Association of Fire Fighters’ Fire Ground Survival Program. This program is designed to save firefighters through the prevention of and management of situations in which they may become lost, disoriented, injured, low on air or trapped.
The program applies lessons learned through firefighter fatality investigations conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and has been developed by a committee of experts from the IAFF, the International Association of Fire Chiefs and NIOSH.
Locally, this grant will allow the fire department to purchase training props as well as provide specific survival training for fire department instructors.
The plan is to purchase the trailer and training props first, then select personnel to be trained as instructors.
Though most of the instructors will be from the CFD, firefighters from other departments within the Tri-State Mutual Aid region will also undergo the training.
The cost of the training program, including props and facilitator instruction, is $77,000. The AFG pays for 90% of the program, with the fire department providing a 10% match.
Source: CFD