Right training, right people, right time

  • Published
  • By John Burt
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  When disaster strikes, having the right emergency training enables Airmen to respond safely and effectively.

Training experts at the Air Force Civil Engineer Center's Emergency Management Division are streamlining the courses required by disaster response force personnel, to improve the way the information is presented and reduce training time and costs.

An installation's disaster response force consists of emergency and first responders like firefighters, medics and security forces. It also includes emergency planning and management personnel who establish and operate the command and control center, called the Emergency Operations Center, or EOC.

"The old training structure had those two groups taking the same course," said Sam Hazzard, EM Education and Training Manager. "But, if you're going to the EOC, you don't need the same information that first and emergency responders receive. You need information that's specific to your function."

"We're restructuring objectives to provide the right training for the right people at the right time," said Rob Genova, EM Support Manager. "Now that we've separated the First and Emergency Responders course and the EOC Operations course, the training is more focused to each specific area."

"The information is not new," said Hazzard. "It's just a new way of presenting it. Those who have taken the previous versions of this training will not have to retake courses."

AFCEC's EM training experts create and implement curriculum to support the entire Air Force Emergency Management Program. They regularly review training products for accuracy, relevance and need. In 2013, they evaluated and updated the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense Awareness course.

"We released the new CBRN Defense Awareness course last summer," said Hazzard. "This course was streamlined from an average training duration of 90 minutes to 60 minutes. It saved approximately 26,000 hours in training time across the Air Force, or more than three work-years. With all seven courses we are restructuring for 2014, we predict a total savings of 81,000 hours."

According to Hazzard, this equates to more than $940,000 in cost-avoidance savings in 2014.

Optimizing training products includes identifying and eliminating repetitive information. For example, EM discovered basics covered in the required foundational Air Force Emergency Management Program course had been reiterated in several advanced specialized courses.

Updated courses also rely more on video and animated graphics to support the information. EM Airmen are noticing the difference.

"It's more interactive," said Airman 1st Class Mylene Alarcon with the EM Education and Training department, 325th Civil Engineer Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. "The updated CBRN Defense Awareness course, for example, has a dynamic, modern look and uses a lot of photos. It's a huge improvement over the previous computer-based training."

New features also enable students to click tabs on the screen to access additional information on certain topics.

"I've noticed it's more interesting," said Airman Cody Moccia, EM operations, 325th CES. "I actually get more out of it."

EM training experts also structured training to meet requirements set by other federal government partners like the Federal Emergency Management Agency, eliminating the need to take separate courses.

"Our Air Force Emergency Management Program course meets FEMA independent study requirements that a lot of our EM professionals are required to take as well," said Genova. "We made sure our courses were meeting those objectives in a way that also met Air Force requirements."

"We'll continue to analyze and evaluate our training, looking for ways to gain efficiencies," said Hazzard. "The thought process is always, 'how can we make it better?'"