Pre-Service Firefighter Education and Training

Course Code: FPRE 101

This course provides an overview of the fire department, its functional divisions, and the roles and responsibilities of its employees. It emphasizes the knowledge, skills, and attitudes exhibited by a professional firefighter.

Course Code: FPRE 102

This course will review basic gas laws and define fire and its behaviour from ignition to cessation. Fire will be studied from both a physical and chemical standpoint. Stages and classes of fire, methods of heat/fire spread and the methods to contain and extinguish fire will be highlighted.

Course Code: FPRE 103

This course provides the opportunity for participants to research the role and responsibilities of a variety of positions in the fire service. Theoretical skills in such areas as: protective clothing and equipment, breathing apparatus, simulated search and rescue techniques, ropes, knots and ladders, water supplies, hose and appliances, and fire streams and foam will be outlined.

Course Code: FPRE 106

This course will provide the concepts of health, wellness and physical readiness, using both theory and practical applications. The aim of the program is to provide the students with the opportunity, resources and direction to achieve the level of fitness required to enter into the fire service.

Course Code: FPRE 109

This module takes the theoretical skills learned in the Pre-Entry Profile and through hands-on scenarios demonstrates and allows for further development of the practical skills in confined space rescue, auto extrication, and water rescue.

Course Code: FPRE 110

Topics covered in this course include fire prevention and prefire planning activities. Principles, priorities and procedures involved in fire prevention will be outlined. Legislation, regulations, standards and fire prevention resource agencies will be described.

Course Code: GNED 101

The humanities course focuses on fundamental questions individuals ask of themselves as they proceed through life. Why are we the way we are? Do we have free will or are we prisoners of our past experience or our biological inheritance? What motivates societies to change? Why do societal changes so often divide people into opposing camps? Why do so many people find contemporary life at home, at work, and in the community unfulfilling? What constitutes good government? How should injustice be fought? Can nations successfully deal with global problems? What is science and how does it differ from other kinds of inquiry? Can scientists provide solutions to the problems we face? What is art and does it offer answers of its own? What is its relationship to beauty, to knowledge, and to ethics? Is objectivity about art (or anything) possible? These questions are organized into units that begin with issues concerning the nature of the individual and then extend outward to various social, cultural and physical contexts.

The issues explored in this course are too complex to have any one right answer. Rather, individuals must search for answers that make sense of their experiences via various theoretical perspectives. The humanities course supports this endeavour through study of different thinkers presented in the readings and exploration of different points of view explored in class discussions.

Course Code: WRIT 225

This English course is designed to help Fire and Emergency Services students develop business writing, reading, and researching skills. The course will also emphasize the strategies of effective business communication.

Course Code: FPRE 105

This course will focus on the important role of the firefighter in the community reflected in activities and initiatives in the area of public relations, public education, instructional techniques, fire safety and communications/dispatch.

Course Code: FPRE 150

This module familiarizes the student with a fire apparatus and points out the differences from normal truck operations and emergency response. The components of the pump are covered including pump intakes and discharges, pressure control devices, ancillary devices and gauges, proper pump pressures, single to multiple line pumping operations and pump operator's responsibilities.

Course Code: FPRE 151

This course continues to cover the basic firefighting operations with emphasis on extinguishers, firefighting techniques, vehicle operation, pump operation, forcible entry, ventilation, search and rescue, salvage, overhaul, fire scene management and control, post incident review and fire cause determination.

Course Code: FPRE 152

Pre-Hospital Patient Care
This module will provide an overview of the Ontario emergency response team. Content will cover common medical/trauma conditions, the related patient care and associated situational management. Included will be legislation, regulations, standards and established policies, procedures and protocols, as well the role of the emergency response team and the specific role of the firefighter emergency care responder.

Patient Assessment
This module will deal with human physiology, major systems, organ function, terminology and pathophysiological changes that occur in common medical/trauma emergencies. Also covered are patient assessment, common communicable/infectious diseases, report to the EMS personnel, personal protection and cleaning/disinfecting of equipment.
Common Medical/Trauma Emergency and Patient Care Management
This module describes signs, symptoms, medical treatment and patient care for the following medical/trauma emergencies: respiratory emergencies, cardiovascular emergencies, neurological emergencies, musculoskeletal emergencies, digestive/abdominal emergencies, endocrine system emergencies, childbirth, common behavioural/psychological conditions and environmental incidents, both natural and human caused. There is a practical component for each module.

Course Code: FPRE 153

This module puts all skills developed in the Fire Ground Operations module into action in a burn tower facility. The live fire evolutions begin with an introductory fire situation and progress up to a multi fire multi-task scenario in a multi-level building. All hands-on skills are used in the scenarios with the addition of fire suppression, firefighter techniques, emergency scene management and post-incident review.

Course Code: FPRE 154

This course further develops students' skills in recognizing hazardous materials, interpreting material safety data sheets and determining the appropriate course of action to take for the hazard present. This course also provides you with generic rescue principles and practices along with an understanding of the rescue process as conducted by firefighters. Key factors, conditions affecting common rescue, the role and responsibilities of emergency rescue responders and safety teamwork in rescue will be covered.

Course Code:

Course Code: FPRE 200

This evaluation process is a skills assessment process whereby after the introduction of the hands-on components and sufficient practice time, the student is expected to demonstrate a complete understanding of and the ability to perform the testing requirements of the specific learned skill. The evaluation is conducted using a standard check off sheet for each step of the developed skill and in some cases a timed element is part of the evaluation process.

Course Code: FPRE 201

The purpose of the pre-graduate experience (a minimum of 172 hours) is to afford students an opportunity to integrate knowledge and skills learned and to apply them during intensive practice sessions using their basic skills in various areas. The student will be required to have successfully completed all other vocational theory and skills courses within the Pre-Service Firefighter Education and Training program.

Course Code: PSYC 110

How many times in the course of a day do we wonder about human behaviour? We shake our heads and ask why the person in the car ahead of us cut us off. We ask why it is that the person sitting beside us has his/her nose pierced. We try to explain why our boss blew up at a co-worker over an insignificant issue. We question the motives for our own actions. In the course of day it seems that we are challenged over and over again to explain the behaviour of those around us and indeed ourselves. Most often we do so using common sense, based on our limited experience, our socialization and our own biases. Psychology is the field of study that examines human behaviour scientifically. This course will introduce the student to psychological theories and a variety of psychological research topics, including the biological bases of behaviour, learning and memory, psychopathology, social attitudes and behaviour. Students will be encouraged to be introspective and to apply what they learn to their personal behaviour in order to gain a better understanding of themselves and others.