FIRST ACTING MAN BOOK

The Claymont Fire Company First Acting Man Book is an innovative program for members who have completed their probationary guidebook. A continuation of fire service knowledge, this book guides 2+ year firefighters through the expectations of a senior member and is designed to promote critical thinking and decision-making. The book contains 88 pages of material ranging from vehicle and technical rescue situations to dynamic incident command scenarios.

OVERVIEW

A member must submit a letter of interest to the Chief's office in order to receive a copy of this book, which is reviewed by the Chief's office on a case-by-case basis.

Upon approval, a copy of the FAM book is provided to the member and is expected to be completed within one year of receiving the book.

The primary function of the FAM book is to prepare the member for in-station day-to-day management, apparatus officer functions, and initial incident command operations.

Although members who complete this book are not necessarily qualified to function as incident command, the knowledge of an incident commanders function is vital for an apparatus officer to understand.

INTERACTIVE FEATURES

Our development team continued the format and interactive features of the probationary guidebook, providing the member with pictures, diagrams, charts, etc. in order to create a program that would keep the interest of the user.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE BOOK

The FAM book was developed by Senior FF/EMT Irhin with input from Captain Cripps and Lieutenant Weaver, who previously worked together on the probationary guidebook.

Starting the New Guidebook

This book was initiated by the development of chapters that would be required content from the Chief's Office. From there, the team spent a few months loading questions and topics for each chapter into a document, while also observing the weaknesses in knowledge during operations and training events for inspiration.

Developing Interactive Parts

Once the framework of the FAM book was established, photoshop and AutoCAD were utilized to develop the interactive portions. Additional material and media was obtained from Zillow, Google Images, and apparatus tours of the first due.

Establishing Chapters

The development of the FAM book was made much easier by splitting it into chapters, defining each section and what is to be included. Below are the chapters of the book: