About Training Classes

A training class is given to develop staff members skills. Training classes are divided into categories, which are set up in the training category codes in personnel and training codes. When you set up the code, you can add a default objective of the course. When a training class is used with the code, the objective is added to the training class. Training classes can only use one category, but one category can be used in multiple classes. You can report on staff members training in specific categories and training classes can be credited toward any training programs (also referred to as certifications) the staff member is enrolled in. Training programs can require a certain number of hours in a specific training category.

We recommend documenting what was done in a training exercise, not simply entering a brief description and time spent. Non-training activities like business meetings should be tracked through Staff Activity records. All staff member training should be entered in FH, whether the training is in-house or at some other organization like the National Fire Academy.

Below are guidelines for entering useful training records.

  • Add Training Categories lookup codes for specific types of training classes.

    We recommend avoiding codes like ‘Monthly Drill’, or other generic codes that do not describe the training subject. Descriptive Training Categories codes make your life easier when it is time to search for specific training and/or try to gather statistics on all training given in a specific period.

  • Associate a Default Objective with each Training Categories code.

    Entering the training objectives, outline, or training scenario up front makes entering complete training records much easier. When you enter information in the Default Objective for a Training Categories code, the Default Objective is automatically inserted into the Notes section of the training record. You can edit the Notes section or add additional comments to further clarify the training session if necessary.

  • Complete optional fields.

    There are only a few required training class fields, but some of the optional fields are important. Enter Start Date, Start Time, End Date, End Time, Class Description (if different than that of the Training Categories code description), Training Type (Fire, Medical, Rescue, Other), and Hours Worked, Location, Agency, Method of Instruction (for example, “Lecture”, “Hands-on”, “Video”, etc.), Hours Paid, Credit Points, Pay Scale, CEU (number of Continuing Education Units, if appropriate), Dept Course Number, and a few other fields are all optional. Use them if appropriate.

  • Add all staff members who should have been present if Training Required is checked and indicate in the Training Detail records who actually attended.

    If Training Required is not checked, only enter the staff members that attended the training.

  • Add a training record for each topic covered in a training session.

    Use Memorize Templates to copy the training record including staff members attending and Recall Templates to create a new training record with the memorized staff members to simplify the process of entering multiple training records for a training session.

 

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