Online Firefighter Academy a Success

FireFighterAcademy.com may be the new kid on the block when it comes to eLearning, but the comprehensive, blended learning course has nearly 200 years of firefighter training and education experience behind it. The Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), renowned for its hands-on firefighter training that began in 1930, has joined with Pennwell Corporation’s Fire Engineering Books & Videos to offer prospective firefighters a new option for obtaining the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1001 Firefighter I and II certification. 

In a fast-paced world where schedules are demanding, FireFighterAcademy.com is a fast-track solution to a fulfilling career in fire and emergency services. The online firefighter course unites educational technology with proven training methods that are geared for tomorrow’s fire and emergency service leaders. But with a combined 545 hours of training, the course doesn’t skimp on the essential knowledge and skills firefighters need to be effective and stay safe.     

 

“Our number one goal is and always has been providing high-quality education and realistic hands-on training,” says Robert Moore, Director of TEEX’s Emergency Services Training Institute and the Brayton Fire TrainingField. “With FireFighterAcademy.com, we’re proud to say we’re continuing this tradition through the dynamic, blended learning environment designed and developed here at TEEX in partnership with PennWell Publishing.”

FireFighterAcademy.com provides cutting edge, intuitive training modules for fire and emergency response personnel who are serious about safety, survival, and effective firefighting techniques. It is designed to meet and surpass all knowledge and skill requirements for the NFPA 1001 Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications and NFPA 472 relating to Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Incidents.

Students have up to 90 days to complete the 335-hour online portion of the training, which is followed by an intensive, 21-day, 210-hour hands-on skills training session at the renowned Brayton Fire Training Field in College Station, Texas.

 

The online course includes nearly 400 videos demonstrating firefighting skills along with commentaries from nationally known training instructors. Students train in a virtual classroom, which prepares them for the intensive, hands-on skills training and NFPA 1001 certification testing at the Brayton Fire Training Field.

The physical skills training portion includes daily physical fitness activities and live-fire training under top-notch instructors. The recruit firefighters extinguish fires engulfing everything from dumpsters and vehicles to warehouses and industrial terminals. Each student receives extensive training on the safe operation of emergency vehicles in a variety of driving situations. They also get hands-on training on fire apparatus, such as working with a fire hose, operating pump panels, drafting water and calculating water flow to a fire. All the training emphasizes safety and personal preparedness, and each student is issued a Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) unit to use while in training.
 

The comprehensive program runs seven days a week and also includes training in rescue techniques, along with the ropes, knots and hitches used during rappelling, rigging hauling systems, and lowering/raising of victims. The recruit firefighters also receive training in HAZMAT operations and response measures.  

Students who pass both the skills testing and the written exam for each level receive up to six Pro Board certifications and are considered a certified firefighter. The blended learning course has graduated 22 certified firefighters since it was launched in 2012, and everyone passed the Pro Board NFPA 1001 Firefighter I and II certification exam. The program currently has 44 prospective firefighters enrolled.
 

The online Recruit Fire Training Academy is also recognized by Blinn College, which offers up to 25 college credit hours to those who complete the program. This agreement means that veterans or other students who enroll in the program through Blinn College are eligible for financial aid as well as college credit.

As 2012 graduate David Bohls commented: “It is not possible to compare the education that TEEX offers its online students because it does not compare to anyone else! TEEX is providing a comprehensive and real-world education to all that want to become firefighters."

To hear from more students, watch this video from the second class of the online class: http://bit.ly/VHbVNw, or visit us online at FireFighterAcademy.com. 

– Jason Loyd
 

A certified firefighter with a Bachelor's degree in Business Management concentrating on Fire Service Administration, Jason Loyd is the Online Training Manager for TEEX Emergency Services Training Institute. The second edition of Jason's book, Fundamentals of Fire and Emergency Services, will be released in August 2013. Contact Jason at Jason.Loyd@teex.tamu.edu with any questions about the online academy.

TEEX programs retrain veterans for civilian jobs

As one of the largest extension and vocational training organizations in the nation, TEEX is committed to helping the men and women who served our country to retrain for a new career in the civilian workforce. We are part of the great military tradition at Texas A&M University, and we have been training military veterans since World War II.

 

The U.S Department of Labor reports the unemployment rate of veterans from the post-9/11 era is hovering at 11.7 percent. We agree with the Department of Labor that the number is too high, and we support federal efforts to help out-of-work or underemployed veterans get the training they need to get back in the job market. The need for quality training and education programs will grow as an estimated 1.5 million service members transition out of the military over the next five years.

Offering a wide variety of vocational and industrial training programs, TEEX is a Non-College-Degree School affiliated with The Texas A&M University System, a military veteran-friendly institution of higher education.

http://www.vetfriendlytoolkit.org/

We offer a variety of certificate programs approved by the Veterans Administration (VA) to assist veterans in furthering their education and training, while leveraging their veterans benefits. Some programs are also VA education benefit approved for wounded warriors.  All of our VA education benefit approved programs are offered in Bryan-College Station and other locations across Texas. No college degree is required and training varies from one week to nine months. We have fast-track options that can get you on the job faster and many of our programs are eligible for college credit at an accredited two-year or four-year college. 

Many of the approved programs train veterans for careers in public service, such as firefighters, law enforcement officers and emergency medical technicians. Health and safety officials and unexploded ordnance technicians are also popular programs for military veterans. There is a growing need for people in these fields, and often veterans have military experience and transferable skills they can leverage into careers in their chosen fields

Perhaps you have always dreamed of becoming a firefighter.  Or your military training and experience would provide the basis for a career as a police officer, an Emergency Medical Technician or an Unexploded Ordnance Technician. One of the advantages of our VA education benefit approved programs is that veterans can obtain a certification and begin work quicker than they would through a two- or four-year college program – but still have the option of applying for college credits should they decide later to pursue a college degree.

TEEX programs can train you for fulfilling careers as a:

*Peace officer

*Firefighter or Fire Instructor

*EMT-Basic or Paramedic

*Unexploded Ordnance Technician

*Certified Safety & Health Official

* Solar PV Installer

In addition to meeting the standards of the Veterans Administration, our programs meet or exceed the rigorous requirements  of the National Board on Fire ServiceProfessional Qualifications (ProBoard), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), American Council on Education (ACE), International Association forContinuing Education and Training (IACET), Texas Department of State HealthServices, Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP)), ElectronicsTechnicians Association-International (ETA-I) or Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE), to name a few.

At TEEX you will receive hands-on, practical training from knowledgeable instructors with real-world experience in the field. One in six of our employees are veterans, so we understand the challenges you face, and we’re there to help. We have a dedicated Veterans Liaison to walk you through the application process and the VA paperwork required to claim your education benefits.

TEEX is proud to join other members of The Texas A&M University System to ensure that our military veterans transition from active duty to fulfilling and meaningful careers in the civilian workforce.

For more information on TEEX Veterans programs visit www.teex.org/VA.

For more information on veterans programs in The Texas A&M University System, visit the Veterans Support Office: http://www.tamus.edu/home/veterans/. You can also visit the Veterans Administration to learn more about accessing your benefits: https://www.ebenefits.va.gov/.

Steven Robinson is the Veterans Liaison for the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service.  In 2012, he received the Presidential Award from the Western Association of Veteran Education Specialists (WAVES). He also serves as a Peer Facilitator for the Brazos ValleyVeterans Peer Network Support  and is a member of the WAVES Executive Board.

 

Personal Cyber Security - TEEX's Holiday Guide, Part 2

Earlier this week we blogged about the importance of personal cyber security, and how poor practices can endanger personal and company data. In this blog, we’ll address several important items that everyday users encounter and how to secure them.

Anti-Virus Software - Without proper virus protection, your PC may have a Trojan Horse virus quietly waiting to carry out a malicious attack, using your computer and Internet connection.

If you have a personal computer running any version of Windows, you must have up-to-date antivirus software. Fortunately, there are many options available, at costs ranging from free to $200 per year. A new PC will generally come with a trial version of Norton or McAfee antivirus, lasting from 90-days to one year. During the program set-up, pay attention to the automatic updates and scheduled scan settings. Both must work for full protection. Make sure the scheduled scan is during a time when the computer is on and idle. Watch for the automatic updates to occur, usually once per week.

Free antivirus software, such as AVG, protects millions of users daily. Educate yourself by checking reviews on the Internet and use the software you are most comfortable with. Bigger and more expensive isn’t always better, as more layers of protection sometimes slow computers down noticeably. The important note is to use antivirus software of some kind and keep it up to date!

For everyone running iOs (on all Apple products) and Android (on other smart devices), it’s time to accept that your devices are susceptible to the same security problems as Windows pc’s. Install antivirus now so you won’t be the first in your office with problems.

Another thing to be cautious of is using mobile wireless networks in public places with your smartphone. More and more people use their smartphones to access Facebook, twitter, personal emails, and bank accounts. Most smartphones are set up to automatically switch to open access wi-fi accounts when they are available. This leaves the information on your smartphone available to any hacker who sets up a wi-fi hotspot in a public location. To save yourself the possible exposure, turn off the wi-fi on your phone and stick to using the phone's own data plans to gain internet access.

Passwords - Without proper password security, your entire online presence: facebook, movies, and bank accounts can be hacked, hijacked, and erased.

The use of personal passwords seem to have the greatest difference between expectation and reality. In an IT security analyst’s perfect world, each of your passwords would consist of at least ten random letters, numbers and special characters. Each account or device would have a different password and they would change at least every ninety days. Unfortunately, the most popular password in use today is 12345 or password.

Although impractical, we should never use the same password on more than one account. TEEX System Security Analyst Tyler Burwitz has some realistic suggestions for that problem.

Consider three or four primary passwords, each with a different level of security.

• A long, complex password, limited to high-security financial accounts.
• A different, secure password for other important accounts.
• A password for less important accounts.
• A “throw away” password, for when you just have to sign up for something.

By using these methods, your bank account can’t get hacked along with your twitter account.

Burwitz offers these suggestions to help you choose more secure passwords.

• If the word or phrase is on your facebook page or any other online presence, don’t use it, even with variations. Good examples are pets, places and names.
• If it is in the dictionary, don’t use it, even with variations.
• Think PassPhrase instead. It doesn’t have to be a word.
• Longer is better. A 20-character lower-case password is better than a 10-character complex password.
• Use spaces in the password, if allowed.

Once a hacker has a possible password for you, he has programs available that run all the possible variations of the word. If he knows your first pet was named Fido, the program will try Fido1, 1Fido, etc.

One level more secure than a long, complex password is two-step authentication. When a user attempts to log into an account using two-step authentication, the server sends a one-time text code to the users cell phone, which is then entered on the login screen. Even Wired reporter Matt Honan wrote recently how he was hacked and his life erased, even though he was using two-step authentication. According to Burwitz, “If someone has the time and patience, they will figure out how to get your data from you. It's not as hard as you think, usually taking an hour or less.”

Biometrics, such as a fingerprint or iris scan, are beginning to play a greater role in security, but as a second layer of authentication instead of replacing passwords.

Some password security procedures are being reconsidered. For example, is it better to have a poor password changed every 90 days, or a long, complex password that is only changed annually?

Complaints usually accompany mandatory password changes. Burwitz explains those requirements several ways. “First, we have to follow the law. Information Technology Security must maintain a high level. We also must prevent loss of data that can result in financial loss for the agency, as well as damage to our reputation, and in an extreme case, possible personal harm.”

Game Consoles - Many of the latest game consoles have access to the Internet through a home’s wireless router, allowing users to play games with other users worldwide. It’s important that parents understand how this works and take security measures that range from disabling the “live” account to ensuring the users screen name doesn’t divulge personal information. Even though the security settings have been modified to prevent live play with strangers, other players may have different settings allowing unknown persons into the game. Parents should visit the manufacturer’s website to fully understand the capabilities of the game console before giving it access to the Internet.

Wireless Routers - Operating an unsecure wireless router at your home or business leaves you open to compete data loss and responsibility for everything that occurs on your Internet connection. These routers allow our favorite devices to connect to the Internet, as well as share information among themselves. Unfortunately, most routers are shipped with even basic encryption disabled, allowing an outsider to do several nasty things, from slowing Internet speeds by using bandwidth to stealing your files and data.

In the past, setting the highest level of security possible for your wireless router was difficult and frustrating. The latest routers use a push-button method to connect devices, while older routers still require passwords. If you are having difficulty, consult the setup instructions that came with the router or the manufacturer’s website. You can also search YouTube for “connecting to the (insert router model here) router” or a similar phrase. Finally, Burwitz suggests, “Call a family member who knows what they're doing, probably your 15-year-old son or grandson. Also, some companies allow IT personnel to help you in this type of situation.” The important message is to get help to secure the router.

In 2013 and beyond, we must approach personal online security with the same emphasis as locking our home or car and caring for our purses and wallets. We must also be mindful that our poor security habits can compromise other computers or networks. Please take the time to have a safe, secure Internet experience this holiday.

Matt Honan’s Wired article - Kill the Password: Why a String of Characters Can’t Protect Us Anymore


Sam White owns a technology consulting company and is
an adjunct communications specialist for TEEX.