Posted on 03/27/2009 5:38:20 PM PDT by SandRat
ALI BASE — Firefighters from the 407th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron conducted a training class for eight Iraqi firefighters from surrounding provinces, March 23.
The students learned basic principles such as first aid and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, as well as live-fire training and search-and-rescue through in-class instruction and hands-on experience.
"They're learning a lot more of the first aid and CPR which they didn't have before," said Tech. Sgt. Cornelius Berry, 407th ECES Fire Emergency Services assistant chief of training. "Many of the firefighters talk about the incidents they've had and how they've been able to apply the concepts they've learned in our class to real-world scenarios. It's definitely going to help keep their victims alive."
Students are provided with a class curriculum which covers a different aspect of firefighting each day of the six-week course.
According to Berry, students start off with the basic principles of firefighting at the beginning of each class before they focus on a particular subject. Instructors also periodically conduct skill evaluations to gauge the progress of the students. If needed, they go over a subject again to the student's satisfaction.
"We've built a friendship with the Iraqi firefighters with the help of our interpreter and have been able to learn about each other's cultures throughout the course," Berry said. "We find that not only do we have firefighting in common but other hobbies such as soccer. I definitely see this training continuing on even after we leave."
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