Effective Command
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Effective Command comes to Ontario, Canada!
Ontario Fire Administration Inc. (OFAI) and the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs (OAFC) have entered into a new partnership with Dr. Katherine Lamb to bring the world-renowned program—Effective Command—to Ontario!
Shepherded by Dr. Lamb, Effective Command was created as a behavioural marker framework by academics and fire service practitioners to address the disconnect between academic research and its application within the fire service.
The Effective Command program helps develop the concept of the thinking commander—someone who has the capacity to deal with the unexpected. This development tool is accredited by several professional bodies and academic institutions and is used to train and assess incident command competence and crisis decision making. It is widely used throughout the international emergency response community for the training of crisis decision makers.
Dr. Lamb is an accomplished researcher and a respected authority on the training and assessment of incident command and crisis decision making, and OFAI and the OAFC look forward to a mutually beneficial partnership, thereby also ensuring the province's aspiring firefighters have access to the most up-to-date and internationally recognised resources.
| Please view the Effective Command website specifically about the course options. |
To read what people are saying about Effective Command, click here, and to register for an Effective Command Instructor Course, click here.
What is Effective Command?
Effective Command is an online incident command training tool kit which includes an extensive training scenario library and an assessment tool that can be used to record incident command competence during training, skills audit or at live incidents.
The Effective Command tool kit focusses on the skills required during the development and maintenance of command competence at all officer levels.
Effective Command: Three Things to Know
- Effective Command is widely used throughout the international emergency response community for the training of crisis decision makers.
- The program helps develop the concept of the thinking commander—someone who has the capacity to deal with the unexpected.
- This development tool is accredited by several professional bodies and academic institutions worldwide and is used to train and assess incident command competence and crisis decision making.
Effective Command Methodology
Principle 1 - Develop learning objectives and expected performance standards
Incident Commanders are presented with unexpected events or dilemmas. These cues stimulate the expected behaviours and allow relevant behavioural markers to be practiced or demonstrated.
Principle 2 - Train the team or individuals
Training the individual in non-technical skills is often overlooked during training and development of Fire Officers.
Principle 3 - Use a structured observation tool
The structured observation tool Effective Command is used to capture positive behaviours and those requiring improvement. The framework is also used as a basis of the training design used to provide feedback, and for self-reflection by the student.
Principle 4 - Provide feedback during a structured debrief
Feedback is given face-to-face immediately following a scenario-based exercise, and behaviours observed during the exercise are highlighted.
Principle 5 - Repeat the training regularly
Organisations are advised to embed the use of the Effective Command framework in on-station drills, live incident monitoring, large scale practical exercises and ongoing incident command training and assessments; to continually train against the behavioural markers identified.
What Is The Effective Command Instructor Course?
The certified instructor course will provide training officers with a dedicated programme to equip them to teach, facilitate and assess incident command training for their respective fire departments.
Coupled with an organizational subscription to the simple-to-navigate Effective Command tool kit, the wealth of Incident Command training resources can be incorporated within your fire departments through either centralized or self-led training.
In addition, those who complete the certified Instructor course will gain access to an assessment scenario and script library which will provide a valuable and credible resource suitable for skills audits and promotional processes.
| Effective Command Canada are delivering dedicated officer development programs at Captain, Platoon and District Chief levels. Please visit their website for more details. |
Effective Command Tools
- A competence Framework which covers all 4 tiers of Incident Commander competences and is aligned to international frameworks including IFE, NFPA and Skills for Justice.
- An easy-to-use Web-based assessment tool.
- Incident Command competence database, for all incident Command data. Fully searchable, suitable for trend analysis and data download for HMICFRS audits. Data can be exported via a .csv file and uploaded into other data management systems.
- Capacity to record and investigate Command hours data entries for individuals.
- Library of Incident Command training videos specifically linked and reference to the UK NOG scenarios. A new scenario is added each month.
Who is Dr. Katherine Lamb?
Dr. Katherine Lamb, MIFireE, MSc (Oxon), BSc (hons), is an accomplished researcher and a respected authority on the training and assessment of incident command and crisis decision making. She established Effective Command in 2015.
Dr. Lamb is also a Member of the Institution of Fire Engineers.
For more information please click the 'Learn more!' button below.
Testimonials
Want to know how it's like? Here are some reviews of Effective Command…
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“Valuable course; will translate directly to our department’s needs.” “Course provides a baseline of training style not currently in use.” “This is a must, you learn by doing, this is a necessity.” “Course is very valuable, puts candidates in a safe environment while being able to learn the role of command.” “Course fills an identified need in our department and province.” “Great course! Good flow, need to understand leadership competencies before getting into scoring and doing scenarios.” “Great eye-opener as it prepares us to complete evaluations in our own department.” “A lot of value in pre-built scenario videos that can have the script changed multiple times.” “The biggest value from my point of view is the scenarios and see how the commander reacts. Good training tool.” “Very valuable tool for training and evaluating acting captains and captains.” “Helps with development of officers, you can adapt it to your department.” “Find it a great tool for interactive learning! Very similar to fire officer I and II courses—except more evaluation aspect.” |
Course Spaces Available for 2024/2025!
We are pleased to share that several Instructor Courses have been planned for 2024/2025.
Each course can accommodate 12 students.
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Venue |
Date(s) |
Spaces |
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Burlington Fire Department |
November 4 – 7 |
REGISTRATION OPEN |
| Minto Fire Department | November 25 - 28 | REGISTRATION OPEN |
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Huntsville/Lake of Bays Fire Department |
December 2 – 5 |
REGISTRATION OPEN |
| Niagara West Fire Department | January 6 - 9, 2025 | REGISTRATION OPEN |
- Cost:
$4,000$2,000 per student (special OAFC member rate*) - Effective Command subscription: $50 per user, annually
- The OAFC and OFAI will also provide oversight to the course.
*spaces limited; register today
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Please include the following information when registering:
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Note: Courses can readily be hosted at fire departments on demand. If a fire department cannot fill all spaces reserved for the course, they will be offered to other fire departments in the locality.