Client Success Stories

Oak Park Fire Department, IL

Background
Stationed in the state of Illinois Oak Park Fire Department began their search for an online training platform that not only ensured cost-savings, but offered a strong content library and custom course tool that allowed for building department-specific training content. With 3 fire stations and 63 sworn personnel serving a population of 51,878, it was critical for Oak Park to implement a training solution that was user-friendly for their personnel to complete mandatory classes for credit.

Most Impactful Features to Oak Park’s Training Program

• Our fire department has taken full advantage of the ability to create custom courses / single videos and assign them to applicable members.
• Previously, it was difficult to ensure everyone received a class or in-service training, but FireRescue1 Academy has provided an easy way to manage training.
• Our EMS coordinator finds value in the automatic reporting, which runs on a monthly basis, showing course completions, credential management and notifications for renewals. The ability to print course completion certificates is also wonderful.
• The interface to Firehouse Software to export completed classes into the Firehouse training module is as easy as it gets. It reduces workload on our truck officer and ensures accurate collection of data.

Breadth and Quality of Courses

• FireRescue1 Academy’s platform meets our department’s requirements by offering accredited training classes. One major benefit to this solution is the availability of mandatory training courses, such as Bloodborne Pathogens, Sexual Harassment, and Workplace Discrimination.
• Previously, our department’s training consisted of 15 year old videos and our personnel teaching others what they felt was appropriate training protocol. Now that we have a solution that includes quality curricula, our fire fighters have the proper training to ensure compliance and safety.
• The EMS library is extensive and has been approved and accepted by our local EMS system for continuing education credit toward re-certification.

Cost and Time Savings

• Scheduling instructors to reach out to personnel regarding training completion became difficult and impractical. But after implementing our new training solution, we eliminated the need to search for and pay instructors for courses and managing credentials.
• The straightforward administrative functionality allows us to easily check course completion statuses and send reminder emails to members when courses are almost due. The automated reports for fire course completion certificates are very useful and we include them in our personnel’s training jackets.

Conclusion
Oak Park will continue to use FireRescue1 Academy to meet mandatory training and credential requirements, helping to streamline their fire training and reducing time spent on verifying course completions. The department anticipates that the platform will fully support their safety efforts and provide the necessary features to improve training efficiencies.