Our efforts to keep our City, our residents, visitors and businesses safe starts well before the alarm rings in the fire station. Our members, train for countless hours annually, both in house and by attending formal NYS, Westchester County, and various other hosting agency courses.

All department members are required by department policy and NYS requirements to receive annual in service training, in a multitude of categories. To comply with these standards, our Training Officer publishes a training schedule with topics to be delivered to all members. Both career and volunteer firefighters receive similar training topics to maintain consistency throughout the membership.

This week we covered our quarterly Personal Safety System (PSS)/Bailout training. The Personal Safety System is a rope rescue system, issued to each interior firefighter, as required by NYS law. The PSS is designed for the rapid escape of a firefighter from an upper floor of a building, if fire conditions deteriorate rapidly, blocking all other means of egress. These systems are considered as a last chance to escape an unsafe environment, and may be the difference between life and death or serious injury for a firefighter.

Members practiced deploying their systems, from a second floor window - which we are fortunate enough to be able to simulate safely, in our station. We must be as proficient as possible with the deployment and operation of our PSS, which is why we train on them several times a year.