Midway Fire Rescue Heads To FDIC in Indianapolis, Indiana

With the assistance our South Carolina one percent money, Midway Fire Rescue has been able to send three members to Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) in Indianapolis, Indiana for the last few years. Each of the members spent two-days participating in hands-on training and three-days attending numerous lectures from some of the fire service's top instructors.

As many departments do not see the value of sending members to the largest conference in the fire service, we see a need to send members to train and learn from the best in the industry. As with anything in the Fire Service, the biggest investment a fire department can do is in its membership.

The hours of training that these members received is offered little to no place else and will not only benefit the member but also when the members return they can pass on their valuable knowledge gained to the entire department.

As the members spend many hours in class, they also participated in many other events as well that included the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb and seeing all new and emerging products of the industry.

As these members received amazing trainings, FDIC also had three of our own personnel sharing knowledge as well. Assistant Fire Chief James Crawford, Division Chief James Payne and Lieutenant Peter Copeland also went out teaching hands on trainings in R.I.T (Rapid Intervention Team) Combat Drills. This course is taught by a cadre of instructors from all over the United States who have been teaching together for years. The course they taught will bring knowledge to many departments around the country.

From 2016 FDIC Website:

Rapid Intervention Team Combat Drills

Lead Instructor: Assistant Chief James Crawford, Midway (SC) Fire Rescue Department

Rapid intervention team (RIT) training should be realistic and to the point. When a RIT deploys into a burning building for a Mayday, each team member will be taxed to the limit both physically and mentally. Students are trained and evaluated in performing RIT duties under realistic conditions. Assembled into teams and deployed into rescue scenarios, students encounter numerous problems that must be solved as a team. Rescue scenarios include a lifting rescue, a deployment rescue, a lowering-system rescue, and the Pittsburgh drill rescue. Each team must maneuver the rescue course to a down firefighter victim, assess the victim, complete any extrication, package the victim, and initiate removal. The team must remove the firefighter victim back through the scenario course to safety. Scenarios are to be completed within a specified time.