Fire academy hosts workshop Published June 6, 2014 By Staff Sgt. Laura R. McFarlane 17th Training Wing Public Affairs GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Thirty-one Defense Department firefighters attended a three-day Self-Assessment and Standards of Cover Workshop at the Louis F. Garland DOD Fire Academy here May 28 to 30 to become accreditation managers. The workshop is a mandatory requirement for any person slated to be an organization's accreditation manager and is administered by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International. "This course is filled with consummate professionals, with a single goal in mind, improving the emergency services delivery at their installations," said Ernst R. Piercy, CFAI technical advisor and workshop instructor. Once certified by the CFAI, accreditation managers can compare their fire and emergency service agency performance to industry best practices. "Much like hospital or university accreditation, fire service accreditation is a process whereby agencies align their programs to 253 performance indicators that represent what a modern fire service agency must comply with," said Piercy. DOD-specific workshops are typically once a quarter. "The Department of Navy is the executive agency per DOD Instruction 6055.6 [DOD Fire and Emergency Services Program] and is mandated to fund hosting the workshop," said Master Sgt. Stephen S. Thompson, 312th Training Squadron Fire Officer Courses NCO in charge. "Because of budgetary constraints the only workshop for Fiscal Year 2014 is here."
