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Resident Advisors Fire Academy
All over the country, Residence Life staffs continually try to establish the most effective methods of training Resident Advisors (RA) in Fire Safety issues. With the assistance of the City of Fairfax Fire Department, Mason’s Office of Fire Safety Programs was able to put together a comprehensive curriculum for participating students. The intent of the RA Fire Academy is not necessarily to teach RA how to fight fires themselves, but rather to prepare them to deal with fire department employees when they show up and the importance of being proactive with their residents about fire safety.
The course begins with establishing what knowledge the RA staff should take away from the academy and then progress into hands-on activities that are both effective and fun teaching tools. The RA learn:
- An understanding and recognition of the roles of a firefighter;
- An understanding of what can cause a fire, how fast it can spread, and the impacts on the community;
- The opportunity to experience and recognize what it’s like to be in an actual fire (how to evacuate in smoke and heat); and
- The opportunity to put out a small fire with an extinguisher.
The organizers of the RA Fire Academy (City of Fairfax Fire Department, and Mason’s Office of Fire Safety Programs and Office of Housing and Residence Life) have already begun planning for 2008 activities with an emphasis on how to engage returning RA in the process. The training facility is in the middle of expansion and upgrades, a process that will be complete next year. There will be additional classroom space and more high-tech simulations that will be available. The City of Fairfax is considering adding CPR and First Aid training for returnees in 2008.
For more information on the RA Fire Academy, contact Jay Callan, Director of Fire Safety Programs at 703-993-2473 or jcallan@gmu.edu.
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