Safe, Efficient, All-Weather Firefighting and Fire Rescue Training
Department of Defense firefighters face special challenges. They must be prepared for everything from structural fires to industrial or chemical fires, aircraft fires, airport accidents, natural disasters, and more. Their pump operators need to be ready to flow water or foam under any conditions, supplying a range of handline configurations. And they need to do all that while responding quickly to their entire environment—not just what they see on the pump panel, but also the sound of cavitation in the pump, early signs of equipment failures, changes in the nature of the emergency, radio communications, and more.
Comprehensively training for all that—without taking vital fire apparatus out of service, risking injury, or potentially damaging pumps—is difficult. Doing it quickly when half your team gets deployed and is then replaced by new recruits from the Florida Panhandle who’ve never seen snow, let alone responded to an airport fuel depot fire in the Arctic Circle, may seem nearly impossible.
FAAC’s Pump Operator Simulator (Pump Ops) is a streamlined, all-weather solution for quickly training firefighters in all of the facets of safe field operation of a pump engine. It’s the only full-size fire engine pump panel trainer currently used in Department of Defense training facilities. Its realistic components and functionality provide economical, highly realistic training on pump panel operation in a controlled, repeatable environment without compromising personnel safety.
As a combination hardware and software simulator, it accurately emulates hydraulics, different foam concentrations and water sources (both pressurized and static), and can be used with a variety of nozzle and hose configurations. By combining the pump operation simulator with our Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) driver training simulator, you can fully emulate any situation that a firefighting team might face.
Fire-Fighting Simulators
FAAC offers pump simulators that perfectly match your preferred firefighting equipment. They are available as top-mount or side-mount, with the same physical size, panel layout, and OEM gauges, switches, and other hardware as your current apparatus.
The simulator allows reinforcement of hands-on pump operations training for everyone—from new recruits to seasoned veterans. Unlike traditional pump units that require the use of thousands of gallons of water, FAAC’s pump panel simulator does not require water or foam. You can reduce the environmental impact and cost of training and conduct training even when water usage restrictions or bans are enforced or inclement weather would make training hazardous. (This also limits the use of AFFF foam and minimizes the environmental impact caused by PFAS.)
Pump Ops provides a “sequential approach” to multifaceted tasks. Trainees don’t just learn by-the-book operations, but instead practice understanding the “real” situation—including the impact of hose configuration, managing water sources, water flow, friction coefficients, foam concentration—while responding to radio communication and changing conditions. The Instructor Operator Station (IOS) allows an instructor to control the simulation, setting conditions and faults and monitoring the performance of the trainee.
Training firefighters to use aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) is a special concern in many communities. These Class-B firefighting foams were developed by the Navy in the 1960s and are standard on every military base. Foam is an essential tool during aviation accidents and in fighting hydrocarbon fires. But such firefighting foams contain hazardous PFAS “forever chemicals,” now known to be hazardous. They are strictly regulated in many communities and demand careful handling during fire training. With Pump Ops, you can train pump operators to mix and deliver foam in a variety of concentrations, spray settings, and branch types without exposing them to its dangerous chemical components or absorbing the costs of using foam and cleaning up its residues.
Streamlined Procurement
FAAC has an established track record in simulation-based fire training, continuously advancing and expanding our simulation hardware and software, while increasing integration among our simulators. We are the leading pump operations simulator provider with one-of-a-kind product in active use in 100+ installations. Owing to established vendor relationships, procurement of FAAC simulators can be streamlined via the Defense Logistics Agency Tailored Logistics Support Program, allowing us to provide unmatched procurement services. Often, it’s not a question of what to buy but how to buy it; we can help simplify your purchase, including TLS, GSA, and FedMall procurement services.
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