FIREFIGHTING REGIONAL TRAINING GROUNDS: AN IMPORTANT SEGMENT IN FIREFIGHTER TRAINING

Abstract

In 2015, the Firefighting Association of Slovenia joined a project to construct regional training grounds for firefighters. The basis for the implementation of this project was the paper “Disposition of a regional training ground for firefighter training” (Hočevar, 2014). The content of this paper served as a basis for the preparation of the design documentation for the construction of regional training grounds, and for the regulation of relations between the Firefighting Association of Slovenia, the firefighting regions, firefighting associations and local communities in reference to investment, management and the use of the training grounds. In the preparation of the design documentation or the standard project, the requirements with the highest priority included usefulness, cost-effectiveness and the intended purpose. These requirements dictated that the training grounds must be intended for firefighter training and should not be sensitive to injuries. They must ensure that the instructors can have unobstructed surveillance of the work of the students. Moreover, from the aspect of cost-effective construction and future maintenance, they must be constructed in a way that ensures their basic function and must not be extravagantly processed. The construction of the first regional training ground began in the last quarter of 2016, built in Ormož in the Podravje firefighting region. By 2020, two more training grounds had been built, one in Radlje ob Dravi and the other in Jesenice. There are currently 17 firefighting regions in Slovenia; the final objective of the project is to have a regional training ground in each one.