What is the International Fellowship Program (IFP)?
The IFP places international firefighters in leading U.S. fire departments for six months to learn best practices and internalize the U.S. fire service culture. This initial version of the program is sponsored by the Saudi Aramco Oil Company who dispatches 32 members of its Fire Protection Department to the U.S. per year, in four cohorts of eight firefighters.
What is Saudi Aramco?
Saudi Aramco is a Saudi Arabian national petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. It’s considered one of the world’s largest companies.
Why was the IFP created?
The Saudi Aramco Fire Protection Department Manager is committed to continuous improvement and wants his firefighters to get more real-life experiences to hone their decision-making skills under pressure. Given Saudi Aramco’s strong prevention/safety culture, their firefighters have few opportunities to run real fire emergency calls. Since Saudi Aramco used to be an American company, its entire operational culture (as well as apparatus) is based on the U.S. fire service. It made sense that they would turn to the IAFC to help embed their firefighters in U.S. fire departments to gain crucial, hands-on experience.
What are the Saudi Aramco firefighters here to do?
The Saudi Aramco firefighters are here to increase their operational experience by running calls. They ride fourth/fifth on apparatus for five months but are not counted towards minimum staffing.
What type of experience and/or training do the firefighters have?
Saudi Aramco’s Fire Protection Department is an all-hazards fire department that protects industrial sites as well as Saudi Aramco compounds/communities. They are all Pro Board and IFSAC certified firefighters. The Saudi Aramco firefighters are trained to the first-responder level but are not EMTs. All EMS is outsourced to Johns Hopkins who runs the hospital systems at the compounds.
What can the Saudi Aramco firefighters do?
The Saudi Aramco firefighters’ skill-level is evaluated during a three-week skills verification period with the department’s training division. Only those who demonstrate their competency during this time are released to the stations. The Saudi Aramco firefighters may do anything (including interior firefighting) that the commanding officer feels comfortable with. Because they are on a J-1 visa, they may not perform patient care. They may, however, assist crews during a medical response.
What is this program costing our fire department?
The International Fellowship Program picks up the costs for all PPE, equipment, and instructor-time needed for the SA firefighters. This program is cost-neutral to the department.
What is the benefit to me personally, and to the department?
The largest benefit to our department is the opportunity to test and challenge ourselves.
As Fire Chief Fullum says: “We embrace the challenges and opportunities of providing those services in a fast-paced and complex environment. Through training, innovation, and a data-driven decision-making lens, we are able to remain in a constant state of improvement.”
This This is a unique program: participating departments' personnel will have an opportunity to work with a far different culture than they typically do with international ride-a longs or visitors. This program also offers professional development opportunities for personnel: formal leadership classes and networking with the other departments taking part in the program. The tangible benefits of this program are relational.
What can they do on a medical call?
The work visas that the fellowship members are under do not allow them to medically treat someone. Therefore, they are only allowed to perform tasks on a medical scene that do not require medical training and/or certification. But they can assist with carrying equipment, loading patients, etc.
Do they get treated like probationary firefighters on calls and around the station?
These firefighters are guests in the department and should be treated as such. All of the fellows have many years of experience within the fire service; some are officers within their own departments. They shouldn’t be treated like rookie firefighters. However, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t expected to work alongside your personnel. They are expected to contribute around the station and on scene like all other firefighters. They are here to experience station life and learn how U.S. fire departments fight fire. On fire scenes, officers should look out for them while they gain the experience to operate at the department’s levels, just like they would any new firefighter within their department.