The City of Laredo Fire Department proposes to invest in Video-Conferencing equipment that will allow for a higher level of interactivity between our fire stations, schools and State/Federal emergency agencies. We hope to fund this with Federal and City Funds.

If awarded, the Fire Dept will use this capability to enhance our Fire Prevention Capability by multiplying the number of students we can teach. This will allow for interactive education to both school districts and both institution of higher learning which total over 53,000 students.

We will be able to reach them directly and simultaneously and thus administer consistent information about fire prevention and other public safety information at no cost to the school system.

In addition to this ability we plan to educate our own firefighters on topics of fire prevention, fire codes, arson and crime scene awareness. These classes will benefit our firefighters by keeping them up to date on the fire prevention topics and will also keep them current with their required continuing education hours with State Fire Commission.

Other benefits to this project are; it is a cost effective means of delivering training and information to people in our area and will provide access to information that may otherwise may limited.

The motivation for distance and interactive learning is a practical one. Training people where they are is more efficient than transporting them to the trainer. In addition to enhancing productivity for our firefighters by not having to travel significant distances for fire prevention and arson related training they will learn in a comfortable and familiar environment.

The traditional training paradigm, which requires instructors and student to be in the same classroom has been challenged by technological advances. These advances can duplicate the benefit of traditional training with the flexibility and individualization of self directed learning. With this project our instructors and presenters can communicate information to a limitless number of classrooms.

The Laredo Fire Department plans to significantly decrease the risks identified above with the implementation of an interactive, distance-learning project. Laredo Fire is proposing the placement of distance learning equipment at its main training center and each fire station. This equipment would be compatible with existing equipment located at each of the elementary schools and higher education institutions in the area.

Distance learning equipment would allow the Laredo Fire Department to reach and deliver interactive training from the main training center to the elementary schools, outlying fire stations and higher education institutions. A multi-point control unit, located at the main training center, would provide the ability to connect multiple sites simultaneously. This would allow one instructor to instructor many or all sites at once. These various educational sites will create a “virtual classroom” and allow firefighters to provide and receive prevention and safety education.

The Laredo Fire Department service area has a current student population of 32,179 students under the age of 14! Travel time to each school is up to 30 minutes one way during heavy traffic. School scheduling conflicts do not generally allow for more than one class presentation at a time, reaching a mere 30 students. Due to existing equipment within the school districts, placement of distance learning equipment at the fire stations could provide prevention and safety education to the entire student population! Simultaneous communication with numerous classrooms could occur. In-house developed curriculum would continue to be utilized.

Current arson investigators must maintain law enforcement credentialing. Annual updates are 40 hours in length, requiring travel out of the area and rotating scheduling. The addition of distance learning equipment at Laredo Fire would allow training to occur on-site via a higher education institution, Texas A&M International University.

The City of Laredo Charter states that each commercial building must be inspected on an annual basis, congruent with the National Fire Code recommendation. New construction sites must be inspected as well. On average, 55% of buildings within Laredo require an additional visit due to non-compliance issues. The projected number of fire inspections to be completed for the current fiscal year is 3,400. This current workload measure is simply unattainable without distance learning equipment to maximize personnel time.

Mandatory firefighter training within the department includes eight hours per year on fire prevention, arson, and crime scene awareness. The steady increase in fire calls for Laredo necessitates thorough fire suppression training as well to ensure firefighter safety. Mandated fire suppression training is an additional 40 hours per year. Currently all fire personnel must travel to a central facility for all training, equally to four sessions per quarter. Each session involves an eight-hour day for fourteen consecutive days. Outlying stations are up to 30 miles one-way from the central training facility, requiring up to a 50-minute drive during heavy traffic. The placement of distance learning equipment at each station would create an interactive, virtual training center at each station, thereby maintaining coverage and response times. Again, distance-learning equipment would result in the maximization of personnel time, allowing additional time for public education, building inspections, plan reviews and arson investigation.

• Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)