Fire and Life Safety Director Training

Fire and Life Safety Director Training: What Does it Teach?

Since 1973, New York City law has required many of the city’s building to keep a Fire and Life Safety Director on staff to coordinate and implement any fire safety response and help minimize loss of life. These fire safety directors continue to fulfill a vital role in the Fire Department’s broader strategy to protect the people of New York City from fire. In recent decades, that role has expanded to include other types of emergencies as well.

Fire and Life Safety Director Training Course

Before anyone can serve as a fire and life safety director, he or she must obtain the required training by completing the FDNY-approved training course. It’s not enough to just have a background as a firefighter or other type of emergency response training. You first need to complete three components of training, covering fire safety, non-fire safety, and active shooter or medical emergency situations. Of course, you might wonder why this training is so essential for obtaining your F-85 Certificate of Fitness. To understand that, you need to be familiar with the types of things this training course will teach you.

The Fire Safety Course

An approved fire safety course will teach you everything you need to know about planning for and responding to a fire-related emergency. The course instructors will educate you about relevant fire-safety jargon and ensure that you are well-grounded in the specific features of a building’s fire safety equipment and command center. You will also learn about human behavior in emergency situations, how to plan and conduct fire drills, and best practices for training others to respond properly when fire strikes. And since your job will be to manage the building’s response, you will also learn how to effectively communicate with first responders during an emergency.

The Non-Fire Safety Course

Obviously, fire is not the only emergency that can threaten a building or its occupants. That’s why your training will also include a non-fire safety component that will ensure you are prepared to manage your building’s Fire Command Center when emergencies occur. You will be trained to identify the proper non-fire emergency response, in accordance with the Fire Department’s established guidelines, and understand protocols for elevator operation, evacuation, relocation, or sheltering in place during any emergency.

The training will teach you to identify and discuss the most common non-fire threats and conduct emergency drills that prepare building occupants to respond when an emergency occurs. Since you will be the primary point of contact for first responders, you will also learn how to provide initial assessments of any emergency and help to coordinate the broader emergency response.

Active Shooter and Medical Emergency Preparedness Course

Finally, your training will also include an entire component dealing with active shooter and medical emergency situations. This part of the course will provide instruction to help you identify active shooter situations and take steps to minimize the risk to human life. Training focuses on teaching you about various response strategies, how to communicate with first responders, and how to help building occupants protect themselves in these unexpected situations.

The reality is that modern New Yorkers face an increasingly complex array of threats. Your training will be designed to help you navigate these threats, manage an appropriate response, and protect lives and property to the best of your ability. And while your job won’t involve actively fighting fires and other disasters, providing medical treatment, or confronting active shooters, your role will still be vital to ensuring that others safely survive those situations. As a result, your F-85 Certificate of Fitness will provide the assurances any employer needs to recognize your qualifications to serve as a building’s Fire and Life Safety Director.

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George Kozhar

George Kozhar is a respected security professional, licensed private investigator, and founder of International Security Services (ISS) - New York City’s dedicated security experts since 1999. Mr. Kozhar and his team provide a full array of private and business investigative services in the U.S. and overseas, VIP executive protection, armed and unarmed security guard services and training, and Fire and Life Safety Director training through the company’s Fire Science Institute.

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August 10th, 2022

Property Security Evaluation Report

Your Individualized Property Evaluation Report

Your site’s individualized property evaluation report contains information and analysis that you need to properly manage your site’s security needs. That information includes detailed analysis of the crime rate in your area, site access and parking protocols, and existing security infrastructure. Interior inspection includes analysis of emergency exits, fire suppression capabilities, and alarm infrastructure for emergencies. Exterior inspection includes analysis of structural defects, property lighting, and potential vulnerabilities in building access.

In addition to those inspections, our analysis also considered environmental factors, potential risks from older trees, outside property maintenance, and nearby crime that may overflow to the area. We also examined emergency response planning, including fire evacuation protocols and information supplied to residents about proper evacuation process.

 

Pressing Suggestions


We highly suggest a camera placement along this driveway, as the overhead cameras in the back parking lot may not capture all makes, models, and license plates of cars entering in and out based on the angle they are recording from. The best camera placement would be at the green circle closest to the sidewalk/street.
The common area is easily accessible, but based on the angle that cameras are set at the front lot, anyone can enter the basement common area concealing the side of their face that is facing the camera. This is not to say that the camera arrangement should be changed, but it is highly recommended to have coverage in this common area as the common area is on a lower floor not visible from the sidewalk.


However, a few fundamental problems exist when it comes to access control of the back parking (a big territory). Even though only two issues have ever occurred there, the wide-open access point to that lot may need to be corrected sooner than later as there is a significant uptick in crime in the 62nd precinct.

Furthermore, there are two fundamental surveillance blind spots along the driveway leading to the back parking lot and every common area.

Lastly, however unlikely it may seem, tenants should have resources and a physical guide for situations that may require an evacuation. Whether it be a flood or fire, each tenant should know how to use a fire extinguisher and where to evacuate to during a flood regardless of their proximity to a shoreline.


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