Training Boosts Positive Outcomes
June 22, 2021 by Kate Nadolski
Public safety personnel with the City of Harrisonburg, County of Rockingham, and James Madison University in Virginia know being prepared is paramount in their field. With positions in emergency communications, fire/EMS, law enforcement, and corrections, it should come as no surprise these individuals make it a point to stay ahead of the game. That’s why they strive to current with their training.
In fact, these staff members took more than 1,400 courses offered by their public safety software vendor, according to Harrisonburg’s Technology Assistant to the Director Jim Junkins.
“I’m not surprised that our team has taken so many courses,” he said. “What’s really impressive is that no one is required to take these courses, but they do because it makes them more efficient and proficient at work.”
Junkins said that while staff was not required to complete this software training, they were encouraged by their team leaders to do so. The fact that the training sessions are available on-demand, 24/7, made it easy for staff to work around their hectic work and home schedules.
“We recommend our users go out there and learn as much as they can about the software that they use every day,” Junkins said. “When they jump on the education platform, it provides a way for everyone to put some structure around what they’re learning.”
Junkins recognized these courses benefit more experienced employees and newer ones alike.
“It’s a great way to get the new hires into the flow of things, but also you always have veteran employees realizing they forgot how to do something,” said Junkins. “They know they can easily pull up a course and find the answer they’re looking for.”
A strong relationship with their public safety solution vendor’s team is something Junkins depended on since the department implemented its new software.
“Instead of giving us the fish, our team was teaching us how to fish, and that’s an extremely important thing that we’ve passed on to the rest of our team.”
Junkins feels this way of learning will result in his team being as prepared as possible to accomplish their important work.
“We have to be individual subject matter experts because we use these tools literally to save lives and protect property,” he noted. “You can’t just put someone who’s calling for help on hold for five minutes while you figure something out, you need to be prepared and well versed to use your resources to help them.”