Des Plaines firefighters featured in training manual

Des Plaines firefighters will be featured in a textbook — titled Fundamentals of Firefighter Skills — expected to be published in December and used nationwide as a basic training manual for studying fire science.

Battalion Chief Forest Reeder, the department’s training officer and a nationally-known fire service instructor, was contacted by publishers Jones and Bartlett about being included in the manual.

Firefighters were photographed demonstrating patient movement techniques, in-vehicle patient care and stabilization, vehicle door removal, using the “Jaws of Life” rescue tool to extricate victims from wrecked vehicles, and fire prevention practices.

“This was a fun project for our personnel, a little something out of the ordinary,” Fire Chief Alan Wax said. “The citizens of Des Plaines can be proud that they have a fire department that is so well respected for its capabilities and performance. We were certainly happy to have an opportunity to share our skills and knowledge with others in the industry on a large scale, and to advance the excellent name of the Des Plaines Fire Department even further on the national fire service scene.”