VFIS Clients/Customers,

      As the 3^rd month of the new year comes to a close we have been very busy planning and conducting training in NYS for January-March so far we have conducted 9 in person classes in NYS with over 200 attendees from over 30 agencies with 12 classes scheduled for April 2025 . We have a number classes scheduled for 2025 and many more in planning I will keep you updated on classes when they are confirmed open classes will be posted on the VFIS website [vfis.com]VFIS.com on our training calendar please monitor our training calendar for upcoming training. If you have interest in a class please contact me there may be one in planning near you, if you would like to host a class please contact me and we can work to schedule a class to meet your needs and those of your neighboring agencies. In reference to VFISU our On-Line Training we continue to see a large number of classes being completed by NYS clients/customers we now have over 70 classes available. Attached as always is a copy of our Training Resource Catalog which outlines the classes we offer info on our Responder Help program and a flyer for VFISU. We have a number of exiting training tools coming in 2025 as outlined below. If you have questions on using VFISU or other Training that we offer you can go to the VFIS website, contact VFIS client services or give me a call. 

                                                                                            VIRTUAL TRAINING

      Pod Casts/Virtual and Webinar training classes planned and scheduled can be found on the [vfis.com]VFIS.com website go to the Training Calendar tab to find all upcoming training.

                                                                                        CLASSROOM TRAINING

   We are busy planning and scheduling classes for 2025 and will keep you posted as classes are confirmed classes that fill to capacity are not posted. We are seeing a number of requests coming in for our Emergency Vehicle Driver Training Instructor class with the release of our program update/revision if your agency is interested in hosting a class please let me know. Those that have already completed the 2016 version of EVDT-I will be given the opportunity to take an on-line update of the new version of the program to use when they deliver Emergency Vehicle Driver Training to your personnel if you have note taken the update as of 4/1/25 please let me know. Another class that is being requested by a number of clients/customers is our Emergency Responder Safety class I have attached the overview for both our Emergency Vehicle Driver Training Instructor and Emergency Responder Safety classes that covers the class overviews. The attached Training Resource Guide outlines many of the training classes we offer, VFIS clients/customers that would like to host a class in your region please contact me at tboel@vfis.com.  I hope my periodic and monthly training emails have been helpful to you with classes that are coming up and VFIS Training Tools. You will also see other advancements in VFIS training coming in 2025 with the launch of our Learning Management System LMS which will have a number of new training resources and advancements especially for those that have VFIS instructor authorization. If you have any questions on this or other training needs please let know.  

                                                                           New Emergency Vehicle Driver Training program has arrived 

Meet the new EVDT Program: We’re launching an updated Emergency Vehicle Driver Training program this year that’s designed to help address the modern risks of emergency vehicle operations and simplify processes to make the course more streamlined than ever.                                             

                                                                       ON-LINE TRAINING ON VFIS UNIVERSITY (VFISU)

      VFISU our On-Line Training has been very busy in in the 1^st three months of 2025 with agencies utilizing the programs available 24/7 365, VFISU has many of the classes agencies are looking for annually now with over 70 classes available and we will be adding and updating more classes in 2025. Those that are utilizing VFISU classes to help meet the need for annual refresher training in 2025 you no longer see a year associated with VFISU class names like those taken in 2024 that had 2024 in the class name. Please remember to use the compliance documents we have on VFISU for some of the annual training classes that we have that are to document competency such as donning and doffing PPE, BBP, Hazard Communications and Sexual Harassment Prevention. If you do not already have a VFISU User or Training Officer Guide they can be downloaded from the VFISU site, agency training officers that manage personnel using VFISU are the key to agency personnel using VFISU efficiently all of which is outlined in the Training Officer Guide. Agency personnel can be assigned classes by a training officer or agency personnel can self-enroll to take a class. If agency personnel retake a VFISU class during 2025 that they have already taken in a previous year or an additional time in 2025 to take it again they must select the GREEN Retake button to take the class another time to receive another certificate with the date on it that they are taking the class. If I can help you with this or other VFIS training let me know.  

                                                                                        OSHA 1910.156 UPDATE

    As we look to see the outcome of the OSHA 1910.156 Public Hearings held over November and December 2024 all those that gave testimony did a tremendous job. The leaders of the agencies of NYS that worked very hard on this NYS Chiefs, FASNY, NYS Association of Fire Districts and NYS Association of Fire Coordinators who partnered to address the proposed changes and testified on this and how it would impact the ESO’s of NYS continue to work on it.

                                                                                  CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS

  VFIS has a series of seminars and conferences we take part in annually which gives use the opportunity to present training programs and to meet with many clients and customers to answer questions that they have and help them to meet their needs. We look forward to seeing many of you at the 2025 conferences and seminars that are planned we will keep you posted as events we will be at come up.

                                                                                        RISK TRAINING TOOLS

  Just a reminder of our link to Risk Training tools RiskTools.VFIS.com. to streamline access to tools such as VFISU/Responder Help/VFIS Safety Central and HR Help to help clients/customers having one button access to tools. These are all great tools to use and [responderhelp.com]Responderhelp.com is a great resource you may be looking for to answer every day questions and administrative or operational needs. Another tool that has become very popular is our Don’t Risk It Podcast series which can be found on the [vfis.com]VFIS.com web site which you should take a look at, it’s a series of brief and very informative training topics and segments.

  This monthly training update is published to keep everyone informed on training tools and updated as classes are scheduled  to give everyone the time to be aware of upcoming training and register to attend. In addition to my training email your agency may also receive this information from other VFIS representatives or agents we want to ensure everyone is aware of VFIS Training Resources to use and classes that are available for you to attend.

Remember Safety is No Accident as you Protect Your Communities be careful always using situational awareness, if you have questions or other training needs don’t hesitate to contact me.

Stay Safe

Tim

 Tim Boel
Education Specialist
VFIS

183 Leader Heights Road | York, PA 17402

800.233.1957  |  c: 518.560.0437

tboel@vfis.com  |  vfis.com  |  Join the conversation

VFIS (CA Insurance Producer License #0B39073)
Glatfelter Underwriting Services, Inc. (CA Insurance Producer License #0B17046)

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