The Public Safety Group Blog

If you haven’t heard of ChatGPT by now it’s only a matter of time. This chatbot has taken the world by storm and touched many industries already, particularly education.

The platform, developed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI, an artificial intelligence research lab, and launched in November 2022, is known for its ability to mimic (and even, dare we say, exceed) human capabilities depending on what prompts are entered into it. For now, the tool is public and free to use.

Though the bot is making waves in education for some of the wrong reasons, it did get us at Public Safety Group thinking: Can ChatGPT provide sound guidance for people who are actively teaching firefighters right now?

We plugged in a few queries, and the results were interesting but incomplete. Read on to find out what we learned, or rather, what ChatGPT told us you should learn about teaching firefighters.

(Questions were asked by PSG Editor Bret Silverberg, hence the initials "BS" in the queries.)

Thinking we would give it an easy one off the top, we asked:

Here's what ChatGPT said:

Firefighter education today covers a wide range of topics, but some of the most important ones include:

1. Fire Behavior and Combustion: Understanding how fires start, spread, and can be controlled is essential to firefighters.

2. Building Construction: Knowledge of building construction and design is important for firefighters to understand how fires behave in different structures.

3. Hazardous Materials: Firefighters must be trained to respond to hazardous materials incidents, such as chemical spills and gas leaks.

4. Emergency Medical Services (EMS): Many firefighters are also trained as emergency medical responders and must be able to provide basic life support and medical care at the scene of an emergency.

5. Rescue Operations: Firefighters are often called upon to perform rescue operations, including extricating people from vehicles and rescuing people from burning buildings.

6. Incident Command System (ICS): Firefighters must be trained in ICS, a standardized approach to managing emergency incidents, so they can effectively respond to and manage complex incidents.

7. Health and Safety: Firefighters must be trained in health and safety procedures to minimize the risks associated with their work, such as heat stress, respiratory protection, and hazardous materials exposure.

8. Firefighting Tactics and Strategy: Firefighters must be trained in firefighting tactics and strategy, including fire attack, ventilation, and search and rescue operations.

These are just some of the most important topics in firefighter education today, and training programs typically cover many other topics as well.

Next, we wanted to get ChatGPT to dive a little deeper. We asked:


Here's what we got:

1. Stay Current: Firefighting is an ever-evolving field, and it is important for those who teach it to stay up-to-date with the latest technologies, techniques, and best practices. This can be achieved by attending workshops, conferences, and continuing education courses.

2. Incorporate Real-World Experience: The best way to prepare firefighters for the real world is to provide them with real-world experiences. Firefighting instructors can bring in guest speakers, conduct mock drills, and provide hands-on training to give students practical experience.

3. Use Interactive and Engaging Methods: Firefighting is a hands-on and physically demanding profession, and instructors can use interactive and engaging methods, such as simulations, role-playing, and case studies to make the training more effective and memorable.

4. Encourage Student Participation: Encouraging student participation, through group discussions, team-building exercises, and active learning activities can help foster a more collaborative learning environment.

5. Focus on Safety: Safety is of the utmost importance in the firefighting profession, and instructors should emphasize this in their training programs and emphasize the importance of proper equipment usage, personal protective gear, and following established procedures.

6. Evaluate and Improve: It is important for instructors to regularly evaluate their teaching methods and seek feedback from students to continually improve the quality of their instruction.

By staying current, incorporating real-world experience, using interactive and engaging methods, encouraging student participation, focusing on safety, and evaluating and improving their teaching methods, firefighting instructors can better prepare their students for the demands of the profession.

Finally, we asked what resources people who teach firefighting could use (we are an ed-tech company, after all, so we were naturally curious on this one).


Here's what we got:

There are a number of resources available to those who teach firefighting to help them improve their skills and knowledge. Some of the most useful include:

1. Professional Organizations: Joining a professional organization, such as the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF), the International Association of Fire Service Instructors (IAFSI) (note: We think ChatGPT meant the International Society of Fire Service Instructors or ISFSI), or the National Fire Academy (NFA) can provide access to resources, training programs, and a network of peers.

2. Firefighting Textbooks and Reference Materials: There are a number of textbooks, reference materials, and online resources available for firefighting instructors, including the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards, the Fire Officer's Handbook of Tactics, and the Fundamentals of Firefighter Skills.

3. Online Learning Platforms: Online learning platforms, such as Coursera, edX, and Udemy, offer a wide range of courses and certifications that can help firefighting instructors improve their skills and knowledge.

4. Conferences and Workshops: Attending conferences and workshops can provide an opportunity to learn from experts in the field, network with peers, and stay current with the latest developments and best practices in firefighting education.

5. Collaboration with other Instructors: Collaborating with other firefighting instructors can provide an opportunity to share ideas, best practices, and resources, and to learn from one another's experiences.

6. Observing and Studying Real-Life Incidents: Observing and studying real-life incidents can help firefighting instructors understand the challenges and complexities of firefighting and to develop more effective training programs.

By using these resources, firefighting instructors can continually improve their knowledge and skills, and better prepare their students for the demands of the profession.

Our final assessment: ChatGPT is certainly impressive, but the bottom line is there is still no replacement for human experience, excellent books, educational materials and learning modules and, of course, great teachers.