The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has been for the last 15 years, a leader in professional training in fire safety in Latin America, where I have had the responsibility, and why not say it, the privilege, of administering these professional development programs in Spanish.
By Jaime A. Moncada
NFPA has decided, as of 2016, to assume direct control of professional development programs in Latin America. I want to summarize very briefly these fifteen years, but I think it is much more interesting for the audience that reads us through this magazine, to describe what is coming in the near future regarding the new training options in fire safety.
The professional development programs of the NFPA were born in 1999, on a journey through Latin America of the CEO, as well as the Chairman of the Board of Directors, of the NFPA of that time, who traveled with me. In every country we visited we hear the same thing "we need training in Spanish!" Eventually this idea became a reality and since 2002, through International Fire Safety Training (IFST), I assume the administration of these training programs on behalf of the NFPA.
The first years of this program were quite complicated, specifically because we did not have the channels to reach users in the region, because we did not have enough courses that interested our customers, and because we had estimated very high prices for this type of training. But after necessary changes, by 2005 we were already exceeding our business plan.
The past 10 years have been extraordinary and demonstrate the need for and interest in fire safety training in the region. The growth of these programs has been, on average, 15% per year since 2002 and through 28 different seminars almost 30,000 people have received training, in more than 1,000 courses in 20 countries.
This prerogative, that of having been a standard-bearer of the NFPA through its educational programs in Spanish, has been one of my most satisfying professional privileges. They say that education is the noblest profession. After 15 years, I have no doubt. They excuse me if this sounds smug, but through this work, with the instructors and operators who have accompanied us, we have had the opportunity to exert a seminal and positive influence on fire safety in Latin America.
I appreciate the words and feelings of so many, including those of NFPA President James Pauley, who said "IFST substantially improved the level of knowledge about NFPA codes and standards in the region... We are very grateful for the work that IFST has been doing for so many years on behalf of the NFPA."
Most importantly, however, the success of these training programs in Latin America shows that we are ready for greater challenges. The user of fire safety is eager for much more, as well as deepening the training he has already received, especially in a region where fire safety is not formally taught at the technical or university level.
In 2016, the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) and the Fire Protection Institute (FPI) entered the Spanish training market, with more advanced courses and/or more specialized topics than the NFPA courses. These courses are not intended to compete with traditional NFPA courses, but rather to deepen and expand the level of training that NFPA has established. I understand that other organizations based in the United States, with an interest also in training in Spanish, would be entering the Latin American market.
In a region where there are no universities that train fire protection engineers, these types of courses, with greater depth, are excellent news for all of us, because the more training options we have, the more professional we can be in what we do.
*Jaime A. Moncada, PE is a director of International Fire Safety Consulting (IFSC), a fire protection engineering consulting firm based in Washington, DC. and with offices in Latin America. He is a fire protection engineer graduated from the University of Maryland, co-editor of the NFPA Fire Protection Manual, Vice President of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE). Moncada's email address is [email protected]
