Instructors Corner - Officer Survival Instructor Skills

 by Scott Kirshner, M.Ed., COSCI, INCI

You can’t learn to swim without getting wet.

A question I am routinely asked is: What makes a good officer survival instructor? This is a loaded question that cannot easily or comprehensively be answered in a short article so this will be a high-level overview. Ask that question to ten officer survival trainers and you will probably get ten different answers. I am going to take the liberty to modify the question a little and change the word ‘good’ to ‘effective’ to offer a more descriptive answer.

An effective officer survival instructor has the ability to facilitate the transfer and retention of officer survival knowledge, skills, and abilities that can be applied in contextually relevant and novel encounters that occur in a high stress, time compressed, ambiguous, rapidly changing, and dynamic environment with the potential for life-threatening injury.  

Keep in mind that a threat who violently attacks a code official is not accountable to department policies or inhibited by laws. Conversely, a code official defending themself against a violent attacker is expected to stringently abide by department policies and the law. These are two very different standards that ultimately provide an advantage to the attacker who has no barriers to their unjustified implementation of violence. During a violent attack a code official may hesitate – in a time compressed environment where seconds matter – because cognitive resources become overwhelmed thinking about the parameters of policy and law instead of taking necessary and timely actions to stop the threat. Training matters when it comes to officer survival skills and so does the quality of instruction!

A qualified officer survival trainer must possess a distinct set of qualifications and experience to effectively prepare code officials for the dangers and challenges they may face in the line of duty. Most encounters will not escalate to the worst-case scenario but officers who are trained for this encounter will have an understanding of the range of force options. To reach this level of competence requires a host of officer survival skills.

 Training for the best-case scenario will never prepare you to resolve the worst-case scenario!

 

Following is a brief introduction to essential requirements I believe make an effective officer survival trainer:

Motivation

The first question a trainer should ask is: Why do I want to be an officer survival instructor? If the answer has anything to do with ego, relevancy, money, or status then becoming an instructor is being done for the wrong reason. What is needed is an internal fire, passion, and drive to make others safer. Know your “why” for wanting to be an instructor.

It is important to note that there are times when an instructor gets into training for the wrong reason or they are ‘voluntold’ to attend a train-the-trainer to teach a course. Over time the instructor realizes they have a passion for training they did not know existed. Through continued training and development these individuals often become excellent instructors.

Foundational Instructor Courses

Two courses that are foundational to becoming a qualified instructor are General Instructor Certification and Instructional Design training. Without these courses there are significant knowledge gaps that impair one’s ability to be an effective instructor.

• General Instructor Certification: This course provides participants with the basic skills and knowledge of adult learners, training liability issues, creating performance objectives, presentation techniques, lesson plan format and development, evaluation instruments, classroom management, and instructional ability through timed, oral presentations. Generally this is a 40 hour course.
• Instructional Design: This course provides participants the process for creating training curriculum. Instructional design typically covers topics to include: task/performance analysis, developing a training design plan, creating performance objectives, creating instructor guide, creating participant guide, creating slide deck, creating rubrics and scenario control documentation, developing defensible tests that have content validity, and creating evaluation tools that measure course efficacy. Generally this is a 40 hour course.

Instructional design is a critical skill. There is a significant difference between an instructor who creates training curriculum using instructional design methodology compared to an instructor who attends a train-the-trainer course to facilitate a training class written by someone else. Instructors who never create, develop, write, and implement their own training curriculum will not understand the extensive process involved and the need to comprehensively understand the subject matter at a granular level. Too often new or unskilled instructors incorrectly believe that creating a PowerPoint slide deck is instructional design. This is an incorrect assumption as the process is much more comprehensive than creating a slide deck.

General instructor certification and instructional design are skills that are applicable to the facilitation of any training course and is not specific to officer survival training.

Specialized Training and Certifications

These are course that specifically focus on officer survival skills. Not all of these courses are necessarily separate and distinct courses. For example use of force and legal liability are often covered in a defensive tactics instructor certification course. Officer safety courses may include:

• Use of Force
• Legal Liability
• Training Law
• Motor Skill Learning

• Defensive Tactics Instructor Certification
  • Mindset
  • Physical Fitness
  • Personal Weapons
  • De-escalation Tactics
  • OC Spray
  • Expandable Baton
  • Ground Fighting Basics
  • Edged Weapon Defense
  • Multiple Threats
  • Firearm Retention and Disarming
  • Scenarios
• Electronic Control Devices
• Firearms Instructor Certification
  • Psychology of a Shooting
  • Justification
  • Weapon Manipulation
  • Ballistics
  • Sights/Optics
  • Malfunction Clearing
  • Shooting Positions
  • Use of Cover/Concealment
  • Use of Tactics
  • Low-light Shooting
  • Judgmental Shooting
• Scenario-Based Training
  • Safety
  • Safety Officers
  • Scene/Area Containment Guidelines
  • Creating Scenarios
  • Writing Scripts
  • Role-player Roles
  • Providing Feedback
  • Creating Rubrics
  • Assessments
• Tactical Emergency Casualty Care
  • Care Under Fire
  • Tourniquet Use
  • Hemostatic Agents
  • Chest Seals
  • Airway Management
  • Trauma Assessment
  • Scene Assessment
  • Multiple Casualties
  • Self-Care
  • Downed Officer Drills

 

The above courses are not necessarily a comprehensive and representative list of every course or topic that an officer survival instructor needs to attend or receive certification.

Evaluation and Feedback

• Assessment and Evaluation Skills: Proficiency in assessing trainee performance through various evaluation methods, including written tests, practical exercises, and scenario-based evaluations.
• Constructive Feedback: Providing clear, constructive feedback to trainees to help improve skills and performance that will aid in retention and transfer.

Real-World Relevance

• Practical Application of Training: Ensuring that all training content is relevant to real-world situations officers may encounter.
• Comprehensive Skill Set: Covering a broad range of survival skills, including tactical communication, first aid/trauma care, mental resilience, and legal considerations in use-of-force situations.

Continuous Professional Development

• Ongoing Education and Training: Commitment to continual learning and staying current with the latest survival tactics, legal updates, and technological advancements related to officer survival. Professional development is extremely important. There are many changes occurring in training that have a significant impact on what is taught, how it is taught, and the effectiveness of training. Between January and June of this this year I completed 6 courses consisting of over 130 hours of professional development. It is necessary to continually improve your skills as an instructor or you will soon become outdated and irrelevant.
• Professional Networking: Active participation in professional organizations and networks to stay connected with advancements and current training methodologies in the field. Each week I attend a meeting with instructors from a variety of disciplines within training and law enforcement. This provides an opportunity to see what other trainers from across the country are doing pertaining to training. They are also a high-quality resource to ask questions, obtain feedback, and discuss new ideas.

By embodying these attributes and continuously honing skills and knowledge, a qualified officer survival trainer can effectively equip code officials with the essential tools and mindset needed to survive and thrive in the field. While many departments vary in officer survival training and safety equipment issued to code officials it is important for trainers to understand the range of force options even if many of those force options are not available to code officials. Knowing this information is an important distinction between qualified officer survival instructors and those with knowledge gaps. As an instructor you must have the ability to facilitate training course so that all attendees, regardless of prior training or issued equipment, receive the maximum benefit from the course. Your experience as an officer survival instructor matters. If you never completed a defensive tactics course where you had physical contact or experienced the stress of a scenario it is difficult to discuss such topics with your course attendees.

 You can be instructed on everything there is to know about swimming, proper swimming technique, and the effects of water but until you are in a pool you will not truly understand the realities of swimming and the possibility of drowning. You will not understand the temperature of the water, your ability to float, your ability to hold your breath underwater, or the fear of drowning which takes on a whole new meaning when you are in water!

 

To be an effective officer survival instructor you have to have metaphorically “been in the pool” to understand the topics you are teaching which will help you facilitate the transfer and retention of officer survival knowledge, skills, and abilities that can be applied in contextually relevant and novel encounters that occur in a high stress, time compressed, ambiguous, rapidly changing, and dynamic environment with the potential for life-threatening consequences. This can be accomplished through realistic and contextually relevant training.

The ability to facilitate officer survival training courses is rewarding but comes with a huge responsibility. The code officials who attend your course may one day depend on the information you provide in order to survive a violent encounter. Let us never fail those who depend on our knowledge, skills, abilities, and expertise.

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About the Author

Scott Kirshner, M.Ed., COSCI, INCI, has been a Parole Administrator, Supervisory Probation Officer, and a Corrections Officer. He has extensive experience as an officer survival trainer and has been a lead defensive tactics instructor, firearms instructor, and use of force instructor. He is the author of Officer Survival for Code Enforcement Officers. Mr. Kirshner is the owner and Lead Instructor of Dedicated Threat Solutions, LLC. He can be reached at: info@dedicatedthreatsolutions.com