Youth Crew

In partnership with the Office for Youth, CFA as a Service Provider to the Victorian Youth Development Program (VYDP) supports a two-year school program known as Youth Crew.

Students involved in Youth Crew participate in three broad areas:

1. Youth Crew Curriculum consisting of the following topics:

CFA Awareness
Community Service
Fire Behaviour
Fire-fighting Equipment (Suppression)
Safety First - Community Safety
Safety First - Occupational Hazards and Safety
Leadership and Team Building
Fire in the Environment

2. The Duke of Edinburgh's Bronze Award

3. First Aid level 1 training plus CPR.

Support for VYDP/Youth Crew schools is provided by the CFA in the form of a Youth Programs Officer, a Youth Crew Handbook, access to CFA training grounds, school co-ordinator induction training and input from local brigades.

Program Objectives
The program aims to foster leadership, teamwork & initiative; increase young people's knowledge of the role of CFA in the community; develop a young person’s competence in a range of aspects of the work of CFA; enhance positive brigade-school contact and involvement; increase participation by young people in local brigades; increase fire safety awareness throughout the school community and enhance young people's job prospects.

This year the Youth Crew have participated in the following activities:

Size up and RECEO
Learning how to couple, unroll, rollup and direct hoses.
Learning about wildfire behaviour.

On November 27th, they will be completing a full training day at the Penhurst training ground covering:

Car fires.
Use of extinguishers.
Entering a smoke filled building.

As well, Youth Crew members have helped in the Good Friday Appeal and attended the Terang Urban Fire Brigade dinner.

They are looking forward to more Minimum Skills training in 2004.