Additional hand-off course CD ROMS will be available directly through the USFA Publication s Office. Newly developed hand-off courses will be reviewed after approximately 18 months of delivery. State instructors will be used to develop revisions based on common student concerns, curriculum changes or other similar matters. The underlying benefit of all of these programs is reciprocity. Once States receive NFA endorsement, they can deliver NFA endorsed courses and issue NFA certificates, but then they must also accept NFA certificates from other jurisdictions as evidence of training.
Reciprocity has many benefits.
It reduces training costs because people don t have to be retrained when they move to another jurisdiction. It begins to assemble disparate training under one system that is universally recognized. It gives national stature to State fire training systems, and begins the process of assembling a body of knowledge and a universally recognized process by which to acquire that knowledge. These are the first steps to professional status for the Nation s fire and emergency services. The USFA Chief Operating Officer agrees with the proposed system and the concept has been endorsed by the NFA Board of Visitors.