Frequently Asked Questions
What is the ProBoard?
The Pro Board is an internationally-recognized means of acknowledging professional achievement in the fire service and related fields. Professionalism has long been a goal sought by members of the fire service. It has only been within the past 25 years that a system has evolved to produce national professional qualifications standards that can be used to establish performance measures for fire personnel.
Who can provide Pro Board Evaluations?
The ProBoard maintains a network of accredited training agencies, leaders in fire service training, who must undergo a rigorous review by the ProBoard’s review panel. This third party independent review is the best way to assure candidates and governance bodies that their training meets NFPA standards. Then, each of these training organizations is able to provide evaluations of individual firefighters against the NFPA 1006 Standard for Professional Qualifications. If successful, candidates receive a ProBoard certification and are entered in the ProBoard certification registry where employers may review credentials at any time.
What are the Benefits of ProBoard Certification?
ProBoard recognized certification from an accredited training organization is a statement of success, an indisputable mark of performance belonging to individual fire service professionals. Each successful candidate for certification from an accredited training organization knows that he or she has been measured against peers and meets rigorous national standards. Certification affords the individual a uniformity and portability of qualifications. In addition, the credibility of an organization is enhanced by having members certified to national consensus standards. A high percentage of certified members within a department has been shown to assist managers in their pursuit of adequate funding at budget time.
How does Raven Rescue fit in?
In two ways. First, our courses are already NFPA compliant but District of North Vancouver Fire Services - an accredited ProBoard agency - subjected our curriculum to a rigorous review to ensure completeness, and ensured that our instructors are well versed in the ProBoard’s written and practical testing methods. This means they know how to prepare candidates for evaluation. Secondly, Raven Rescue hosts ProBoard evaluations in both swiftwater (which includes technical rope) or technical rope on its own. These evaluations are conducted by North Vancouver District Fire Services - a ProBoard accredited training agency. If successful, candidates are awarded their ProBoard certification by District of North Vancouver and entered into ProBoard’s online central qualification registry.
How can I register for a ProBoard evaluation?
Departments can host evaluation sessions, either in conjunction with related training or as stand-alone evaluations. Individuals wishing to participate in an evaluation can register in public, open enrollment evaluations held each spring and fall in major centres across Canada.
See detailed descriptions:
ProBoard Swiftwater Rescue Technician
ProBoard Technical Rope Rescue - Technician
