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Fried Training Talk- Using Audio Distractions

Published: Friday, July 19, 2019
Updated: Thursday, August 01, 2019

The training begins and suddenly the construction project you didn’t know about begins with hammering, drilling, and the assorted sounds that go with it. Now this training class happens to be for a group of people who will be working in an environment where there will be a constant level of high noise (like a night club or a stadium), so you want to make use of this “distraction” without taking away from your training.

Anyone have any experiences similar to this? What did you do, and how were your results?

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A few people dropped the class because they couldn't concentrate; however, those that stayed later said they appreciated the method because it prepared them with a practical skill they could use in the field.
Keith, thank you, and please do the same for me. Now that I'm no longer in emergency services, I do have more of a "completionist" mindset; my goal is to make sure EVERYONE benefits from training opportunities. The mantra in EMS, though, is "You're not training them to pass a test. You're training them for the moment when they are the only thing between a patient and death". There's so much more to working that field than just classroom knowledge, and a lot of it is very difficult to train.
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Mr. Stephens, first feel free to call me Keith. Second, it sounds like your training is right on the nose for what it does. I've worked with and trained EMS staff and completely understand what you mean about having that right mindset. I have this completionist streak in me that feels if I let one person fail who could have succeeded, I failed. I sometimes have to remind myself that if we get 80% trained successfully with those good mindset tools, we are doing a great job.
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I've known some incredibly smart people who aced the classes, but couldn't perform in the field; conversely, I've known some (the majority) who did well enough in class but nothing outstanding- but they had the right mindset and those other non-knowledge skills that made them top-notch providers. That is what my training was designed to bring out in people.
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Mr. Pomeroy, I don't have statistics, but I'm sure I did lose a few that went on to have successful EMS careers. My training tended to be very demanding because the job (EMT or Medic) is very demanding- passing a test is one thing, functioning "live" is totally different. As my instructor said "That certification you get is your learner's permit- it enables you to go out and learn how to be a paramedic". There is more to the job than knowledge, and my training tried to prepare for that aspect
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Shane, as someone who used to train people on CPR I can definitely appreciate that approach. My question about that approach is, do you think you lost any trainees that might otherwise have been productive if the initial training had contained less distractions?
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While training EMTs and paramedics I kept a scanner on in the classroom so that every time a call went out, it would disrupt class. I did this because I wanted my students to get used to working in an environment where there were constant distractions- someone's life may be in your hands, and you'll have tons of other stimuli assaulting you. The goal was to train them to keep their minds on what they were doing, and filter out distractions.
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