Wheeling Fire Department member Brittany Hoffman has joined an elite group in her profession by completing a rigorous advanced firefighter training course.

The 30-year-old is the 13th female out of 1,202 participants who have completed the Georgia Smoke Diver course, a six-day simulation of the toughest aspects of being a firefighter.

The course challenges one’s ability to withstand 60 hours of stressful, often life-or-death situations, replicated in training drills. Participants practice structural fire search and rescue operations, victim removal situations and ladder company operations.

Hoffman’s training class began with 43 participants, but the mental and physical rigor of the course thinned the pack to only 15 leaving the program as certified Georgia Smoke Divers.

For Hoffman, the program’s difficulty was an aspect she expected and welcomed, as she decided to apply to the program “to challenge herself.” She added that earning the Georgia Smoke Diver qualification had always been something she strived for.

“The program is strenuous and difficult to get through,” noted Hoffman. “I am always looking for a challenge, and this was something I kind of knew I was prepared for.”

After applying for the program once before and not getting in, Hoffman was accepted the second time she applied in the summer of 2023. After she received the acceptance email, Hoffman described being “locked in” to training for the next eight months.

Hoffman’s preparation for the course consisted of preparing her body for the course by working out in her firefighter gear and performing many drills she thought would be in the program.

“The training was a lot of ups and downs,” noted Hoffman. “I’d have some days where I felt really good, and the workouts went great. Then there’d be other days where I felt like absolute crap.”

Hoffman’s preparation paid off as she found the ups and downs of her training to be a replica of what she would experience during the program, which she described as being “like a rollercoaster.”

The Georgia Smoke Diver course begins with a written test that covers basic firefighter knowledge that is taught during entry-level training to become a firefighter.

The next step is an agility test similar to an entry-level physical test that one would take to get into a fire department, which includes a 1½-mile run, pull-ups, a stair climb with equipment and hosting equipment up on a rope.

“Since they put all those elements into the physical agility test, you would have to complete each exercise at a station,” explained Hoffman. “These stations were timed, so you had to finish each section or complete so many reps within a certain time limit.”

Though the course has a 65% attrition rate, Hoffman noted that the first two sections of the training are not what eliminates participants. She explained that most participants come to the course in shape and ready to conquer the physical aspect of the training.

“I would see people show up and think, ‘All right, he or she looks fit, we’re probably gonna make it through this class together,'” recalled Hoffman. “Then these same people were dropping out on day one, two or three.”

What eliminated participants during Hoffman’s training? A lack of mental resilience.

“It’s a very physically demanding course, so not only do you have to come in pretty good physical shape but you have to come in with a very high mental resilience,” noted Hoffman. “These are long 10- to 12-hour days that begin with a rigorous physical therapy regimen each day and then the rest of the day is training evolutions and skill stations, which have a high learning curve as well.”

The training focused on firefighter survival, with the foundation of drills built on one’s survival, rescuing another firefighter and civilian rescue. While some of the skills Hoffman performed during the course were ones she had covered in her training to become a firefighter, others were new to her.

Georgia Smoke Diver classes included learning new life-saving techniques, such as using a hose line to pull someone up from the lower floor of a building. Another drill Hoffman found handy was learning how to bail out from a window using a rope in various ways.

Hoffman also found running through emergency procedures beneficial. One simulation she found particularly helpful was managing one’s air pack while it was running out of oxygen, malfunctioning or broken.

Apart from replicating survival situations, the course also taught other skills, such as engine and truck operations.

Though the training tests the physical and mental endurance of participants, Hoffman emphasized that the program is still a “training environment.” By the end of the course, Hoffman was armed with new knowledge within her profession to take back to Wheeling.

“They’re teaching you skills while you’re there, but also testing you on them, so you have to show proficiency and meet their standard of completions for each skill you’re taught,” explained Hoffman. “Some of the skills I had done before, but then others were brand new to me. It was a very nice mix of learning new things and seeing that I could meet their standards with a particular skill I already knew how to do.”

There are three ways a participant can fail the course – choosing to drop out, not meeting set performance standards or having a medical failure through injury.

Hoffman could not recall which of these three failure options occurred the most among her class, as the 43 participants were split off into teams who underwent the training together.

“The hierarchy of importance for us in the training is your team first, your gear second and then ourselves third,” noted Hoffman. “You wanted somebody on your team to succeed as much as you want to succeed. Because we’re all going through the same trials and tribulations, it brings a lot of people together.”

Though some solace could be found in bonding with teammates, Hoffman noted that the “huge mental component” involved in the class still pushed the body and mind of participants “to the breaking point.”

“They push not only our body but our mind to the breaking point because our job is ruthless,” noted Hoffman. “You don’t know when that bell could drop at the station and what you’ll need to do once it does. That very stressful environment is what the program is trying to replicate to make you able to do things you never thought you could do. It shows you that you should never think you can’t do something because you can.”

Apart from proving to herself that she could withstand the course, Hoffman is thrilled to be one of only 13 females to complete the course.

“Just being among those 13 is cool because when you talk to any of them, you think, “Oh, you’re hardcore,” said Hoffman. “I try not to dwell on this too much, but I know people think it’s a big accomplishment because we are in a male-dominated profession. It’s great to be a part of a bunch of tough women.”