Hunterdon County Emergency Services Training Center (HCESTC)

12/14/2025

Sunday December 14th - Due to the higher than expected snowfall and with caution in mind, today's Vehicle Rescue Ops class is postponed. Students will be notified of make-up date.

10/27/2025

Along with our Trench Rescue - Operations Level course, we also have seats in the following courses. See our website for more information and to register!

https://www.co.hunterdon.nj.us/571/Emergency-Services-Training-Center

Command The Flame - November 1st - 0800-1600
Prerequisite(s): NJDFS Firefighter 1
Description: This class is designed to familiarize instructor candidates with the compliance requirements of NFPA 1403 Live Fire Training Evolutions and NFPA 1402 Standard on Facilities for Fire Training and Associated Props. Students will learn modern fire behavior concepts and fire attack methodologies.

Fire Tactics with Water Based Fire Protection - November 3rd - 1900-2300
Prerequisite(s): NJDFS Firefighter 1
Description: Truck Company work is notoriously dynamic and requires mindful firefighter who can pivot quickly and operate with limited supervision. We'll discuss how to best accomplish these duties with street, smart, fireground proven skills and tactics.

AWR-230 - Response to Terrorist Bombings - November 5th - 1900-2300
Prerequisite(s): NONE
Description: The IRTB course provides first responders with the knowledge and skills necessary to safely respond to terrorist incidents involving explosives. The IRTB course focuses on first responder health and safety by addressing personal protection issues that arise when responding to terror incidents involving commercial and homemade explosive. Additionally, the course includes information on the recognition of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs); terrorist organizations, both foreign and domestic; and lessons learned from past terrorist incidents. This information better prepares first responders to safely recognize and respond to terrorist bombing threats

Discover information about the Emergency Services Training Center.

10/26/2025

There are still spots remaining in the upcoming Trench Rescue - Operations Level course that starts on Thursday November 6th. As a matter of fact, we need additional students to run the class. Registration is open to both in and out of county personnel. Go to the website to sign up, as soon as possible. Registration will be open through Monday November 3rd. https://www.co.hunterdon.nj.us/571/Emergency-Services-Training-Center
The Trench Ops course teaches the latest techniques to shore non-intersecting trenches up to 8' deep. The T-L shoring assessment, lip bridges, void management, supplemental shoring and hazard control operations are some of the topics covered, all in "live" trenches.

07/10/2025

Two weeks ago, firefighters from across the county joined us at the Hunterdon County Emergency Services Training Center for our inaugural Rural Water Supply Course — a hands-on, multi-day program focused on water movement in non-hydrated areas.

Thursday kicked off in the classroom, where students received in-depth instruction on fire flow calculations, water supply strategies, tender shuttle operations, and fill/dump site planning.

Saturday morning moved outdoors, where students rotated through advanced drafting technique stations:

- Long Drafting – pulling water from distances beyond standard setups using extended hard suction lengths. The students utilized 118’ of hard sleeve hose with an approximate 15’ vertical elevation change.
- Multi-Tube Drafting – using multiple hard suction lines simultaneously to increase intake and overcome limitations of single intakes.
- Positive Prime Drafting – utilizing high efficiency drafting strainers with built-in jet siphon devices to force water up and through the hard sleeve hose.
- Burp Drafting – a method of securing a draft, utilizing discharges to “burp” the air out of the suction tube.

Saturday afternoon focused on water movement through fill sites and dump site operations:

- Students began with Jumbo Siamese Pump-Offs, where a tender would pump off its tank water through the Jumbo Siamese to the attack engine, flowing water.
- This transitioned into Dump Tank Operations, where tenders emptied into portable tanks. A draft engine would draft from one of the portable tanks and pump the water to the fire attack engine. A separate transfer engine was eventually established to transfer water from the primary dump tank to the drafting tank. This allowed the students to learn the strain this can put on your water supply system when you do not have a dedicated transfer engine.

Sunday’s full-scale exercise was held off-site at Unicom UNICOM Global Science & Technology Park, where students put their skills to the test. For both evolutions, a fill site was established on site to fill the 3 tenders available for the evolution. The fill site was extremely shallow; however, it was able to sustain approximately 1000gpm.

- Morning Evolution: Simulated a 750 GPM sustained fire flow beginning with a Jumbo Siamese, then transitioning into dump tank support.
- Afternoon Evolution: Aimed for a high-flow operation, while 2500 GPM was the target, limited tender availability required adaptation. Using three water tenders and a supplemental draft source, crews sustained an impressive 1500 GPM.

A huge THANK YOU to:

- All participating departments that supplied apparatus, equipment and drinking water.
- Our students for adapting, working hard, and making the course a success despite real-world limitations.
- UNICOM Global – for graciously opening your facility to us, supporting public safety training, and touring our staff through your incredible property.

This was just the first rendition, and we’re already planning improvements and future offerings. Stay tuned!

04/16/2025

This past weekend, the HCESTC hosted the Advanced Trench Shoring class. Despite the rainy weather, students were able to conduct shoring operations in difficult conditions.

This twenty hour class focuses on trench and excavation shoring beyond the Technician Level. A classroom session was conducted on Friday evening, followed by hands-on training Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday morning, the class shored a five foot wide trench and then worked on several methods to secure the trench end wall. An end wall raker system was completed first, followed by an end wall tie-back system. This was accomplished first using an end wall panel with Paratech wales tied back using chains and binders. This panel was then removed and a standard panel used with LVL wales to complete the tie-back. Heavy rain, sleet and cold temperatures made for some rough conditions.

On Sunday, the class shored a 10' x 14' excavation using ten panels. A large buttress shore was needed along one wall, along with two medium pressure cushions to fill voids on two separate panels. After lunch, students shored a sloped trench wall using pickets to create resistance to sliding, as friction of the panel to the soil is not sufficient to secure the panel in place. Students then converted that system into a wale system using the weight of the excavator to provide resistance. These situations are intended to make the students think of multiple options to solve the shoring problems, as no two situations are the same. On Saturday and Sunday, students also had the opportunity to use an air knife and RescueVac system during digging operations.

At the end of the day, multiple power washers and an 1.5" hose line were used in an extensive clean-up of all the tools and equipment used. Thanks to South Branch Emergency Services and Flemington - Raritan Rescue Squad for providing trench rescue equipment for class, the Hunterdon County Road Department for digging all of the excavations, and to the Raritan Township Municipal Utilities Authority and Town of Clinton Public Works for supplying vacuum trucks to use with the RescueVac system.

03/09/2025

OUT OF COUNTY AGENCIES - Keep a look out on our registration page - Some classes listed as "HUNTERDON ONLY" will be opening up to students from Out of County this week due to current registration numbers. If a class opens up, please sign up as soon as possible!

11/10/2024

This past Friday evening and all day Saturday, eighteen members of local emergency services completed the Hunterdon County Emergency Services Training Center's twelve hour Grain Bin Rescue program. Bin storage of bulk materials takes place on farms and industrial sites around the county. This program requires students to have completed Rope Rescue - Operations and Confined Space Rescue - Operations as prerequisites.

Friday evening was a lecture about the hazards of grain bin engulfments, along with an overview of different rescue procedures. Saturday was a "hands-on" portion at the HCESTC where students used various equipment to perform rescue operations in a grain bin and in grain wagons. While this program has an agricultural slant (the students operated in bushels of donated oats), many of these same techniques can be used on industrial sites where bulk product is stored in hoppers or tanks. Personnel had the opportunity to use two different shield systems available in the County, the 4" RescueVac system, portable grain augers, high angle rescue techniques, saws for cutting drain holes in the bin, patient packaging in a confined space, and other confined space skills such as lock-out / tag-out and ventilation.

This class would not have been possible without the assistance of the Flemington - Raritan Rescue Squad, South Branch Emergency Services, Lambertville FD, Clinton FD and the Town of Clinton Dept of Public Works, and HCESTC Lead Instructor Tom Hoffman. Special thanks to Hoffman Farms LLC for donating 300 bushels of oats, and Lindaberry Farms LLC for donating 100 bushels of soybeans for the class.

09/08/2024

This past summer has been a busy one for the HCESTC Rescue Training Programs. July featured our Heavy Vehicle Under-Ride / Over-Ride advanced vehicle rescue course, along with contract classes for University Hospital EMS Rescue (forty hours of Vehicle Rescue and forty hours of High Angle Rope Rescue). In August, the HCESTC presented our thirty-two hour Rope Rescue Operations - High Angle course. This past weekend was our Farmedic Provider program.

Upcoming open enrollment courses for September and October include Swiftwater Rescue Operations, Elevator Emergencies, Trench Rescue Technician, Rope Rescue - Rescue from Heights, and Swiftwater Rescue Technician. This is in addition to various Awareness Level classes. Upcoming contract courses for University EMS Rescue include Confined Space Rescue, Forcible Entry, and Industrial Entrapments. A contract Boat Operator class is scheduled for Hillsborough FD. This is all in addition to our Fire and EMS programs currently running and upcoming this semester

Check out the HCESTC website for details on upcoming open enrollment classes and to sign up for classes with openings remaining in the roster.
https://www.co.hunterdon.nj.us/571/Emergency-Services-Training-Center

PLEASE NOTE - If you have signed up for a class early in the semester but your schedule has changed and you are now unable to attend the class, please drop your registration following the proper procedure as soon as possible before the start of class. Unfortunately many of our classes have waiting lists and students waiting until the last minute to drop from a class prevents the opening from being filled and the course from having a full roster. Some programs lately have had as many as eight or ten students drop from the class within a week of the start date. Please be courteous to others and drop from class as soon as a schedule conflict arises. Thanks in advance for your anticipated cooperation!

09/08/2024

Yesterday, the Hunterdon County Emergency Services Training Center completed the Farmedic Provider training program.

This twelve hour program focuses on agricultural entrapments and emergencies. With many local farms still operating in our county, this training is extremely valuable and builds on vehicle extrication and "man in machine" type training. Some of the scenarios encountered in class included an overturned tractor on an embankment, a subject pinned beneath a small bulldozer, a victim entrapped in a baler, and a subject with a limb entrapped in an auger. These scenarios are based on incidents that have occurred in our county over the last ten years. The final scenario involved multiple victims entrapped in and under a partially overturned combine that collided with a tractor.

07/22/2024

This past week, twenty-four students completed the HCESTC's Heavy Vehicle Over-Ride / Under-Ride class, conducted at the training center in Annandale.

Tuesday started off the class with a classroom session reviewing heavy lifting operations, integrating heavy towing and recovery equipment in rescue operations, and the procedures for handling crashes involving commercial vehicles and passenger cars. Thursday night was a review of specialized heavy lifting and rigging equipment.

Saturday morning started off with a tour of the heavy duty rotator recovery vehicles that assisted with the practical exercises. Students then went through three scenarios - car under a school bus, car underneath a box tractor trailer, and a pedestrian pinned beneath a box trailer. At each station, students had to use three different lifting techniques, ranging from Holmatro lifting cylinders, Paratech Hydrafusion lifting struts, Paratech high pressure air bags, and Griphoist portable winches. For the final lift, the rotators picked up the load. For each group, during the final scenario, the groups used hydraulic rescue tools to extricate the patients after winching the vehicle out from beneath the crushing load.

On Sunday, students were faced with three new scenarios. The first was a pickup truck under the rear of a rear-mount concrete mixer. The second was a small vehicle crushed beneath a heavy section of bridge decking with limited access. The third station involved a tractor trailer tanker overturned onto a sport utility vehicle. Crews lead and performed the operation under the guidance of the instructors. Again, for the last operation, each crew winched out the vehicle and then used hydraulic rescue tools to free the patients.

Special thanks to Dave's Heavy Towing and Superior Towing and Transport for providing expert operators and their equipment for the program. The class would be impossible without their assistance. Thanks also to South Branch Emergency Services, Flemington-Raritan Rescue Squad, Whitehouse Rescue Squad and Lambertville Fire Department for providing specialized vehicle rescue equipment for use in class.

04/15/2024

Twenty-one students completed Trench Rescue - Operations Level training over the past four days at the Hunterdon County Emergency Services Training Center. Students from three counties completed the twenty-four hour program for these high risk incidents.

Thursday evening was a lecture. Friday evening was spent learning some of the specialized equipment used in trench rescues. Saturday was all practical exercises, with students learning how to shore straight wall trenches using timber and Paratech pneumatic shores. Hazard control operations, panel setting, strut operation and placement and the five step shoring plan were all covered in depth. Students then shored trenches and managed collapse voids using low and medium pressure air cushions, back shores, buttress shores, cribbing and soil backfill.

Today was spent with practical exercises. In the morning, the class shored a trench with a buried victim that required void management and supplemental shores to extricate the mannequin. Once free, the patient was lifted from the trench using a haul system and a ladder derrick. The afternoon scenario involved a victim pinned underneath a concrete pipe at the bottom of the trench. Inside wales were used to create space within the trench and a Paratech bipod and heavy rigging equipment were used to raise the pipe and free the patient.

Thanks to the Flemington-Raritan Rescue Squad and Frenchtown Fire Department for supplying equipment for use during the class.

Special thanks to Hunterdon County Road Department Heavy Equipment Operator Tom Leone. This was Tom's last class assisting with our Trench Rescue programs, as he is retiring soon. Tom has been an asset to our programs over the years, not only for his operator expertise but also his experience a fellow first responder. Enjoy retirement Tom!

04/08/2024

Yesterday, twenty-one students completed the HCESTC's Water Rescue Boat Operator program. This twenty hour program covers boat operations in both calm and moving water.

Students completed a classroom session on Wednesday followed by practical sessions on Saturday at Round Valley Reservoir and on Sunday at on the Delaware River at Bulls Island State Park. In order to take the class, students were required to have previously taken a boater safety course and had to have a boat endorsement on their drivers license.

The Saturday session at Round Valley started off with a review of basic boat and motor maintenance along with safe trailering of the watercraft. Once the boats were all launched, students familiarized themselves with boat handling and operation before performing various exercises including maneuvering through a series of gates, approaching objects / people in the water, and safely approaching the shoreline and docks. Paddling exercises and proper disabled boat towing were also completed. Students contended with strong winds, rain showers and cold temperatures during the training.

Sunday started off chilly but warmed into a great day of training on the Delaware River. The river was still running high due to recent rains. This provided realistic conditions for the students in the fast moving water. After about an hour of boat handling familiarization in moving water, students performed a series of exercises including approaching an object and holding position in fast moving water, ferrying angles, "J turns" into an eddy and approaching a victim, and eddy peel out turns. Students learned how thier agency's boats handle under these conditions and were given the chance to operate other boats as well as operating boats with varying payloads to see how that changes handling.

Thanks to South Branch Emergency Services, Flemington-Raritan Rescue Squad, Milford Fire Company, Lambertville Fire Department, Kingwood Township Fire Company, and Hunterdon County OEM for supplying boats for the class.