Police, Fire/EMT/Rescue and Military Training for supers: some thoughts

[megaplayboy]

I was reading a summary of "The Boys"(the Garth Ennis comic book series, now a tv series), which stated that supers were kept deliberately "unskilled" at the special training possessed by police, fire/rescue teams and military special operations forces, so that they wouldn't be a "threat" to take over those jobs.  But it occurs to me that, in a world where superhumans might be "regulated", that some countries or jurisdictions might actually require such training as a prerequisite for supers to be licensed and/or get full cooperation from various government entities including law enforcement, fire/ambulance/rescue services, and the military.

A de minimis requirement might be CPR/first aid training, plus sheriff's deputy training.  At the most extensive level of certification, supers might get full paramedic training, full fire and rescue training, police academy training including investigative training and SWAT training, and some form of military special operations tactical training.  That might be 5 years+ worth of training!  But presumably that would be a hero capable of professionally handling most of the situations confronted by superheroes(or by fire/rescue/ems/police/military for that matter).  Such a training requirement would likely call for a "superhero training academy", which itself might be good fodder for a campaign setting...

 

Anyway, I'm likely to come back to this and list off what skills might be taught at such an academy, and conjure up some package deals for it.  

[Chris Goodwin]

In the other thread when I was talking about first responder training, I was thinking about this:  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_emergency_response_team 

 

CERT is a community volunteer program; I've got friends who have gone through it.  

 

I'm on my phone right now, otherwise I'd have more to say.  I will later.

[megaplayboy]

Some of these skills can be learned in a matter of hours or days.  Others can take weeks, months or even years.   I think my point is that, in a semi-realistic superpowered world,  there would be some sentiment towards "professionalizing" superheroes.  Insurance companies might even require it.  So it would make sense for the community to systematize such training.  If so, what levels of licensing and certification might exist, how would you make package deals reflecting these levels, and how would it impact how superheroes do their thing?

[Chris Goodwin]

In the world of Super Powereds, there are a number of universities that offer the Hero Certification Program.  Hero is a title regulated by the DVA (Department of Variant Human Affairs) and is reserved for those who have gone through the program.  It's effectively a four year degree program.  Students learn teamwork, leadership, keeping calm in an emergency situation, fighting (a lot of fighting -- most of it is learning how hard they themselves can hit, and being able to tune their attacks for takedown and nothing more, but also in avoiding collateral damage), additional uses for their powers, a great deal about the law and supers, a great deal about the other known supers (especially former Heroes who went bad, but also known Heroes and their weaknesses, because one never knows when a Hero might go bad), a lot about how city emergency services interact with super fights, when it's appropriate to kill, and a lot I'm probably not remembering.  They require a two-year internship ("sidekick") period with a certified Hero after graduation as part of a group.  

 

Supers who don't become certified (either choosing not to take the training or failing out of the program) are not permitted to fight crime, but they often go into the private sector.  Corporate security, consulting, post-battle cleanup, research & development, courier work, probably others I'm forgetting.  Those who fail out or otherwise leave the program before graduating undergo mind-wipe to remove their knowledge of faces, names, sensitive knowledge, but not the majority of the training itself; those who exit on good terms are usually first in line for corporate jobs.  

 

In real life, FEMA recommends that a CERT standardized ten-person team be composed of: 

• CERT Leader. Generally, the first CERT team member arriving on the scene becomes team leader, and is the designated Incident Commander (IC) until the arrival of someone more competent. This person makes the IC initial assessment of the scene and determines the appropriate course of action for team members; assumes role of Safety Officer until assigned to another team member; assigns team member roles if not already assigned; designates triage area, treatment area, morgue, and vehicle traffic routes; coordinates and directs team operations; determines logistical needs (water, food, medical supplies, transportation, equipment, and so on.) and determines ways to meet those needs through team members or citizen volunteers on the scene; collects and writes reports on the operation and victims; and communicates and coordinates with the incident commander, local authorities, and other CERT team leaders. The team leader is identified by two pieces of crossed tape on the hard hat.
• Safety Officer. Checks team members prior to deployment to ensure they are safe and equipped for the operation; determines safe or unsafe working environments; ensures team accountability; supervises operations (when possible) where team members and victims are at direct physical risk, and alerts team members when unsafe conditions arise.
• Fire Suppression Team (2 people). Work under the supervision of the Team Leader to suppress small fires in designated work areas or as needed; when not accomplishing their primary mission, assist the search and rescue team or triage team; assist in evacuation and transport as needed; assist in the triage or treatment area as needed, other duties as assigned; communicate with Team Leader.
• Search and Rescue Team (2). Work under the supervision of the Team Leader, searching for and providing rescue of victims as is prudent under the conditions; when not accomplishing their primary mission, assist the Fire Suppression Team, assist in the triage or treatment area as needed; other duties as assigned; communicate with Team Leader.
• Medical Triage Team (2). Work under the supervision of the Team Leader, providing START triage for victims found at the scene; marking victims with category of injury per the standard operating procedures; when not accomplishing their primary mission, assist the Fire Suppression Team if needed, assist the Search and Rescue Team if needed, assist in the Medical Triage Area if needed, assist in the Treatment Area if needed, other duties as assigned; communicate with Team Leader.
• Medical Treatment Team (2). Work under the supervision of the Team Leader, providing medical treatment to victims within the scope of their training. This task is normally accomplished in the Treatment Area, however, it may take place in the affected area as well. When not accomplishing their primary mission, assist the Fire Suppression Team as needed, assist the Medical Triage Team as needed; other duties as assigned; communicate with the Team Leader.

CERT volunteers are trained to ideally be able to take on all of the positions with equal skill, in case one or more members aren't available for whatever reason.  It's probable that the HCP in the world of Super Powereds requires this kind of training as well.  

 

The Skills, Talents, etc. involved: 

• Combat Skill Levels of various kinds; generally relating to their powers, but specifically including levels with Pulling the Punch
• +5 PRE
• Teamwork
• PS: Leadership
• Minimum of 1 point spent on Analyze (supers)
• Minimum of 3 points spent on Power Skill
• Minimum of 1 point spent on Paramedic (not merely the 1-point Everyman)
• Minimum of 1 point each in PS: Firefighting, PS: Medical Triage, KS: Search and Rescue Techniques, KS: Radio Procedure, KS: Emergency Procedures (CERT specific)
• Minimum of 2 points each in KS: Supers and Law, KS: Use of Force Doctrine, KS: Known Supers
• Minimum of 1 point in AK: assigned city
• Perk: Certified Hero (or equivalent)
• Perk: Access to DVA facilities and equipment
• Perk: DVA related security clearance
• Culture Knowledge: Hero Certification Program (or the equivalent in your world)
• Skills related to dealing with law enforcement: KS: Criminal Justice, CK: Law Enforcement, KS: Evidentiary Procedure, etc.

If the GM wanted to, they could combine a number of the emergency related KS and PS into the full 3-point Paramedic, PS: Emergency Response, KS: Emergency Procedures.  

 

[megaplayboy]

Yeah, I looked at a course catalog for the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute, and got a pretty good sense of what skills and knowledge they teach.  You can throw in the various skills and knowledge taught to police and FBI agents, including investigators and SWAT team members. And there's of course a plethora of skills taught to military special forces operators.  Could be a pretty hefty package, like 50+ points.

[Chris Goodwin]

My assumption is that the more in-depth law enforcement and firefighting skills would only be required of supers that are going into those careers.  For instance, CERT doesn't expect people to rush into burning buildings or try to control a major fire, but they do want people to know how to use a fire extinguisher and keep their work area from burning down.  Their purpose is partly to take pressure off the professionals by doing the scutwork they need done but can't justify pulling trained personnel off of the emergency work to do, and partly to -- if they are the first responder and Incident Commander -- quickly gather information and take control of the scene and other volunteers.  

 

It's pretty certain that supers who directly fight criminals will be required to take combat training, legal procedures and requirements, crime scene hygiene, and so on.

[megaplayboy]

17 hours ago, Chris Goodwin said:

My assumption is that the more in-depth law enforcement and firefighting skills would only be required of supers that are going into those careers.  For instance, CERT doesn't expect people to rush into burning buildings or try to control a major fire, but they do want people to know how to use a fire extinguisher and keep their work area from burning down.  Their purpose is partly to take pressure off the professionals by doing the scutwork they need done but can't justify pulling trained personnel off of the emergency work to do, and partly to -- if they are the first responder and Incident Commander -- quickly gather information and take control of the scene and other volunteers.  

 

It's pretty certain that supers who directly fight criminals will be required to take combat training, legal procedures and requirements, crime scene hygiene, and so on.

IME a huge portion of superhero campaigns involve investigation--what is happening, who is behind what's happening, what are they going to do next, how do the heroes find them.  Having some rudimentary investigative training would certainly be in order for the average superhero campaign.  

[massey]

I'm curious as to how an insurance company could "require" a super to do anything.

[Sundog]

Depending on the location and subsequent laws, lawsuits could make superheroing as dependent on insurance as Doctors' malpractice insurance is. Sure, 90% of malpractice cases are won by the doctor, but if they had to pay to defend all those suits they'd be broke and out of a job - and no one would have doctors.

If insurance companies refuse to insure "malsupering" unless the super has the appropriate training..?

[megaplayboy]

4 hours ago, massey said:

I'm curious as to how an insurance company could "require" a super to do anything.

Well, a superhero with a brand identity and who capitalizes on their image could find their revenue stream compromised by a few big lawsuits for "superhero malpractice" or negligent destruction of private property in the course of their duties.  Normally, that could be covered by an insurance policy.  If you don't have insurance that could get pricey really fast.  

Even a superhero with a secret ID could be harassed over such lawsuits and get negative press coverage over it.  They could develop a negative rep and other things that would make it much harder to do their job.  

[Chris Goodwin]

I think in the stories it was more that the insurance companies forced cities to require training of supers because of widespread destruction that the insurance companies were paying on.