We have compiled a list of frequently asked questions to help you understand what is ITRA is
doing and how you benefit from being involved.
Providing local laws and directions of health officials are followed, ITRA Assessments may still be available under specific conditions including virtual assessment.
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So you want to step up and be assessed so you can be awarded an ITRA qualification? But where do you start and what do I need to know. Well, this FAQ has the process outlined in detail to help you succeed and join the global elite who also hold ITRA competency and independently assessed qualifications.
Click HereRemember ITRA operates two web platforms. They may or may not use the same username, but may also have different passwords as they are independent of each other. Some members chose to change their passwords etc to be the same for ease of remembering, while others do not for increased security.
Integrated Training Management (ITM) database
The first is ITM which is where current members can:
If your membership has expired, you will not be able to access ITM even to reset your password. Renew your membership here.
To reset your ITM password click here.
LearnDash Online Learning
This e-learning system is part of our website that uses WordPress and the LearnDash plugin. This platform is used for:
Generally, only ITRA members are provided a login to LearnDash. For new users after 1 July 2020, the username should be the same as your ITM user name unless your ITM username contains special characters such as ‘ (i.e. O’Carroll).
Unlike ITM, access to LearnDash is currently not dependent on a current membership, so expired members can still access this platform.
To reset your LearnDash password click here.
Please do not contact the Association for password assistance unless you have tried the above options first as often self-resetting can offer the quickest solution. Please also ensure you are using a Windows OS computer using Chrome browser for best results.
Click HereAs the world’s only trade association for technical rescue, we rely on the support of members such as yourself.
Membership is based on a rolling 12-month period, which begins when your application is approved and payment is received. You will receive notification via email when your membership dues are due, and you can renew your membership using our online renewal form which uses Paypal/credit card. If you have any questions about when your membership is due, please contact ITRA administrator at info@itra.international.
If you prefer to pay using bank wire transfer and/or be issued a formal invoice, please contact our customer service centre. Please note that if you choose to pay via wire transfer, a $50USD transaction fee is required in addition to membership dues.
If your membership has expired:
Do you collect arrears?
No. Your renewal is effective on the day you renew with no arrears.
Can I backdate courses I have instructed for when I was inactive?
No. For example, if your membership expired in January, and you did not renew your membership until March, then you are not a member during that inactive time and not entitled to member benefits, including providing ITRA recorded courses or assessments if you are qualified to do so.
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ITRA offer a few membership options:
Student Membership
Students are added to the ITM Training database by an ITRA Instructor when they take a course through ITRA. As an ITRA Student, you do have access to your own training record in ITM and can also view/print any qualification certificates that you have earned.
Associate Membership
Become an Associate Member here.
Regular Membership
Once you have been successfully assessed by an ITRA Assessor for one of our qualifications, you should have signed the skill assessment result form to confirm the assessment outcome.
From there, you will either be provided a copy of this form, or invited to take a photo (i.e. on your phone) of it. This provides your interim proof of your assessment result. Make sure you leave with a signed copy of your result.
The assessor then has 7 days to report the result to ITRA and if the official ITRA online examination was substituted with an approved alternative assessment (i.e. workbook) then the assessor is also responsible for the ITRA assessment fee.
Click HereTo become an ITRA Instructor you will need to hold the ITRA qualification at the level above you seek appointment, in that subject.
You typically, will start off as a Level 1 Instructor after meeting the following requirements:
To view the instructor pathway including further details and a copy of the Instructor Candidate Skill Sheet, visit the ITM Instructor Candidate folder under documents (you must have an ITRA membership first.
ITRA does not provide instant instructor courses. From 2020, new instructor applications are reviewed by a panel of experts based on the submission of a portfolio.
For instructors wanting to upgrade from being a Level 1 Instructor, please visit ITM for further information.
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The International Technical Rescue Association is a non-profit trade association, established by technical rescue practitioners for technical rescue practitioners. We exist to provide global recognition of technical rescue practitioners including instructors. We have developed a global syllabus to compliment national standards, allowing local flexibility with global recognition.
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We currently do not have any cross credit scheme for instructors externally certified to ITRA.
When we release new subjects (rescue disciplines), we generally provide a transitional period of normally 6 months to allow those with significant instructing experience and non-ITRA certifications to be cross credited as an ITRA Instructor for the new subject.
In 2019, we offered a cross credit for rope and swiftwater instructors, however this offer ceased on 31 December 2019 and new applicants now have to follow our normal instructor appointment procedure. We have also closed off cross credit applications from USAR, Animal and/or Confined Space Rescue Instructors as of 31 March 2020.
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To become a registered ITRA Assessor, you must hold a current ITRA Instructor qualification, complete the ITRA Assessor Course and meet other conditions set by the Board.
ITRA does not have Instructor Trainers as instructor application portfolios are evaluated by a panel of experts for that subject (generally the respective ITRA working group). Submitted portfolios need to demonstrate the instructor candidate has sufficient experience, qualifications and credibility to become appointed as an ITRA Instructor.
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ITRA does not provide courses directly. We appoint instructors who operate to international best practice as established through our training system. We ensure instructors are kept current and are accountable to a code of conduct (and our instructor handbook). This external oversight ensures external quality assurance of instructors to give clients and the community confidence. We provide a calendar of public courses and an instructor directory to help you connect with our instructors.
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As a member of ITRA you become part of a collaborative and supportive worldwide trade association that can provide instruction and assessment against global certifications across a range of disciplines and levels. It demonstrates that you are committed to excellence and high standards set by our Code of Conduct, providing external credibility and accountability. Members also have access to TechSafe, our global safety incident and alerting database to ensure our sector is proactive in safety management. Membership also provides opportunities to be involved in a range of association projects, from governance on the Board, to serving on committees and working groups. We also envision numerous national and international opportunities from exchanges and conferences becoming part of the future too.
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You will find that our technical rescue curricula is publicly available from our resources page. This document outlines ITRA, our training system, graduate profiles for each qualification and the teaching points within each.
Visit our resources section for the current version of our qualifications.
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ITRA is not all about instructors. We have developed three tiers across our range of practitioner qualifications: Level 1 Responder, Level 2 Technician, and Level 3 Advanced. Instructors must be qualified to at least one level above the one they wish to teach (with Level 3 Instructors appointed by the Board or delegated authority), as well as meet other requirements for instructing. Traditionally, many national teaching systems have been based on attendance – being assessed to become an ITRA practitioner (i.e. Rope 1, Swiftwater 1, etc.) demonstrates that you are a competent practitioner, not just that you completed the course. Being a certified practitioner also requires that you abide by the ITRA Code of Conduct and re-certify every three years. An ITRA practitioner qualification shows your stakeholders are a world class operator.
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The ITRA training system is unique, as it is made up of “Instruction” and “Assessment”. Instructors can teach any of the learning objectives within their level of instructor qualification and record such student attendance on our database. This allows instructors to teach just one teaching point, through to 300 teaching points on a course (naturally 300 teaching points would take some weeks) so there are no more ‘cookie cutter’ courses.
However, if you have an existing local standard or standardized course, instructors simply instruct the relevant teaching points aligned to that standard or standardized course. ITRA does provide “Introductory” Certificates, which can be issued to students who have attended/participated in all the learning objectives contained within a qualification, but have not been formally assessed for competency. Such introductory certificates are available to members (i.e. student member) and a fee is payable for the issue of the certificate. Such certificates have a QR code so they can be easily verified.
Students who are ready for competency-based assessment against all the teaching points within a certification (i.e. ITRA Swiftwater 1) are evaluated by assessors, and the candidate must satisfactorily pass all teaching points to be awarded the certification. This approach means that if someone completes a DEFRA (UK)course and the associated teaching points are recorded, then the same individual goes to the USA and wants to gain NFPA recognition, any gap training can be quickly identified – making learning globally portable.
Additionally, it is common in vocational competency frameworks that assessors only need to hold the standard they wish to teach and assess. In many cases, stakeholders have lost confidence in the competence of graduates of such standards. The ITRA system also provides for instructor certification, including the external revalidation of such persons and a code of conduct which often does not exist for vocational competency framework trainers.
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No. We take an inclusive approach and encourage all technical rescue practitioners and instructors to be part of ITRA.
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As an instructor, you are always wearing an ITRA hat. But that doesn’t mean you have to pay for any student licensing or packets. Our focus is on quality instructors, not student materials. With this, some instructors may find it useful to purchase student manuals or field guides from various sources.
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Yes! We offer organizational membership tiers, that have a range of benefits.
ITRA organizational membership tiers
Simply contact us and we can arrange a bulk invoice and work directly with you for getting documentation for each of your instructors (as opposed to using the Wufoo form).
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Yes! We now offer Instructor Insurance.
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We have four types of certificates that are issued by the association.
The first is an “attendance” certificate, which confirms the student has attended a specific event with one of our instructors. This may range from a 1 hour session to a multi-day workshop. The course title is given by the instructor. Some instructors also choose to provide their own branded certificates for their courses instead.
The next is an “introductory” programme certificate, meaning the student has attended/participated in all the learning objectives for an ITRA qualification, but has not been assessed for competency. This certificate is issued by the association to members upon payment of a fee. This may require the student to attend multiple courses in order to be eligible for its award. An example would be the ITRA “Introduction to Rope Responder”.
The third is our practitioner “qualification” certificate, meaning the student has been formally assessed for competency against the respective ITRA qualification. They are required to revalidate this every three years to maintain currency and must also continue to be a member of the association. An example would be the ITRA “Level 2 Rope Technician” qualification.
Lastly, we have an “appointment” certificate for our instructors. The ITRA Board, through the Training & Standards Committee appoints instructors at various levels and disciplines.
All the above certificates have a QR code to enable real-time verification, noting that “course’ and “introductory” certificates require the student to be a current member of the association to activate the QR code record.
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Instructors are not mandated to enter every student they teach into the database, but we do recommend it as it does not cost anything for instructors to add such achievements to a student’s record. By entering your courses into our ITM database, the student then can be given a copy of their ROL – record of learning (transcript) which the learning objectives taught (not assessed for competency). The ROL contains a QR code so that the record can be validated in real-time, however they will need to activate the QR code through becoming a student member with ITRA.
Instructors can add as many students and their teaching point completions as they want as part of their annual membership fee. This means it does not cost anything apart from the instructor’s time (and an annual membership fee) to record even internal training, making the ITRA system attractive for agency instructors and those in organizations with less resources.
Our new ITM database makes course administration a breeze, so for many instructors access to such a system is a significant benefit of being with ITRA. ITM can manage public enrolments, joining instructions, reminders, course information, learner results and more. A small fee is charged if instructors want ITM to issue an ITRA attendance certificate (PDF) which also can be electronically signed – making courses entirely paperless and able to be done on a tablet where ever there is internet coverage.
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We already have approved curricula for rope, swiftwater, confined space, tactical rope, structural collapse (USAR), companion animal rescue and emergency driving.
Suitably qualified and experienced instructors can also apply for additional designations to teach extra learning objectives for large animal rescue, kayak and raft based rescue, tactical driving, ambulance driving, stand up paddle board rescue, height safety and more.
As part of our strategic plan we will be considering on-boarding additional subjects over the coming years.
Click Here At this stage, we are providing a fast-track for existing ACA or RQ3 instructors to be certified with ITRA. However, such certification is only valid for three years and will require full assessment to re-certify (i.e. fast-track is not available for ITRA instructor recertification and only available for a limited time too). If you have other instructor qualifications and extensive experience with references and formal credentials (i.e. IRATA Trainer, Foundation Degree in Technical Rescue etc), we will consider on a case-by-case basis to provide a fast-track option. In such cases, further evidence, such as video footage, may be required and special conditions imposed. If you have been instructing with no external qualifications, we suggest you wait until open entry instructor assessment becomes available in the future. The administrative process ends 31 December 2019 for cross crediting instructor qualifications.
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Whether you are just starting out in technical rescue, or the department’s non-operational training administrator or safety coordinator, we have membership options to help keep you connected.
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ITRA is now governed by a Board of Directors who were seated in 2019. Previously, an interim Steering Committee established the association and provided initial governance.
We are fortunate to have the support of MMCo, an association management company based in Wayne, PA, USA and have engaged them to provide operating and administrative services the association.
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