title: Establishment of performance standards and a cut-score for the Canadian Forces firefighter physical fitness maintenance evaluation (FF PFME).
abstract: The bookmark method for setting cut-scores was used to re-set the cut-score for the Canadian Forces Firefighter Physical Fitness Maintenance Evaluation (FF PFME). The time required to complete 10 tasks that together simulate a first-response firefighting emergency was accepted as a measure of work capacity. A panel of 25 Canadian Forces firefighter supervisors set cut-scores in three rounds. Each round involved independent evaluation of nine video work samples, where the times systematically increased from 400 seconds to 560 seconds. Results for Round 1 were discussed before moving to Round 2 and results for Round 2 were discussed before moving to Round 3. Accounting for the variability among panel members at the end of Round 3, a cut-score of 481 seconds (mean Round 3 plus 2 SEM) was recommended. Firefighters who complete the FF PFME in 481 seconds or less have the physical capacity to complete first-response firefighting work.
authors.affiliation: a Faculty of Education , University of Alberta , Edmonton , Canada.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Todd Rogers
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Docherty
authors.forename: Stewart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Petersen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002170:Canada; D004651:Employment / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D061388:Firefighters; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010809:Physical Fitness; D012015:Reference Standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014741:Video Recording; D014938:Work Capacity Evaluation
keywords: Bookmark method; firefighting; standard setting; task simulation test