I know this doesn't have alot to do with heavy equipment but alot of you guys are firefighters. A friend of mine talk me into joining the local dept so I did last summer. Started fire fighter 1 training and my point it this: This is a big commitment in time. I never realized how much time needs to be put in for training. How many of you guys are firefighters and to those that are my hats off two all of you. :notworthy :yup Any advise from the old timers? My plan was to just help out but i can see that it going to take alot more time than I realized. I do like the guys in the dept. and have had some fun so far. :bouncegri
I did FF1 this summer and had the chance to do FF2 starting this week becuase it just takes too much time, between college and work it would be too much. FF1 was the most time intensive part of my training and it was over in about 2 months. We met 2 nights a week and everyother weekend and got it over with quick. Some FF1 classes can be stretched over 4 months here. After FF1 though is when the FD gets to be fun. You get to do more on calls, etc. I think you will find it was worth it, I am glad I did it. John PS Keep your distance from the political BS that almost every fire department has within
FF is a lot of work...even though full time ff's have a pretty nice schedule compared to those of us in law enforcement, they still have a lot of training to go to and other tasks that need to be done. It kinda sucks because currently where I work cops and ff don't seem to get a long. I basically look at it like this, I treat them with respect (I have no reason not to) and they'll save my life when my car crashes, my house burns, or god forbid I get shot! I'll do my best to protect them when some dirtbag won't let them inside the house and starts shooting at them. :yup
FF 1 is 3 months long and a lot of hours. I have seen already some of the political BS. Just when I was getting in the deprt they elected a new chief. Vote went 6 to 5 so some of the guys are not happy. I couldn't vote yet so that was good.
Just try to remember why you joined, if you let the politics get to you, you'll want to quit. A lot of guys join for the power trip you can get from it and often drive away the regular guys. It can be very rewarding to help someone in need, remember that's why you are there. I've been a volunteer since '79, and you are correct, the time involved in training and meeting OSHA requirements is tremendous. I just had to drop from active status this past November due to not being able to maintain the training requirements.
Its great and all, just dont become "one of those guys". You know, the ones with all the blue warning light plastering their car, EMT patches on every peice of clothing they own, Fire pager volume cranked to the max at all times, you know, "that guy" :Cowboy
Just a couple things I can think of: 1. Stick with the courses. I have yet to take a course that I didn't learn something and I have been through many. 2. As said above, volunteers shouldn't deal with politics. There are people that are paid to do that. 3. Make sure you can save your own butt before you try to save somebody elses. Safety is ALWAYS first even if it means doing nothing. 4. And the most important of all: Don't be a Hero! Heros die in a blaze of glory, Firefighters live to fight another day. Mark :usa
I strongly agree on everything that everyone has said so far. Do watch the political BS. It can get real bad. I know in my department it is, they got everyone pined against each other and it sure don’t help when half the department is related one way or another or they all grew up together. I have dropped my active status due to not being able to make drill nights and all the class due to working, but I still do teach the guys to drive and operate the pumps when needed. When I got my EMT I was working 12 hour nights at the mill and going to school before work 3 nights a week, plus training. It can were you out real fast. Last year I just got enough credits to keep my EMT licenses for another 3 years. The bad thing is now they want the FF to be trained for everything and anything and then some. The length of the class can be a killer, and now they are making it a requirement for all these classes. I believe some day it is going to come down to all departments being split. Personal to do the bomb calls and chemical spills and all non fire calls and the other half of the department just for fire fighting and EMT calls. I know the past year and a half to 2 years our department has almost for got about the basics of fire fighting. They are so concentrated on all these special classes and getting citified some of the new members don’t know what to do at a fire. Each year the government asks why the state is loosing so many volunteer FF. It is due to all the new classes and time it takes be a FF any more. If you can dedicate all the time that is needed God Bless you.
Truckie, we've got the same exact problem in our department. Because of the amount of time required to train for all the "what if's" so many members have dropped out from time restraints that we barely have enough men left to cover the typical day to day calls. That's what has happened to me this past year. In our department, this isn't the case. Both line officers and administrative officers are volunteers. We are governed by 5 Fire Commissioners who are elected by the general public, but receive no compensation for their service. I've gone to battle with the Commissioners and won because of proposed irresponsible spending of taxpayer dollars. They just spent over $500,000 on a rescue truck equipped with just about every rescue tool known to man "just in case"! I wouldn't be surprised if many of these tools never come off the truck other than for drills. biggixxerjim, we call those guys "nozzle nuts"!!
We either call them “ Whackers†or we call “ Gear Queer †:yup
LOL, I don't want to be one of those! :spaz I have no blue light, etc., no pager except in my office, and I know what you are talking about. I can point them out in the group real fast. The time, the time, the time. This is my point. My friend said to me "hey we have only about 6 guys in the depart and need more, can you join to help out" Very small area mostly car accidents or as the Gear Queer would said "MVA" so not allot of calls. Why do I have to spend so much time in class? I understand insurance but when does it get to the point when no one shows up. What I need to know could be taught to me in a couple of weeks not 3 months. In the winter is my slow time so I can do this, but when summer comes making a living is first. About 20 guys showed up for class to include two counties. I bet 10% of them drop out. The chiefs should get some sort of pay I think, if the town can spend $500,000 on a new truck that will have 5000 miles on it in 20 years why not pay the guys that spend the most time. This would add to the political problems but the chiefs could be the guys with the most training. Just seems like it would be very hard to get good regular people and not just Gear Queers. Please feel free to add!
Why? Because the attorneys are running this country. Your department has to be absolutely sure that they have provided you with adequate training to handle any incident that might come along from a legal standpoint. They face liability both from the public if you make an error in judgment and from you and your family should you be injured while performing your duties. They would face huge lawsuits in either case and take these steps to show they have done what would be reasonably expected to in the way of training for a lawsuit to have a lesser impact. It's unfortunate, but it's the way of the land.
Volley FF here. Just got back from the third call of the nights. 1:44am and still haven't made it to bed. Oh well.
I'm also a volunteer FF, since 1995. I really enjoy it. Our dept. is all volunteer, small town where everyone knows everyone else. We don't have too many house fires, some car accidents and lots of grass fires, which can get bad because our area has lots of oil wells around. We always go out to any grass fire in full gear because of tank batteries also catching fire. Almost all of our dept. has been to Texas A&M Indrustrial FF training class at least once. We are lucky because a local gas plant, that I also work at, payes to send our dept. down there to train. A couple of guys every year. They know it's to their benefit in case something happens at the plant or in the feild. We try to train at every monthly meeting but it's hard to get everyone, seems like always something else going on.
Hats off to you guys My hat is off to anyone that steps up to the plate and becomes a volunteer firefighter. I don't know what our towns and villages would do without you. As Steve mentioned, now a days the fire departments have to cover every angle because of liabilitys that they could/have faced. Always somebody out there looking to make a fast buck, and even though you are providing a valuable service doesn't matter to some. In my area I am providing TCP (traffic control person) courses to the fire departments, as this also can be major liability issues for them. Usually they are in charge of controling the traffic around an accident scene. My point is, any training that the fire department gives you, take it because it will only make you better and safer at what you do, and also decrease the liability issues. Again, you guy's are providing a very valuable service :thumbsup
Grader, that is the reason I joined. I wanted to give something back to area. I like living here and have never volunteered for much.
Right on jmac! Wish I would have gotten involved years ago...to dam old now. My step son is a volunteer fire fighter and just loves it. He is graduating high school this year and plans on pursuing a career with the fire department.
After I retired from military service, I decided to get into Search and Rescue. Ended up becoming a volunteer firefighter, simply to break the tension between the EMA and the fire department, and to get a radio. Since then, I've managed to add First Responder, swift water rescue, and become a Certified Emergency Manager. Our EMS is all fulltime paid, supplemented by volunteer First Responders, mainly for manpower. No big political problems there. Our fire fighters are roughly 15% fulltime paid, and 85% volunteer. The full timers man the main station while the volunteers run the outlying 9 stations on the fringes of the county. The attitudes are getting better. The big hassle was with the fulltime firefighters who looked down on the Wilderness Search and Rescue types operating under the local EMA. After we invited a few fire fighters to take our SAR qualification course, they gained a new respect for the SAR team. Amazing how the studly firefighters wilted after taking a five mile hike through the woods. (Did I mention that there isn't a place in the county big enough for a level football field? It's all 1:1 slopes!) Since the SAR types are all NFPA Wilderness SAR Qualified, and most are First Responders, and trained in Extrication, we're pretty much welcomed on any scene. Anyway, yes - it's a bunch of training, but it feels good to help someone who's managed to already ruin his or her own day.
Yeah that is how it is here for SAR personell. SAR is run through the Sheriff's Departments and when I joined there was a lot of tension between fire and law enforcement agencies. The past year that I've been with SAR there have been some major improvements. New leadership in the Sheriff's Dept. has allowed us to do what we want to do and they have been very impressed. The fire depts. around the county and the military (military has seen us in action due to a helicopter crash a short time ago that was training) have seen just how useful we are, how profesional we are, and how SMART we all are. They have are very happy that we're around. The police department I work for now doesn't quite understand this and they don't like SAR getting involved as much. But this is a different county then the one I volunteer in. Oh well, what can you do. Blake WA
I love it so much im trying to get on Jersey City, a very busy paid dept.
19 years so far as a voluteer, 9 of those as fire chief, 13 years thus far as a career ff, 5 as an officer. Even in the full time depts, the politics suck. With 9 years as chief in my hometown, I made a pile of enemies, but I always put the dept. and my firefighters first. I found that if I left my wallet and my politics out of the decision making process, no one had anything to complain about.
To update my training so far, just did the skills test. Had to have full Scott Pac and go thru windows, walls, tunnels blind folded with Pac on. Two of the trainees could not finish, I did and it was not easy. I am 43 and the oldest in the class. Most of the others are in their 20's. The book part of the class no problem but the physical part is very demanding if you are not in very good shape. An artical today on the MSN home page about PASS alarms not working when they get wet, anybody here about this?
There is quite a write-up on msn. Here's the link http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16890732/
Glad to hear you passed the class. After I finished my first classes, which I took at the academy, I slept for about 2 days straight :laugh . Thanks for the info guys. I find it disturbing that companies don't take credit for their actions but even more disturbing that some of those same actions are not made public until it is too late.