We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Any firefighters out there?

MagnusRide

MagnusRide

Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
230
Reaction score
0
Location
washington
i wanna start volunteering and hopefully it opens up doors for a career. whats a good way to go about doing so? i already been getting in shape lost about 40 lbs over the last 5 months. any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
Stay in shape, that's big. Can't get the job unless you can pass the physical. Get your EMT card and continue on to medic school. This is huge huge huge. Unless you are in a big metro area fire departments run EMS and fire from the same stations. All things being equal, if you are neck and neck with another candidate you want to have as many credentials as you can. Get medic school out of the way first so you can have a job during your career search. Going straight to fire school is a waste of time IMO. That credential means nothing to most employers. Medics can work in ERs and private ambulance companies.

Make sure you really want to do it. Most firemen don't put fires out. They run 911 calls for chest pains, short of breaths, and a lot of garbage calls that amount to nothing medically. It's a job that runs extremes, forget about consistency. Could be prying dead bodies out of a car accident and an hour later be at an assisted living facility treating someone's Grandma because she fell in the bathroom. This from my own experience working for a private ambulance company through college. My brother is a fireman as well. When I finished college I passed on the job and went another direction. Don't think I could have worked with my brother, we'd have killed each other.

edit: As for being a volley, that's up to you. It may not advance your chances, but it can't hurt. Most volunteer departments require you to have at least an EMT cert. Like I said, start with that.
 
Not a sworn firefighter...but work with Norfolk Fire Rescue. Our members are all emt- E as well as firefighters. Nearly 80% of calls are medical related. Defenitly get as much medic training / credentials as you can...big boost over others getting into the academy.
 
talk to forum member buckjob....he's a current firefighter
 
How old are u and where are you looking at get hired at. this makes a huge difference on what direction you should go.
 
I'm a firefighter emt, I work as an emt and am a lieutenant with my vol fire department, most paid departments rather hire someone with no prior expierence as they want to train you fresh with their procedures

I tapatalk better then I golfatalk
 
I was a firefighter for 20 years before retiring in 2002. I held master certifications in several area's of firefighting as well as being a Indiana State certified instructor. I was the chief of our local department for 4 years (98-02) which had 25 members and averaged around 250 runs per year.

This is a great way to serve and although it is a very thankless job, it is one of those jobs that makes you feel good to be helping others. I miss my days there, but a lower back injury made it tough to stay on. You need to take care of yourself and stay fit.

I don't have many pics, but here is one. This is me and a local bank officer. I had received a grant from the state and the local bank agreed to match it so we could purchase new air packs. This would have been in 02 while I was chief.

1.jpg


Here is one of the new truck we purchased in 2001 while I was chief. I can't tell you hown many hours I spent chasing the money and ordering this truck. It took several of us hundreds of hours of work and $175,000.

2.jpg



And a couple oldies. I'm the seventh from the left standing;

3.jpg



In this one, I'm on the far right standing;

4.jpg
 
you guys are awesome thanks for the advice. BTW im 22 i live in Bonney Lake, Wa. and now currently looking into a EMT school i also want to take some Spanish classes don't know if that will help but it couldn't hurt. Any other info I should give or receive?
 
MagnusRide said:
you guys are awesome thanks for the advice. BTW im 22 i live in Bonney Lake, Wa. and now currently looking into a EMT school i also want to take some Spanish classes don't know if that will help but it couldn't hurt. Any other info I should give or receive?
Click to expand...

Today, knowing Spanish would be a big help in many situations. Not sure about your state, but in Indiana there are required course lessons that you must get through just to get involved, entry level manditory training. Our department had 100 hours of training required, a mix of class room and hands on, before you could even go on a run. We required 6 months of service and you had to be started in the lowest class of state firefighting training before you could be involved in any indoor firefighting. We also required a CDL and in depth training before you could drive a rig. To be a rig driver, you have to know how to operate the truck and that is something you can't learn quickly.

It is serious business and your life and the life of the people you are working with depend on doing things right.
 
are you looking to Volley or are you trying to get a career in firefighting? It took me 7 years of testing everywhere i could to get my dream job. prob took over 20 tests at different places if youre trying to get a job you better be dedicated almost anywhere you go the competition to get hired is gonna be crazy. place i got hired we had over 3,000 people test they took only 10 off of my list and we haven't hired since 2007. we also run at an unsafe manning, but thats another story. theres so many variables on what you should/could do. i suggest calling places you want to get hired or volley at and ask them what they require you to do. Some places around here you take a civil service test, others you need prerequisite classes and certificates and a resume to get hired, others you better know someone in the organization or youre wasting your time even applying. im sure things are different in Washington, so just ask the departments out there what they want you to do. It is the best job in the world hands down. i love going to work everyday even if you have to deal with a lot of BS sometimes. plus shiftwork gives me plenty of time to hit the links. good luck and PM me if you have any other questions.
 
Buckjob said:
are you looking to Volley or are you trying to get a career in firefighting? It took me 7 years of testing everywhere i could to get my dream job. prob took over 20 tests at different places if youre trying to get a job you better be dedicated almost anywhere you go the competition to get hired is gonna be crazy. place i got hired we had over 3,000 people test they took only 10 off of my list and we haven't hired since 2007. we also run at an unsafe manning, but thats another story. theres so many variables on what you should/could do. i suggest calling places you want to get hired or volley at and ask them what they require you to do. Some places around here you take a civil service test, others you need prerequisite classes and certificates and a resume to get hired, others you better know someone in the organization or youre wasting your time even applying. im sure things are different in Washington, so just ask the departments out there what they want you to do. It is the best job in the world hands down. i love going to work everyday even if you have to deal with a lot of BS sometimes. plus shiftwork gives me plenty of time to hit the links. good luck and PM me if you have any other questions.
Click to expand...

How many runs does your Dept make a year? I'm a FF/Medic in northern Kentucky.
 
Golfingmedic said:
How many runs does your Dept make a year? I'm a FF/Medic in northern Kentucky.
Click to expand...

Last year we ran 22,902 calls 342 Structure Fires 14,487 Medical Calls. We just lost 4 guys a platoon and 2 engines in our contract this year (city is saying they are broke even though the mayor and managing director got pay raises and we took a pay freeze for 3 years). we have 18 minimum manning per shift now. we run 2 guys on all of our trucks. Run down Per shift after our losses this year is

5 Engines
2 Tiller Ladders
1 Tower Ladder
1 Rescue
3 Medic Units
1 1st Dep
1 2nd Dep

really have been getting our balls busted recently with the loss of manpower, City is almost all inner city layout. 10 sq miles pop close to 100,000 during the day.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top