And the right answer is???????

[oilboy2]

Hello to all people out there. I am new to this forum and look forward to the wealth of knowledge on here. I am currently going through the process of becoming a firefighter and had a queston regarding the interview i took.
I was asked: The rest of your crew is on the roof and it is just you and your chief. The chief asks you to do something that you know isnt safe but wants you to do it. What do you do?

My response was to do it but ask the chief if it is safe. Is that a question that tests your loyalty to your chief and prove you can follow directions or what you would do in a tough situation.

Thank you for any insight.

[mcaldwell]

First of all, don't stress over 1 question. Even if you did blow one answer, It takes a several bad answers to jeopardize your interview.

In regards to this question, here is my opinion.

If you do something that endangers yourself, you endanger your crew by default (they will have to come and rescue your butt). When given a task that you are not trained for, or know is clearly dangerous, you should raise your concerns immediatley.

The Chief's job is to plan and run the overall incident safely. Your job is to plan and run your individual task safely. You may see or know something in relation to that task that the Chief missed. The Chief develops much of his strategy and tactics based on the feedback of the tactical teams.

As a Deputy Chief, I expect my crew to let me know if I've missed something, or am basing a decision/order on bad information. Officers are only human, and make mistakes too.

[Trkco1]

The rest of your crew is on the roof and it is just you and your chief.

Your first reply should have been, "I would not be seperated from my crew" Shows you might be a free-lancer.

[kghemtp]

New firefighters aren't going to have polished answers to questions, as was the case not so very long ago with me. If you get on the right path about concerns for safety and possibly something you haven't been trained to do, they will often respect that. You can't waiver in your answer, though. Right or wrong, stick with the first thing you say and don't change based on head games they try to play. Great point about not splitting from your crew originally-- might have taken me longer to think of that! Don't sweat the small stuff. You may not get a job with the first interview you take, but you can always try. Take care, and good luck!

[oilboy2]

Thank you all for the advice. I now know alot more on this subject and overall the whole interview process in what is expected.

[N2DFire]

oilboy - check out Capt. Bob Smith's web site at www.eatstress.com - he has some EXCELLENT resources & information regarding oral board questions.

Matter O Fact - I would love to hear his answer to this question.

Edit - I have e-mailed Capt. Bob and asked him to review this and share his wisdom on the matter when he has time.

My thoughts would be that you should always revert to Rule 1 - your safety comes first. Granted that we work in an unsafe profession and there are times when we are called upon to put ourselves in harms way, however this should be done using the Risk vs. Benefit model.

If the order was to run into a burning area alone to attempt a rescue of a victim that just appeared, I'd go along with it. If the order was to simply walk into the burning area to take a look around and see what's going on - I would pretty much have to balk at that one.

Risk vs. Benefit - Risk a lot to gain/save a lot. Risk nothing to save/gain nothing.

Also - as mcaldwell stated - don't sweat over 1 bad answer (assuming of course you did in fact give a "bad" answer). For any future oral reviews you might have - take a look at Capt. Bob's site.