Training requirements for Volunteers

[SmokeEater31]

I guess I should change my "user name" to "Here in The Dark Ages." I always knew that Nebraska was behind on everything, but then I read this post and find that the state in which I fight fires is sooooo incredibly behind that we think we are the leader of the pack!!!

Nebraska requires......
ummmm.....well.....let me see here....ummm...
OHHH HERE IT IS....

NOTHING!

My company has it's own requirements, but as far as "strict adhearence" to these is really only seen at the six month evaluation of new "probies". We recently made changes in the training requirements, we increased them by I think 10-15 hours or something like that.

Since the new "Governing Board" has come on board, with myself as Vice President, and in the newly created posisiton of Assistant EMS Coordinator, we are looking at setting new requirements for our recruits as they come aboard. I think that I can see an argument of..."BUT, we are ONLY volunteers!!!" coming, but I figure that if they cannot contribute the time to fufill requirements, they are going to become one of the "dead weights" that we have been progressively weeding out of the department. You know the ones...we have one that made 5% of all calls last year, and has made 0% this year. Those types.

Anyway, I guess I have rambled enough, I just feel stupid now as I see how everyone around me (or in the US anyway) have "Requirements" for their vollies, and here we are just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Your brother in the Service
Rob

[Eng522ine]

SmokeEater... Try being PRO-ACTIVE. Don't let a LODD be the catalyst for change. Besides, you could try pushing an angle similar to "don't you want the guy backing YOU up to have as much training and practice as possible?" From the sound of it you seem to be in a great position to make some noise on the issue, if not start making changes. Stick to your guns on requiring better training. Member's cannot be an asset to the department if they don't posess the skills and training the department needs. Good luck. Be safe.

[RADFIRE]

In NJ they say that to be Ffr you need FFI and the HAZMAT and Confined Space and so on, but what's the quality involved? I know for a fact that in '91 when my FFI class graduated not ALL of the recruits did the practicals. What is firefighting, but hands on dirty work, right?
The students walked through some classes and tried a little in others. Very inconsistent. Few actually did chainsaw cutting, no K-12 cutting and only once did we have a simulated fire with line stretching in an aggressive manner. On a hay bale! Not on rooms with furniture.
Each person given a certificate should be able to demonstrate the ability to actually do what the job consists.
My certificate is worthless, because of my classmates who got away with not doing the skills which would be needed out in the field.
Improvements aren't evident in the quality of the firefighting I've seen and heard of, in my local counties. Quality is sporadic, apathy is prevalent.
Now for the all too famous..."Just my 0.02."

[SCAFDEXP]

In Michigan, on-call firefighters must become certified FFI within 2 years of their hire date.

[KS.KE,EMT/FIRE/RESC]

SmokeEater, I've said it before and its worth saying again is "the only difference between an exterior guy and a bystander is one is dressed for the occasion" ENG522INE is right don't wait until your dressed in you best puting down someone you know for his last run to try and get the ball turning for the better, use the information given here and make some noise. I wish we didn't have a section for LODD but we do I don't want to read about our neighbors to the north in that section.

The good ole boy attitude can be shown in a story this week. We had a bank in Kansas that had never been robbed until last week, do you think they had security in that bank, you bet they did, but if they hadn't we'd all say "how stupid" it's the same in fire service, those security systems aren't cheap and neither is human life!

------------------
M. Cory Myers
EMT-I/FF/RESC;TO

it's better to load N go then stay N play

[SmokeEater31]

ENG522INE and KS.KE,

I TOTALLY agree with what you have said here, and I appreciate the advice. My new term began last month, however, we are more lame duck until this coming Wednesday when the new board presides at the monthly meeting. I am on E-Board, this comes automatically with the office of V.P., which basically is the part of the organization that is responsible for addressing issues at hand.

The afore-mentioned issues are good points. We are unfortunately are a department of "good 'ole boys" right now. Over the last few years I have seen my and other firefighters' ideals in changing this coming around. It has been a LOT of work, and we have a LOT of uphill battles yet to be waged. However, when I took the nomination, I had done it with specific reasons. One of those was to break the chain of the good 'ole boys. I understand the need for continuity in a company, however, I think that we are going to lose someone sooner than later because of some of the "old ways" that we are hung up in.

I will DEFINITELY use the encouragement from my brothers both far and near and go full steam ahead as planned.

I appreciate the advice.

Your brother in the service,
Rob

[Van McCoy MPA]

KS.KE,EMT/FIRE/RESC wrote:

"In KS. Within the last few years the standard has improved for vol. and part time dept's now within Thirty-six months you must complete at least NFPA 1001 FF I and Hazmat Awareness for liability reasons"

That is just not true....The state of Kansas has no training requirements to be a Firefighter......I don't know who told you this but call the State of Kansas Fire Marshal's office (785) 296-3401 and get your facts straight.

We should have some requirements but we do not....

[kvfdlife]

Here are SOME of the requirements for volunteer F/Fighter and volunteer F/Officer in Prince George County, Maryland:
Fire Fighter-18 y/o, 32 hour volunteer recruit school, FF I, EMT-B, and CPR
Driver-21 y/o, DOT permit, Emergency Vehicle Operator Course plus pump operator course and/or aerial operator course (depending on what you are driving.) and meet F/F requirements.
Line Officers-FFI, FFII, Fire Officer I, EMT-B, CPR (Sgt. 19 y/o, 2 years on; Lt. 20 y/o, 3 years on; Capt. 21 y/o, 3 years on)
Chief Officers–23 y/o, 4 years on, FFI, FFII, Fire Officer I and II, Fire Instructor I, CPR, EMT-B.
No interior fire fighting is allowed until FFI is complete, recruit school is required before riding. Some stations have additional requirements. There are also requirements to have Infection Control, HAZMAT and Incident Command.
Most of our requirements are listed under CB-82-1994 and Fire Safety Law of Prince George's County Maryland Subtitle 11-339 through 11-344

[ntvilleff]

In our dept. F.F.I is minimum. No certification, no playing in fire. Most have F.F.2; depending on what certs you have is the criteria for what you can respond to. OSHA is the main driver behind our certifications. For instance, If you only have fire I, technically you can't respond to mva's with fluids unless you're hazmat ops. (which comes with ff2 cert.) I personally think the more training the better.