Department Officer Qualificatiions

[firecapt32 282]

Please list the qualifications that your department has for Company Officers and what qualificatiions your department has for Chief Officers. Im sure there is a great deal of difference from Depatrment to Department. Im just interested in seeing how much it varies. Do you think theres a lot of differences?? lets see.

[Tanker 10eng 140]

It has to be their turn !!

[firecapt32 282]

says a lot for your department please be serious!!! this is important

[TBarnum 2]

Unfortunately Cap he might be serious.

Some departments might still be that way. The department I am associated with is pretty close. Must have either Essentials of Firemanship, or more recent courses ( ie Firefighter 1 ). As far as I know there are NO other qualifications to run for company level officer or department level officer. Most of the members who run for Chief have been a Captain in their company.

[220LT188 11]

READY! -

All Firefighters - Firefighter I

Engine Drivers- E.V.O.C., Apparatus Operator Pump

Ladder Driver - E.V.O.C, Apparatus Operator Ladder

Engine Lt. - Firefighter II, Incident Command System. Qualified on appuratus assigned

Ladder Lt. - Same but with Truck Company Operations

Rescue Lt. - Same but with Rescue Tech. Basic

Fire Captain - Intro to Fire Officer, Haz-Mat Technician, and to be completed in the first year after elected Fire Officer II, Quilified on all appuratus.

Fire Chief - Haz-Mat Incident Command, Principles of Fire Investigation, and to be completed in first year as 2nd Asst. Chief Fire Officer II

It will be nice to see what other departments require so I hope a lot of people respond even if they don't require anything

[Jybehofd 85]

says a lot for your department  please be serious!!!  this is important

←

well to be a member in the department for a fire fighter you must have basic and intermidate fire fighter and CPR

For the Rescue Company (ambulances) you have to have EMT-B and CPR

Thats about it for requirements that are made by the board of fire commisioners in my department. Having both Fire and EMS in one house run by one department it would be nice to see more training for the chief maybe in CFR or first-aid and O2 admin.

[firecapt32 282]

Now we are getting some place. There will be no more basic/intermediate or advanced. I do hope your departments are aware of that.

22olt188 you are in fire department that is way ahead of some of the others.

How do we get our officers and our departments to move into the new century?? We have to lead them thats how!!! get off our asses!! and get new training stantards in place!!! We owe it to the people that we are protecting. There are no excuses for not improving the quality of the training and improving the Line Officers and the Chiefs of our departments in the county.

We can talk all day but the fact remains most Departments are way behind way way behind.

If in wrong tell me. Im sure there are a lot of trained personnel out there.

Im proud of you. Lets try and bring all of us up to higher standards.

[DaveTFD 0]

qualifications for chief are you have to have atleast FF1/essentials, and fire officer 1

company officers there really arent much of a requirement espeacially with declining membership recently. FF1 is preferred but not required, you need to be cleared to wear a SCBA. thats about it

[Guest]

Maybe the Lucky-Truckie or Fire Capt can answer this question:

What are the qualifications in their respective departments for those to apply for officer position in the paid ranks ? Is it 3 or 4 years as a firefighter ONLY or are their more courses needed .....

I do agree with the Capt as far as training requirements being standardized. It will only help to better enhance the service that each and every firefighter in this county provides.

Each firefighter should take their own initiative to keep themselves "fine tuned" if they choose the fire service at any level. Training should be ongoing, not just watching a video, but actual hands-on evolutions. How easy is it to pull the rig out on the ramp and throw it into pump....taking a ground ladder off and putting it up, then cleaning it and maintainin it so that it works at 2 am when the #$%^ is hitting the fan..keeping your tools sharp and clean so they are ready for duty when needed...do u check the scott paks and pass alarms on a regular basis...do u ever start the saws....how often do you throw the aerial up and make sure the outriggers properly operate.....BASICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Start at the bottom and work your way up ......BE A DARN GOOD FIREFIGHTER BEFORE YOU EVER CONSIDER BEING AN OFFICER!!!

[firecapt32 282]

Now we are gettng some place. Career departments. All Career Firefighters in the State of New York must have at least 229 hours of training before the end of their probationary period. The Career academy is now 14 weeks long and includes a CPAT test that all firefighters must pass. As for advancement usually a LT test is given after 36 months Capts tests are usually 60 months.or at least a year in grade. then all Officers must attend First line Supervisiory Classes. 4 weeks at the New york Fire Training Grounds. You graduate from there as a level 2 instructor.

the State is now working on a Chiefs Class for all new Chief Officers.

Career firefighters in the State of new york are also required to have at least 100 hours of in service training each year, with a firefighter and officer sign off.

[firecapt32 282]

Dave the answer to you is ALL INTERIOR firefighters have to be cleareed to ware mask. a fit test must be given to all interior firefighters... if you dont get one ask your department to get them. Please be protected when you enter a building that may kill you.

[TRUCK6018 50]

To be an interior firefighter you have to wear a mask, right? It's part of your PPE.

My question is, why is it a requirement in some departments for officers to only have Firefighter I training? Firefighter I is state mandated to be an interior firefighter. That means to be an officer you only have to be an interior firefighter? Doesn't make very much sense to me.

Popular vote and who's ever turn is next to be an officer should be a thing of he past. When you're the chief of a department and your asked to testify in court because things went bad, what are you going to say? When asked what your level of training is and the qualifications you have, what are your going to say? I was the next in line??? I hate to say, that won't cut it.

When your the chief of a department, everyone and everything rests on your shoulders. Even when your not at a call, if it hits the fan, the buck stops with you. There is case history of departments getting sued for a lengthy response to a fire, and lost property as a result. The response time was only six minutes. Sad, but true.

I understand, membership is scarce, people don't want to be officers but, lowering the standards are not the answer. Any Joe Shmo can wear a white hat. It takes a hell of a lot more to do the job.

Edited November 9, 2005 by TRUCK6018

[firecapt32 282]

Truck6018 --I couldnt have said it any better- popular voting- and its my turn should not be a qualification for officer or chief.

You only have to look at upstate New York to find that a fire chief was up on murder charges(later dropped to manslaughter) because a untrained firefighter was in a building that they were useing to "practice". The firefighter died in the "Practice" session.

It was later (in court) that it finally came out about the training qualification of the Chief and the Department. you dont want to know really you dont lets just say that the department lacked a lot of training.

Firefighters today should be proactive to protect the people of their community. Get the right person for the job let egos stay at the door or better yet leave them home.

Be prepared be trained you want to protect your community get the best raining, get the best line officers and most of all get the best chiefs.

[TRUCK6018 50]

You only have to look at upstate New York to find that a fire chief was up on murder charges(later dropped to manslaughter) because a untrained firefighter was in a building that they were useing to "practice". The firefighter died in the "Practice" session.

I agree with you here. I've followed that incident from he start, through the trial and read the NIOSH report.

Unfortunately, it wasn't only the qualifications (or lack there of) of the individuals involved. There was absolutely no regard for NFPA 1403 in this situation. Oops, I forgot, New York isn't an NFPA state (so I'm told). So departments don't have to follow NFPA guidelines (so I'm told). We'll leave that discussion for another time.

Bottom line: Accountability! Not in the sense of fire ground accountability but to hold departments and members and officers and chiefs accountable for their actions. The next time you say "it can't happen here", think again. Fire doesn't play favorites. Volunteer or career, urban or rural, everyone is fair game. It can happen to us.

Stay safe.

Edited November 10, 2005 by TRUCK6018

[ajsbear 11]

Capt, Truck, you both hit it right on the head. Unfortunitly in some cases its a popularity contest. In some its a body to fill a position. I looked at the Putnam County website and it lists minimum requirements for the county there to recognize someone as an officer. Another addition is EVOC, driving as well as pump. On officer should also be experienced. 1 or 2 years as an interior does not do it. It should be a minumum of 5 years as a member with the required courses. I understand we all want to be officers but remember, in the absence of the Chief, these people are in command. Some 20 y.o. with 2 years and just came out of FF1 is far from qualified. In the case of a larger incident these kids can command a large number of firefighters from other departments. Are they qualified??While some departments have a Jr. program this does not qualify someone as an officer early. Experience counts. Maturity is another qualification. This all comes with time. Lets not rush some kids into becoming Chief.

[firecapt32 282]

Good point bear do you think the county or state should set the qualification??

The State already has a firefighter progression in place

firefighter 1

firefighter2

safety/survival

EVOC

Pump operator

Truck company ops

Areial devices

Intor to fire officer

fire officer 1

fire officer 2

they should have a intro to chiefs program not that woud be a novel idea.

[ajsbear 11]

Capt I agree. There should be courses for Chief and I think it should be that you must take them before you become Chief of Dept. Most dept. have a progression, 2nd a**'t, 1st a**'t then Chief so you have 2 years to take it and if you don't, you do not become chief. I also agree there should be a state standard as well as the counties who do have a standard need to enforce them. When someone becomes an officer their name and training should be submited to the county. The standards for officer need to be more than who's popular. Remember, if there is no chief at an incident any officer could find themself in charge of the incident. Who wants some 21 year old who doesn't have the training or the seasoning runing the show? I've seen some of these kids panic, call for mutual aid from the immediate world and most of it is not needed in any way. While yes there is the reasoning "if you think you need it call" and "you can always sent them back" remember the more rigs on the road and members runing to their stations the more chance of somethnig happening. A house fire with no exposure problems does not need M/A from 4 or 5 departments normally unless there is a specific need like water from tankers or if you have NO manpower.

[TRUCK6018 50]

I looked at the Putnam County website and it lists minimum requirements for the county there to recognize someone as an officer. Another addition is EVOC, driving as well as pump.

←

EVOC, driver qualified and pump op's are all qualifications and courses one should have to be a MPO, not an officer! Don't get me wrong, lieutenants should have these. After all, part of their job is to train on the apparatus. How can you train someone if you don't have the training yourself?

[Guest EMSCOMM80]

The officers who are chosen to lead us should be chosen based on a combination of EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, and LEADERSHIP ABILITY. It seems, lately there are some departments who simply need to “fill†positions. Other departments seem to fill positions based on the popularity of the candidates.

I think departments need to have stricter guidelines on who they allow to run for each office. Now, I am not saying this should just be based on who has the most classes. (Although this should play some role in the guidelines) There needs to be more of a concentration on who can be a strong leader and suit the needs of the department rather then who is the most popular.