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So you want to be a Firefighter ?

Do you have what it takes to become a Firefighter ? What can you expect from the job ? What is fact and what is fiction ? What steps can you take to help you get hired as a Firefighter ? Read on and click on the google links I have provided for everything you need to know about this fascinating career !



MY STORY


Hello, my name is Nelson Sanchez. I am a Lieutenant with a South Florida Fire Department. I have been a Firefighter for almost 8 years now. I can HONESTLY say that I am lucky to have the job I have. After high school, my parents encouraged me to go to college. I took their advice and went to college for one semester. During the course of this semester, I was becoming bored to death ! I dropped out and did something for myself…I went to EMT school. EMT stands for emergency medical technician. 75 % of Firefighters in the U.S. are EMT’s as well as being firefighters. EMT school lasts appx. 1 semester and most community colleges, as well as some private schools, offer this course. Although short in length, it is a curriculum rich in knowledge and demanding at times. You will be expected to ride on rescue trucks or ambulances during the weekends or weekdays as part of your training. You will also be expected to do some hospital E.R. rotations. Some courses also include a visit to the morgue ! Yikes ! The point here is that EMT school is pretty challenging…you will be learning medical terminology and techniques that you will have never encountered before. It can be intimidating at first…so don’t despair ! After EMT school, I went to Paramedic school. The reason I went to paramedic school, is that most Fire Department here in SOUTH FLORIDA hire Firefighter/Paramedics. Meaning that we are cross-trained in both specialties. This is not the case in the rest of the U.S. Some Fire Departments are rich in tradition and are strictly FIRE Department ONLY…they respond to nothing but Fire related calls. You will typically see this in the North East such as the FDNY and Boston Fire Department. These respective cities have their own EMS services that provide emergency medical care.

I have to admit that being both a Firefighter and Paramedic is overwhelming at times. There is a TREMENDOUS amount of information to know and retain. Medicine is a rapidly changing field. Every couple of months, things change and as a result, you need to be re-trained to know these changes. At any rate, a little about Paramedic School. Paramedics differ from EMT’s in that they can provide advanced life support. Some ALS skills are operating a defibrillator, intubation, starting IV’s and administering drugs. When I went to Paramedic school many years ago, the program was 1 year long. Nowadays in my area, the schooling is nearly 2 years long ! After I graduated from Paramedic school, I worked at a couple of different hospitals and some private ambulance companies.

I never went to the fire academy because I thought that a department here would hire me and send me to the fire academy. Some departments do this…they hire you with some of the qualifications that are needed under the contingency that you complete whatever you need to complete. Well, I had done all the medical training I could, and just waited around a couple of years to see if anyone would “pick me up”. I must say that I wasted a great deal of amount of time with this approach. If only I had gone to the fire academy earlier, I would have been close to retiring by now ! After I woke up and smelled the coffee, I enrolled in the fire academy. Did you know that the Broward Fire Academy has a 2 year waiting list !! Yes…the demand for this job is EXTREMELY high…and there is little supply….I will explain why later on. I did not want to wait 2 long years for them to call me, so I opted to go to the fire academy further away from home. It was so far, that I had to room and board up there and could only come down on weekends to visit my family. Fire academy generally takes about 8-10 weeks to complete. You will be going 5 days a week….Mon-Fri 9-5. Expect a lot of physical training, lectures, drills and FUN ! I had one of the best times in my life here. Truly an experience that I will never forget.

Well, after I graduated from the academy and shed about 10 pounds from doing so, I was instantly transformed into the type of candidate Fire Departments are looking for…I had done all my training and was ready for immediate employment. I started applying to different departments here in South Florida. I must have put in 5 or 6 applications. I took several different tests with the departments I applied to. From physical agility tests to written tests to oral interviews, the entire process really sharpened my skills. Let me stop here and tell you that most departments save the oral interview as the lest step before getting hired. If they call you back after the oral interview, it means you are most likely in ! They will then send you for a pre-employment physical and drug test. If everything checks out fine, you are hired ! Then begins the life of a probationary firefighter.

Ahh..what a life it is indeed. Being on probation is a spectacle for everyone to see. I am just waiting for the day that they make a reality show that highlights the adventures of a “probee”…you would be amazed at the things you see and hear. Probationary employees are generally on probation for 1 year. After this year, they are protected by the Union if the Fire Department is protected by a Union….more on this later ! During probation, you are the slime of earth as far as the other firefighters are concerned. You will mop like crazy, clean the toilets day and night and clean up after messy firefighters. It is your responsibility to do these things…no questions asked ! Take it as a sort of “initiation” if you will. Only after you prove yourself to the veteran firefighters are you worthy. Like as a probationary firefighter for me meant being able to grin and bear it on countless occasions. You mouth of…they will mess with you even more. Sleep as a “probee” firefighter ? Only if everyone has been busy running calls all day and they are exhausted. If they are not, you will have CO2 extinguishers being fired off at the foot of your bed. You will be the butt of all jokes. You will be terrorized (in a good way of course). Biggest piece of advice I can give to probee’s out there ? Grin and bear it ! The more you show resistance and disgust, the more they will pound away at you.

Being a firefighter has really, REALLY thickened my skin over the past few years. It toughens you up and makes you solid like a rock. Nothing and I mean NOTHING phases you. After you complete your probationary year, you are 100% covered by the Union. Don’t get me wrong, you are covered by the Union from day one, but not full coverage. Full coverage is only granted to non-probationary members. If you are working the night before you finally get off probation, watch out ! You could be in a for a very long night ! lol Life after probation is sweet indeed. You can now become vocal about what your opinions are and generally carry a conversation without fear of being singled out because someone disagrees with your views. The best part of being off of probation ? You get to do the same thing over to the NEW probee’s that will follow in your footsteps in the future.

Now, here’s the deal. If you were hired as a paramedic/firefighter, expect to spend the first few years of your career on a RESCUE truck. Or ambulance for short. Reason being is that this is the least sought after position on the department. Why ? Well, for one, 90% of the calls you are going to get are going to me medically related calls such as car accidents, overdoses, chest pains, difficulty breathing, etc. It is one thing to respond to the call and evaluate the patient. It’s another thing to transport the patient all the way to the hospital, sit there for a couple of minutes while your officer completes his report and drive all the way back to the station. Sometimes you will be doing this for legit calls…serious calls where the person that dialed 911 really needed you. But for the most part, you will be dealing with non-exciting calls. Calls in which the person could have easily driven themselves to the hospital. But they thought that by dialing 911, they would be seen faster in the E.R. This is a common misconception amongst the public. It’s simply not true…they will not be seen faster. Most of the time we stick them in the waiting room ! So as you can see, a simple evaluate and transport call can last for about 1 hour total when you factor in the drive to the hospital, the drive back, the report, etc. Stack several of these back to back NON EMERGENCY calls in one shift, and you can see why people would rather not ride on rescue.

Most guys and girls with several years on the job like to ride the engine. The engine is fun. It is about real firefighting. But because of this, you will spend a lot of the time hanging out at the fire station or training if your officer so inclines to do. While many firefighters enjoy doing nothing unless they really have to, some will become very restless as a result. But what the alarm sounds, you can bet your but that it will be worth your while. Now, most engine companies that work in a FIRE RESCUE department will respond with the rescue to medical calls too ! Don’t get me wrong, you will in fact respond to the more serious calls in which more manpower will likely be needed. BUT, once you done treating the patient, that’s it….you get to drive back to the station. You have wiped your hands clean. The rescue, however, must do the rest and take about an hour in doing so to do it. Get the picture ?

Now we come to the most sought after position in the department…that of the Driver/Engineer. The driver engineer gets to drive the fire truck. He is in charge of operating the pump panel on the fire truck. He is responsible for delivering water to the nozzle, extending aerial ladders, setting up extrication equipment such as the jaws of life. It’s a lot of responsibility, but the reason why it’s the most sought after is that you never have to go into a burning building. You stay put at the pump panel and make sure your guys or girls inside the structure have adequate pressure being delivered to them. So in essence, you don’t get as hot and sweaty as your interior crews get. Pretty self-explanatory why this truly is one of the most sought after positions in a department huh ? Lieutenant and Captain are very respected and admired positions in the department, but it will take you several years to get to that level. I will talk more about these position when I update this website on a monthly basis.

Ok, let’s talk about the most secret and coveted aspect of this job…the schedule ! While the rest of the world is crammed with work in their little cubicle office, just counting down the hours till they can sit in their car in rush hour traffic for an hour before getting home…sleeping…and doing it all over again the next day and the day after that with only 2 days to relax before doing it all over again….YIKES ! I get scared just typing it ! Well, we are out on the boat doing some fishing on a glorious day, out on golf course practicing our shots, or watching a movie with at the theater with nobody around you to bother you. Life is sweet. Or, some guys have their own side jobs. There are many electricians, plumbers, flooring specialists, painters out there that use their off days to make a lot of extra money. Not that our salaries our bad, not at all. But you can see that there is potential there to supplement your salary if need be. Typically, we work 24 hours on (we sleep at night if it’s slow…so we get paid to sleep !) and are off 48 hours. Here’s the nice part of that….every 3 weeks, firefighters get something called a Kelly day. This means that you get one extra shift off every 3 weeks. So, you get 5 days off in a row every 3 weeks on TOP of working 24 on, 48 off. Nice deal huh ? Here is a typical month for me….My Kelley day is a WEDNESDAY… I work Monday, off Tuesday and Wednesday….work Thursday, off Friday and Saturday, work Sunday, off Monday and Tuesday, supposed to work Wednesday, but Wednesday is my Kelly day, so….off Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Work Saturday, off Sunday and Monday…etc.etc. Besides having work Holidays on which your shift lands on, or working on weekends sometimes, this schedule is the epitome of rest and relaxation. Explain your schedule to your 9-5 working friends and family, and they will look at you in astonishment. They just won’t get it and they never will until they experience it for themselves. Some even get jealous and will start joking around that you never work and that yourlazy. Don’t waste your breath on these people, there is nothing you can do to show the light.

Firefighters have very good salaries depending on where you work. Here in South Florida, we START off at around 50K…after your 4 years, you are usually making near 57k. If you get promoted, you will be in the 60k’s after only 5-6 years on the job. Make it to captain ? You are looking at around 70-80k’s after only 10 years. Even more ambitious ? Make it to Battalion Chief and you will be in the 90k’s ! Chief ? Well over 100k ! There is their HUGE stereotype that firefighters don’t make money. Another common misconception. Sure, there are some departments in rural areas of the U.S. that only make around 20k…but these are exceptions. If you work in a department that is 100% paid and 100% UNION, chances are you will be making a good living.

Thank God for the Unions..they are the backbone of any organization. Without them, we would not be where we are today. They fight for our working conditions, salary contracts and our benefits. We retire with FAT pensions because of our Unions. Fire Departments in the U.S. and CANADA are protected under the IAFF, or the International Association of Firefighters. We are one of the strongest and biggest Unions in the U.S. Did I say pensions ? Yup…most fire departments have excellent pension programs. After 10 years you are usually vested. Most firefighters retire after about 20 or 25 years on the job with full pension benefits. Why not the industry norm of 30 years ? Well, we are considered high risk and because of our messed up sleeping habits and extra stress we create for ourselves, most firefighters find it difficult to get past 25 years.

Next month, I will be writing about the JOB ITSELF…what you can expect…what kind of calls you can look forward to (or NOT look forward to !) and the good and bad of station life. Stay tuned…be sure to click on the links you see for more cool stuff on firefighting. Please be sure to check back come Nov.26th ! Stay safe and God bless !

Email: ebytwo@aol.com