A Firefighter No More?

from www.hooksandhooligans.com

When do you quit being a firefighter? When was the moment, wherever you are in your journey in the fire service, that you stopped being a firefighter? Was it when you made driver? Made Captain? Made Chief? I remember years ago when I was in some social situation with my wife and after an introduction one of her colleagues would ask, “And what do you do?” My response was, “I’m a fireman.” (I will dive into my thoughts on gender titles some other time.) My supporting spouse added in, “He’s also a Captain and a Paramedic.” While that was true and I was not trying to conceal those facts, my first response was that I am a fireman. 10 years, and a couple promotions later, I still like to say that I’m a firefighter. Do I get to spray water? Force doors? Perform a search? Vent the roof? Rarely, and it is a blessed treat when it comes along. 

  I will admit that I have weaseled my way in on a few extrications here and there with the justification that, “They just needed another pair of hands.” But that’s about all I get these days. Such is life as a chief officer. 

  For me the desire is still there. Regardless of the bugles on my shirt I still want to be a firefighter. Given the choice of sitting in a meeting or training on pump ops? Its pump ops every time. QA reports or drill on setting up a Z-rig? Z-rig wins. File training reports or wash the rigs? Hand me the brush.  

 My point is this. If you can answer that question, if you can point to that spot along your journey that you no longer considered yourself a firefighter, then what are you? The bigger question is, “why are you still here?” Think about all the things that make up being a firefighter, the values and the ideals, the things that drew you into the job. If that isn’t still a part of you and your purpose for serving, then what are you doing it for?  

 In my opinion, we have no other purpose than to serve. We may serve in different ways, operations, support, training, prevention, but we should all have in our hearts that we exist to serve. Hopefully, along the way in our journey we have retained the essence of being a firefighter. We think of service before self. We think of brothers before self. We see what needs to be done and we do it. We solve problems that our within our realm and we make a difference. 

  So my question is, are you a firefighter? And if there is any hesitation in your response, how can you get back to it?  

 – Chief Dave Cline Hooks & Hooligans Senior Correspondent - See more at: http://hooksandhooligans.com/a-fireman-no-more/#sthash.BJ4SCiku.dpuf

Region 5 Update

Fire Instructor I class:  We have one space remaining in a Fire Instructor I class at St. Andrew’s Fire Department 4/24-5/3 (two weekend class).  Registration is available on the portal.

Course Updates:  The following SCFA courses are currently in the update process, with new revisions coming soon: 3330-Auto Extrication, 3224-Arson Detection, 2723-Haz Mat Tech, 4165-Fire & Life Safety Educator, 2100-Fire Officer I, 2102-Fire Officer II, 1210-EVDT, 1220-Pump Ops, 1221-Pump Ops II, and 1250-Aerial Ops.  Instructors will be notified about the update process for each one.

Long Range Planning:   Now is the time to meet with your neighboring departments and coordinate training through the remainder of 2015.  Once you have determined your training needs, coordinated with your neighboring departments, and looked on the portal to see what is already available, please email your in-house and request class needs to Brent Turner at brent.turner@llr.sc.gov    Brent will need the following information via email:

·         Course Name/Course Code

·         Will it be In-House (you will supply the instructors) or Request (SCFA will supply instructors, must meet a minimum student requirement)?

·         If you have a preferred schedule—evening, weekday, weekend, etc.. (if you need us to staff, please do not give us specific dates, let us pick dates based on our instructor availability)

·         Location of class (station name or number)

·         Any SCFA equipment/trailer support needed

Additionally, you can let Brent know if your department would like to host an IFSAC testing/general retesting session at any point after June 30, and some potential dates/times.

Retesting policy:  Be aware that students have up to 120 days from course completion to take their first retest.  If they fail their first retest, then they have up to 210 days from course completion to take a second retest.  Please make sure students schedule their retesting session far in advance, so we are able to accommodate them during their eligibility period.

Reminder: Students cannot register for a class until all the required prereqs for that class are on their transcript.

Available IFSAC testing & general retesting sessions  **To register for any session, please contact the regional office** 

3/25	Wed	9am	Colleton Co Fire/Rescue, Sta 19
4/25	Sat	9am	St. Paul’s Fire Dept HQ
5/27	Wed	6:30pm	Burton Fire Dept, Pinewood Sta
6/24	Wed	9am	Colleton Co Fire/Rescue, Sta 19