Here’s a list of free online courses available to help further your education. Most offer a certificate to download or print upon completion.
Responder Safety Learning Network
NWCG (National Wildfire Coordinating Group)
Hazardous Materials Training Center
Operation Lifesaver – Rail Safety for First Responders
Never stop learning!
-Rookie ?
The fire house is where everything happens.
It’s where we train and have meetings.
It’s where we eat and where we have fun.
It’s where we repair equipment and scrub our gear.
It’s where we wash dishes and mop the floors.
It’s where we crash in exhaustion after a long call.
It’s where we laugh and sometimes even cry.
It’s where we hug our brother or sister.
And where we pray for each other.
Like any other house, it’s not the building that matters. It’s the hearts and souls of the hard working people within that make us all a family.
-Rookie ?
I’m starting to feel more comfortable with talking on the radio. Remembering to say the unit I’m calling before my own number keeps making me pause, but as with all things, it’s getting easier with practice.
During all my ramblings on this blog, I hope you don’t think I haven’t made mistakes.
I’ve parked my personal vehicle too far from the scene on several occasions. I’ve dropped my hand-held radio in the mud while at a structure fire, I’ve forgotten to grab a jacket on the way out the door, and I’ve walked up to a crash scene without wearing gloves more times than I can count. These may seem minor, but during the moment they can be major. Having a mud-filled mic when you need to use the radio is a big problem. Forgetting to wear gloves puts myself at risk if someone is injured. It also means I have to return to my vehicle to get gloves which wastes time.
Everyone makes mistakes. My goal is to keep my mistakes small and learn from them so I don’t make that mistake again.
-Rookie ?
Affiliate Disclosure: Please note when you click links and purchase items, in many (not all) cases I will receive a referral commission. Your support in purchasing through these links is much appreciated. -Rookie
There is always work to be done around the fire station. There’s the usual cleaning duties like sweeping, wiping down the counters, cleaning the bathrooms, washing out the coffee pot, and so forth. Then there’s the upkeep and maintenance of all the trucks (apparatus’). Everything from checking the fluids and washing the outside regularly, to cleaning out the compartments and the inside of the vehicles. There’s lawn maintenance and minor repairs to the station itself. Things like repairing a door, replacing light bulbs, touch-up painting, etc.
One of the jobs I’ve been busy doing lately is labeling all new equipment & gear with the fire department initials. It’s a simple job, which makes it perfect for a rookie like myself who doesn’t need to be doing anything that I haven’t been trained on yet. Now just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s not important. We work a lot of mutual aid calls in our area so it’s highly important that all of our equipment is labeled with our department initials. If not we could easily end up short a pike pole, or some other tool, and have no clue that it was left leaning against another crew’s truck or somewhere else.
Take pride in having a clean station and clean equipment.
-Rookie ?
Affiliate Disclosure: Please note when you click links and purchase items, in many (not all) cases I will receive a referral commission. Your support in purchasing through these links is much appreciated. -Rookie
After weeks of feeling like it was going to take YEARS to learn all I needed to know to be a decent firefighter, I finally found several educational resources to help.
#1 Our department let me check out a copy of Essentials of Firefighting and Fire Department Operations. This is a HUGE book, full of just about every aspect of fire fighting.
#2 FireRescue1 training videos online. These are great for both probationary and experienced fire fighters.
#3 Fire Engineering training videos online.
These resources are great because you can learn on your own time and at your own pace. I recommend taking notes. Sometimes watching one training video will bring up several questions. I like to research the answers online and if I can’t find the answer I’ll ask one of the officers on the dept. Never stop asking questions, it’s the best way to learn.
-Rookie ?
Affiliate Disclosure: Please note when you click links and purchase items, in many (not all) cases I will receive a referral commission. Your support in purchasing through these links is much appreciated. -Rookie
The camaraderie of firefighter brothers and sisters is great. Like most “families” we can also get on each other’s nerves. Sometimes feelings are hurt, or words are taken the wrong way, but for the most part our motley crew all gets along really well. Between all the hard work of training, maintenance of equipment, and the never ending cleaning, we find time to play games or enjoy a movie together. The close relationships between our firefighter brothers and sisters helps us trust each other with our lives during emergency situations.
-Rookie ?
Affiliate Disclosure: Please note when you click links and purchase items, in many (not all) cases I will receive a referral commission. Your support in purchasing through these links is much appreciated. -Rookie
