JM15

I think it has become more of an issue of the quality of the people that we are giving drivers licenses to. I would love to see some sort of re-certification when you reach a certain age.

Columbia, MO Fire Department - Home SprinklersPublic Service Announcement for Home Sprinklers.

I think it has become more of an issue of the quality of the people that we are giving drivers licenses to. I would love to see some sort of re-certification when you reach a certain age.

all firefighter one classes whether given by the State or the County must have OFPC approval no matter who is paying. That is not happening to a local department OFPC will be hard pressed to authorize a "special" FF1 class for any department. Then every department will want a "special" class just for them--can you see the nightmare happening. Even if you hire an outside company to teach FF1 to get the state to approve it is almost impossible--I say almost because you can never say never in this world.
Westchester has I believe 10-13 state fire instructors and state Hours have been increased for the year plus a cadre of County fire Instructors all capable of teaching FF1 and many more courses.
Lets not forget that a FF1 is like 90 hours and most instructors tack on safety and survival so its over 100 hours--that's a lot of commitment. I know one state fire instructor that did a FF! one night a week!!! took 1/2 a year to complete. don't hang me on the hours they are approximate
when I talk about commitment --- firefighter one classes start out with between 20- 25 students and end up with between 15-20 some do not even bring a book do not read the assignments or just cant do the work(physically). Fire instructors teach to the standard of the State--when a student cant make that standard-- they get dropped. their local department can keep them as firefighters (AHJ) but no certificate of completion is given.
again just my thoughts make the standard--keep to the standard we are sworn to protect the citizens of our community. We can no longer " just get by" we need to improve and move forward. The past is nice to look at and reminisce about but lets not make it our future.

They have been using these on 684 for awhile now

Not exactly. The county would need County Fire Instructors (CFI) who are certified by OFPC and the county would pay them. CFI do not need to be full timers (and generally are not). And in theory if the county will not budget for it, the dept could arraing to pay the county for it.

I have never heard of this but I am now very curious. So lets say my department called our county Coordinator and said "hey we want to have a Firefighter 2 class for our members" they would arrange and pay for a state instructor to come and teach it exclusively for us? Or am I missing something?

Simple slap on the hand is appropriate. No need to go any further.

I'd like to donate all of my DJ/ Event equipment to any FD/VAC/PD in the county, state you name it! It's everything to get going for any department event or holiday party. Please PM me and I would be more then happy to send a list of all the equipment details and answer any questions you or your department might have.

Thank You.

Equipment has been donated. Thanks for all who inquired! - Be safe out there

Thats because 1) we cant let the other depts have a "better" or more expensive toy than we have. 2) No one in the dept is willing to or physically fit enough to climb a straight ladder.
I like when depts. buy a tower that can not drive to the majority of its district because of weight and the rest of the district has tight driveways that prevent turning in and set up. But as long as our toy is as big as everyone else its ok (even if we cant staff it).

I have been out of the loop with training for a while but here goes....your department or AHD can adopt training standards for it's members providing it meets all applicable laws and standards. For example you can run a FF1 class that could meet the expectations of NFPA 1001 yet you could not issue a state certificate from OFPC for FF1 because it is not sponsored by OFPC but your AHD can issue a certificate. I would suggest that the person(s) who conducts the training be a certified instructor as it would hold up better if something was to happen. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Firemoose,

No, is not a joke. Our county says they have very limited hours/money for training. Yes, we have the outreach programs, but there is not nearly enought of them to keep up with the demand (bodies needing training) in the county. This has been brought up in countywide fire district meetings, Battalion meetings, ect. Same story no matter where you go on whatever level.
I have gotten in 12 new members in the past few months in my district due to a great recruting program done both inhouse and by FASNY that want to be/physically can be "interior SCBA wearing, hose weilding, a** kicking FF's" ... I am able to send 2 of them to FFI class due to county rules, which is 2 members per dept per "high demand" class. The other 10 get told, "well, you just have to wait for the next class" That could be several months off, and even then, it may not be non where near local (within a 45 drive one way). So they start to loose interest (and I dont blame them), .. They say to themselves, "You wanted me here, but you cant officially(read as having state certification saying I know what Im doing) train me, so whats the point".. I'd probably walk away also......

Ok, fine. As a district, I will pay (out of my budget for something that the state/county does provide, but its not nearly enough as the demand is for for free) for a state instructor, have them teach the OFPC class to the OFPC standards/doctrine, and would ASSUME that you'd get a state certificate. However, this is not the case. You dont get a state certificiate, you get a "in house" one, which is meaningless outside the confines of the district. If I have my inhouse cert, and I want to take a OFPC taught FF2 class, since I dont have a state issued cert, I cant take FF2.

So as a district, do I pay good money for good training that is meaningless as the state is concerned? What happens when someone gets hurt/killed that had a "inhouse cert" but not a state one? Im sure the lawyers would love that one. It could be a LONG time before I can get my other 10 people thru an outreach class.

Bottom line as a district, I'd pay for the training but the state makes it so I can not do so AND get a state certificate for the training....... So whats a guy to

That is the exact problem in a nutshell that we are running into, JM15....

Not to get even further off topic but George Zimmerman even after all of this went out of his way to aid a family of four in an MVA last week... Not saying he is a hero but he sure seems like a stand-up guy. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/22/george-zimmerman-rescued-man-from-truck-crash-last-week-police-say/
I have heard of police dispatchers having motorists following drunk drivers etc before so its not a rare occurence. I don't think a dispatcher has the legal authority to direct you to do something. The dispatcher even said "Sir you don't have to do that" not Sir Don't do that, yes legally there is a difference in the wording. Kind of like may and shall.

In theory you could do that. You would want to show that the instructor(s) were competent and followed curriculum that met the standards. The easiest way would be to follow the OFPC curriculum. The member could be issued an in-house FF1 certificate but that carries no weight outside of that district. You will run into problems if your taking county or state classes due to the pre-requisites or even going mutual aide. It really is just not an efficient way to do it.

Not to get even further off topic but George Zimmerman even after all of this went out of his way to aid a family of four in an MVA last week... Not saying he is a hero but he sure seems like a stand-up guy. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/22/george-zimmerman-rescued-man-from-truck-crash-last-week-police-say/
I have heard of police dispatchers having motorists following drunk drivers etc before so its not a rare occurence. I don't think a dispatcher has the legal authority to direct you to do something. The dispatcher even said "Sir you don't have to do that" not Sir Don't do that, yes legally there is a difference in the wording. Kind of like may and shall.

Not to get even further off topic but George Zimmerman even after all of this went out of his way to aid a family of four in an MVA last week... Not saying he is a hero but he sure seems like a stand-up guy. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/22/george-zimmerman-rescued-man-from-truck-crash-last-week-police-say/
I have heard of police dispatchers having motorists following drunk drivers etc before so its not a rare occurence. I don't think a dispatcher has the legal authority to direct you to do something. The dispatcher even said "Sir you don't have to do that" not Sir Don't do that, yes legally there is a difference in the wording. Kind of like may and shall.

Not to get even further off topic but George Zimmerman even after all of this went out of his way to aid a family of four in an MVA last week... Not saying he is a hero but he sure seems like a stand-up guy. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/22/george-zimmerman-rescued-man-from-truck-crash-last-week-police-say/
I have heard of police dispatchers having motorists following drunk drivers etc before so its not a rare occurence. I don't think a dispatcher has the legal authority to direct you to do something. The dispatcher even said "Sir you don't have to do that" not Sir Don't do that, yes legally there is a difference in the wording. Kind of like may and shall.

The artcile states that 40 people pushed a 32-ton train to free her... Seems kind of hard even with the suspension system that shifts. Hontestly in the NYC subway I don't see 40 ranodm people coming to help someone like that but then again that just might be my grim view of humanity.

Was self defense by GZ needed? -If my face was being bashed into the ground and I thought I would die then yes.
Every American has the right to defend their lives, but provoking a confrontation this was not going to end well. -So what if he did "provoke" it he was still attacked.
I believe in the right to bear arms, but only buy people that need it, and have a extensive back ground check. - How do you define people that need it? Is being able to defend your life or your families a need?
I'm sorry to say but this topic is going to become racist and not about the Dispatcher/Zimmerman situation. - Why does it have to become racist? Facts can be discussed without the issue of race by some.
I own a gun for work and I'm always thinking about " what if I have to pull it out, and against who, and if I do and fire it how will I feel knowing that what I did was justified in the legal system or by God. - There is a saying that I would rather be judged by 12 then carried by 6... Seemed to work out for Zimmerman

Maybe it's less clear to some that the way the dispatcher worded it, was in no way instruction. The phrase was "you don't need to do that", basically an acknowledgement that he was following and that it may increase the level of danger. While the difference may seem trivial I submit that it is in fact very distinct and is why there is little to no scrutiny of the dispatchers' role.

The artcile states that 40 people pushed a 32-ton train to free her... Seems kind of hard even with the suspension system that shifts. Hontestly in the NYC subway I don't see 40 ranodm people coming to help someone like that but then again that just might be my grim view of humanity.

“We refused to throw in the towel and do nothing. We refused to let Detroit go bankrupt. We bet on American workers and American ingenuity, and three years later, that bet is paying off in a big way.”
-- President Obama in his weekly address, Oct. 13, 2012.
.............................

Was self defense by GZ needed? -If my face was being bashed into the ground and I thought I would die then yes.
Every American has the right to defend their lives, but provoking a confrontation this was not going to end well. -So what if he did "provoke" it he was still attacked.
I believe in the right to bear arms, but only buy people that need it, and have a extensive back ground check. - How do you define people that need it? Is being able to defend your life or your families a need?
I'm sorry to say but this topic is going to become racist and not about the Dispatcher/Zimmerman situation. - Why does it have to become racist? Facts can be discussed without the issue of race by some.
I own a gun for work and I'm always thinking about " what if I have to pull it out, and against who, and if I do and fire it how will I feel knowing that what I did was justified in the legal system or by God. - There is a saying that I would rather be judged by 12 then carried by 6... Seemed to work out for Zimmerman