What Should Rookies Know?

[x635 4,066]

I hope this is an interesting topic.

What ONE thing do you think rookies should know, and why?

[nycemt728 49]

The moment you stop learning and analyzing is the day you should retire.

[FFPCogs 863]

Just as it was told to me...short and sweet

Have big ears and a small mouth.

As for the why, well you can't learn anything if your lips are flapping and as a new guy it's your job to learn

Edited January 8, 2014 by FFPCogs

[spin_the_wheel 460]

There are many things rookies should know.... here is one thought I teach. RESPECT your uniforms. All 3 of them. Firefighting (actions on the fire ground), dress (actions when in class A's), and civilian (actions while off duty and wearing your FD t-shirts, hats, puffy jackets etc....)

Understand that YES you are held to a higher standard when your a firefighter. If you cannot respect this fact, understand it and live it, move on.

[FirNaTine 370]

Shut your mouth and take an interest in your Job learning as much as you can not just on calls but within the Station. Id like to say respect the "Senior Guys" but in todays Fire Service many of the so called "Senior Men" seem to know just about as much, if not less, then a "Rookie"! Oh have the times changed!

[CFI609D 119]

I know the question was specifically what ONE thing rookies should know. Unfortunately it is not that simple. When I teach I try to emphasize they need to learn to follow the Marine Corps philosophy of "adapt, improvise, and overcome." In addition, whenever I teach a probie class, I hand out something I got from Lt. Tim Klett of FDNY many year ago he refers to as "The Four Ups" which all firefighters, career or volunteer, should take to heart and live by.

“Listen Up”

“When you are first starting in the fire service, there is a lot going on. You are entering a culture that is unlike any other one on this planet. You will hear stories, tales and just plain B.S. But listen carefully. That is our past talking. All of the information has value….Listen to the older, over-the-hill, past-their-prime, malcontents, for the little ‘pearls of wisdom’ that aren’t in any textbooks. A lot of important information that will help keep you safe and alive on the fire ground is not written down. The fire service is very young. We are losing our experience. The firefighters that went to fires during the war years are slowly retiring. Talk to them before they leave. We are losing our history, we are losing our past. Don’t let this happen.”

“Clean Up”

“The firehouse is your second home. Treat it as such. And if you are the junior firefighter working, you are the lowest on the totem pole. You get the dirty work….This is based on the fact that all the junior people before you did it, or should have done it. You do it until the next probie (comes along). It is part of belonging, it is doing what you should be doing. And it is always pretty funny, because in my experience, the ones that piss and moan about doing the chores usually end up doing them by themselves for a long time. But the ones that just do it…usually find that they have help. They become accepted into the “family” a little quicker.”

“Step Up”

“Be involved in your company and in your department. Attend company functions, help run them if possible….Become a productive member of your Company. Above all, go to funerals and services, especially the line of duty ones. Pay your respects. Become a part of the fire service by deed and not by mouth.”

“Shut Up”

“Spend more time listening and doing than talking about it. Show by your actions and your deeds what type of firefighter and member of this great Brotherhood you are.”

[thebreeze 194]

That the internet is not a 100% reliable source of information.

[brian19fd 22]

Join with the attitude of "What Can I do for the Department; not, What is the Department gonna do for/give Me?"

[velcroMedic1987 330]

That the internet is not a 100% reliable source of information.

As we post these thoughts on the internet. LOL

[velcroMedic1987 330]

Rookies should be taught that they don't know everything (anything) and have a career of learning ahead of them.

Graduating rookie or probie school is only step 1 and they don't know squat yet. NYCEMT said it, you gotta keep learning or you're doing everyone a disservice.

[wraftery 1,275]

Of utmost importance for a rookie to remember is to remember.

...to remember everything he is taught and to remember it for a lifetime and to be able to bring it out of the archives of his brain at any given moment

[FF1 172]

Rookies should know that just because you just came out of probie school or FF1, you did not write the book on firefighting.

[antiquefirelt 994]

Don't be afraid to ask how to do something. It's far better to be a good learner than a know it all. Mistakes are to be learned from, not covered up.

[gamewell45 258]

Since everyone in here has given most of the answers that i would have given, all I can say to the rookies entering the fire service is that you get to buy coffee for all the guys at the conclusion of the alarm.

[ks1980 36]

Since everyone in here has given most of the answers that i would have given, all I can say to the rookies entering the fire service is that you get to buy coffee for all the guys at the conclusion of the alarm.

And on that note probies must know how to make coffee and freshen the pot once the enter the firehouse. Also to learn to knock with their elbows.

[Westchester 49]

Edited January 12, 2014 by Westchester

[Dinosaur 844]

Join with the attitude of "What Can I do for the Department; not, What is the Department gonna do for/give Me?"

That should be part of the hiring process or "selection" process since people don't think VFD's are employers.

[Sean11FD 3]

They should know how to do the Carlton dance to "its not unusual" by Tom Jones.

[ex-commish 490]

I remember ears and eyes open....mouth shut unless you had a question...at least that's the way it was 34 years ago.....say this know you could end up with harassment charges.

[idlewildvfd 88]

Join with the attitude of "What Can I do for the Department; not, What is the Department gonna do for/give Me?"

I think JFK might have said that!

[wraftery 1,275]

I think JFK might have said that!

[/quote

Didn't he also say

"Ich bein un Feuerwehrmann"

[dwcfireman 656]

Your balls will be busted unrelentlessly for the entirety of your career...start thinking of good comebacks

[Remember585 815]

Not every tradition needs to be broken! Some are what makes what we do worth it.