requirments/ liabilaties for for firefighter on a fire ground

I am on a volunteer dept. in wisconsin we have a few member on our dept. that have no certifacations. Due those members belong on the fire ground or not?

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Permalink Reply by Chief Tal Mong on March 31, 2009 at 7:32pm

We do allow new firefighters to ride on fire calls, however, they are not to go out on the first or second piece of equipment. They are to observe and only observe. After the emergency is over, they are shown what had happened and why things are done the way they were. Then they get to help pick up hose and shown how to clean. We also wait six months before sending someone through school. We have found that this is not for everyone. Let them get their feet wet before jumping in.

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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on March 31, 2009 at 8:16pm

You can have years of actual experience and no certifications. No big deal.
Whilst I appreciate your sentiments- god knows I've seen plenty of certificate chasers- don't totally dismiss certification.

Here in Oz, we have nationally accreditted training. The theory behind it, is that everyone is trained to the same nationally accepted standard.

The certification stands up in court when quries are raised about levels of competence, benchmarks for training, etc.

Yes, you need more than the bit of paper, but it goes hand in hand with experience.