Something I Think Everyone Has Had Happen to Them as an Explorer and Firefighter (in training or fully certified)

I used to be both a fire fighter (in training and and explorer) . What I really hated was when drivers would leave and be short of 3 people required by the sop's of the department i used to be on and i finally brought it up at a department meeting one thursday night at the end of traing and never had a problem with it afterwards. I want peoples take on this explorers mainly

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sorry...i dont get what ur tryin to say.

what i think u mean is that drivers leave explores behind and that frustrates you, right?

well heres my 2 sents (lol)

depending on ur companys insurance policy (mine wnt let us ride to calls), ya cant ride to calls. for us, we cant respond period. my dad is 3rd asst chief, and can ride w him to calls, but if i get out, my butt would be whipped. if it is a structure fire, the exploreres r required to go to the hall and wait for further instruction (whether it be go to the scene and help roll and pack hose or stay at the hall and wash the trucks and pack hose)
Well they need to get to the scene and since as juniors we cannot do as much they will leave us. I normally tell them to go without me and i always catch the second truck.
Our explorers, we call them Junior FF in our dept, are not allowed to run code 3, whether in pov or rig. They may not work an active fire, so they usually help the EO or the chief on scene, they do all training we do, minus live fire and of course are expected to be at the station for work days, fund raisers, etc.
At our station in Auckland, New Zealand it is very rare for us to leave rookies (our equivalent to explorers) behind. However it really does depend on the situation, because in NZ if your allocated a pager (If you have done a basic course and a course which legally allows you to attend a incident) then we will normally allow you on and wait for you (Depending how long you take to get ready). However the amount of work you can do is limited, it is really for you to come along to be supervised by a firefighter and gain some experience.

If the call is a house fire or any of the sort we WILL leave you behind. Purely because you will NOT have the qualifications to deal with house fires, and we will need all of our crew in the situation.

However our station deals with lots of medicals, therefore if the rookie isnt mucking around putting gear on (Seriously, they can take 5 minutes its unreal) I will let them board the appliance. This is because our medics can deal with the situation and we might need a extra hand here or there, or even in some cases we need some Traffic Control.

Trust me, even some of us trained firefighters get left behind sometimes. Because either we don't make the truck, the truck is already on the way out or the cab is full.

Don't let it frustrate you too much :)
Explorers on a hot call should be 2nd or 3rd due with out being certed they can not go in only can be goffers so 1st due needs trained personel..I agree they ned to be there and see and learn but at what cost?..remember if your in that ic seat and you make that call it all falls on you in court if it goes to hell
Ah yes i agree Joey.

Thats why over here in NZ before you can ride on the appliance you are already trained ( and certified). Yet you have a 6 month period of being the 'red hat' which is rookie.

After you complete your basic fire fighting course (certification) you still have a red hat until 6 months is over. Therefore they can still legally ride along on the truck for experience even though they are still within their 6 month period :)

Yet for them to go inside the buildings it is another course, which is why they are mostly kicked off.
However agreeing with you Joey, at what cost?
If there is a spare seat go for gold, but if there is someone that can we need sorry bucko your off the truck :)

Hope we have a understanding

Snapper
I say it depends on size of Dept. If theres a truck going to leave, and it has empty spots, why not fill them with Jrs? When I was a JR I was allowed to run with the guys in the truck to the call. Or even drive my truck to the call. I mostly stayed with the AS C on fires to help him if he needed me.

I think the greatest thing for JRS to learn is to SEE it. And be there. Even if hes not pulling in the attack line and fighting the fire, just for him to even just stand there and watch, its going to give him some great experience and knowledge of how your Dept works.

I count my self as lucky from when I was a JR. I was allowed to go on any call, in the truck, or driving POV, and do everything short of going inside of a building. And when doing training burns, JRS were allowed to do SMALL live fire training. And when I went to my basic fire school, i was more than prepared. And now Im in my FireFighter 1&2. And all I have to do is keep doing what I already know, and do things the way the state wants them done.
First of all, Good on you Mac!
Good to see you stuck with your firefighting all the way through :)

Yeah I totally agree Mac; Experience is a key thing for anyone if they want to improve.
However as im sure you can see, sometimes it IS necessary to kick rookies (your version of explorers) off the truck if we need crew that are trained in house fires and hold the qualifications.

But if we don't need certain people with certain qualifications and the rookie has completed their basic fire fighting course and their Unit 3285 (Demonstrate Knowledge of Personal Safety at a Fireground) Then by all means we let them ride!
Exactly. And I can also completely under stand if a DEPTS SOPS say no go for JRS. I mean..if you have a Kid who wants to be a firefighter bad enough, he will deal with all the hose rolling at a fire, and being the go-fer. But honestly..There are alot of kids whom of which were stuck at the station ALL the time and only rolled hose and cleaned..I think it might bore them to death!

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