Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by chelsea on November 9, 2007 at 10:40pm

see the givin it up thing is what we have to do w/ gear. although the asst chief said i wasnt givin mine up cause im too active. i dont need a pager right now cause my dad has a scanner, and like 2 radios. most of our jrs have their own anyways. we ride on the trucks too, but if someone above us shows up then they ride out before we do..and we're not allowed on the first truck out.

Permalink Reply by ee779 on November 9, 2007 at 11:06pm

In our dept. juniors don't get pagers untill they are 17 years old because they aren't allowed by state child labor laws, to be on a scene untill then. I feel the juniors in our company are a great asset, they usually are very active in training and are willing to be ready at the station after a call to help clean equipment and pack hoses.

Permalink Reply by Tony Leonard,Jr. on November 10, 2007 at 12:17am

When I was in Explorers,back when they could go on calls,only the few of us who where "Certified First Responders"(a step below emt here in new york state)where allowed to carry minitors so they could help staff the ambulance for e.m.s. calls.Also you have to be 16 to be a CFR.The rest of us had base and portable scanners and c.b.radios & of course the fire siren.

Permalink Reply by ee779 on November 10, 2007 at 9:53pm

I've been following that case from the start and I do agree he should be given full honors! but, as far as giving pagers...I do believe 14 and 15 year olds should be responsible enough to know they are not allowed on scene! We teach them thier roll and yes on the training ground they get treated as a full firefighter, less power tools and live fire. I feel if they can't follow the rules as a junior they won't follow them as a senior member!

Permalink Reply by chelsea on November 10, 2007 at 10:12pm

i totally agree on the if they can't follow the rules as jr thing. i am a jr myself. i believe (even though its not allowed at my dept.) that a jr. the age of 16 and older should be allowed a pager. but you got to lay out the rules and consquences as well. there is no need in a jr driving over the speed limit to make a call knowing they want be allowed to do that much. i also remember the story of chris kangas...i believe he should get full honors as well. IF ( i pray nothing does) something happens to me as a jr. i am covered by insurance at the firehall.

Permalink Reply by mck306john on November 10, 2007 at 10:46pm

ok... i hope i dont upset any1 with this but... here goes... my opinion goes along with the state laws for calls, and problems like that... according to the PA state laws in order to be a Firefighter, one must pass all the required classes to be a member, one must also be able to enter a structure, in my opinion jr firefighters are not firefighter, 1st off if a jr cant legally enter a building, legally drive a fire app, or operate emergency lights, and or a siren, then there not a member... in my dept... our jr arnt aloud on any truck except our squad truck and in order to ride on the truck they must have all the state required classes...- which is a chevy suburban, our jr are only allowed to do things like coffee wagon, and must be with the officer in charge at all times on a fire scene... our jr do have pagers, but they are not allowed to run and or operate emergency lights, and or siren's.. i know its my dept, and not every dept or everyone agrees with what i said but thats our rules... our rules also go according to the State of West Virginia rules and laws... im sorry if i upset any1... but everyone gutta look at it this way if u dont go by ur state laws and sumthing happens to a jr ff then ur OIC and dept is responsible... i just got 1 question to ask before i quit writting, is ur dept willing to take the risks for not going by the state or national laws... and would any OIC be able to live with them selves if somthing happened to a JR... i know speaking for myself, with me being a LT that i could deal with the fact that i lost a FF, and if i lost a JR FF i wouldnt be able to take it, bc 9 times out of 10 if a jr ff would die on a scene then they would be doing sumthing that they werent allowed doing...

Permalink Reply by Andrew Robertucci on November 10, 2007 at 11:10pm

Well i dont know what part of Pa you are in but you DO NOT NEED TO BE CERTIFIED TO BE A MEMBER. Maybe your department requires that but its not a state law. And jr firefighters are firefighters. Tell me how many firefighters do you have that show up at a worker to just stand around in the manpower pool? Jr firefighters in Pa are allowed to do everything but enter a structure on fire and they cant use power equipment or hoses. How you treat the jr members is how your department will act when they get of age. And remember they will be able to vote you in or out of a position when they do become firefighters. As for pagers if you have them let them use them. set guidelines for use. If you need them for firefighters then pull them from the least active jrs. just make sure you tell them the guidelines before you give them one so when you need to pull it they know why.

Permalink Reply by mck306john on November 10, 2007 at 11:24pm

our jr's do have pagers... and our jr's know the rules when they first apply, and believe it our not we have 10 jr ff and approx 30 sr ff's, and our jr ff parents like the way we got our dept sat up bc they know that there son and or daughter isnt going to lose there kid, and that nothing is going to happen to there child... and i myslef went throu the same jr program... and i learned alot... and the best part about being with the OIC on a fire scene is u learn command... i think thats the best thing ever... like i said i didnt mean to upset anyone... and incase u dont understand what u wrote u said that jr ff can do everything on a fire ground except enter a structure, and that they cant use power equipment and hoses.... and incase u didnt read my comment i said that my dept was WV, and that we go by the WV state laws....

Permalink Reply by Andrew Robertucci on November 10, 2007 at 11:48pm

I was just going on what you said in your first post. " my opinion goes along with the state laws for calls, and problems like that... according to the PA state laws in order to be a Firefighter, one must pass all the required classes to be a member, one must also be able to enter a structure, in my opinion jr firefighters are not firefighter. And i wasnt offended just stating my opinion.

Permalink Reply by Aric Stewart on November 11, 2007 at 12:02am

It can be good and it can be bad it all depends on the maturity of the person who is a junior member. I know that some are mature to carry pager and then there are some that are not mature enough to handle a wet dream so it can be good and it can be bad. Starting off for like the first 6 months observe the person determine if they are mature or not, after that 6 months make a decison on weather they should get to carry a pager or not. It might hurt some feelings but it is in all how you tell them weather they are mature so i hope that this helps a little bit.

Permalink Reply by David Saylor Jr. on November 11, 2007 at 1:38am

Well first i want too start off saying hat it uhfortunate what has happened to chris kangas. I tatally dissagree with the fact that they will not put the poor kids name on the memoral. In my eyes if you are a jr or a firefighter you are all the same and should be treated the same. Ok on too the pager thing I am jr firefighter. Although our dept does not give us pagers I think they should. Becuase we play a big roll in the firefighting world becuase we are the future of the fiefighting industrey. BUt I guess just do like I did and go buy your own. Also it depends on if the Jr. can be trusted or not in my opion. Although I have ben going to fire house for years an d been at preety mutch every trainning seson my dept offered still no pager. SO Jr'S EXPLORES DON'T LOOK FOR A BREAK UNTIL YOUR 18th BIRTHDAY WHEN YOU ARE AN ADULT AND NO LONGER PROTECTED BY THE CHILD LABOR LAWS

Permalink Reply by Tim on November 11, 2007 at 6:35am

I have to agree with the majority of the other posts. As long as the senior members have pagers and the juniors realize their limitations then it should not be an issue. The benefits include them knowing of an incident that they may be able to assist with when it does happen. There is also an added benefit of an additional means of notification if needed for meetings, work details, etc. A certain amount of knowledge can also be gained from just listening to radio traffic.

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