The Social Network & Community JUST for Firefighters
One set of Standards
I think that it is a bit retarted that the United States of America cannot have one set of standards for the fire service that can be used anywhere. Here's what I think should happen:
Each state should have a committee of Chiefs.
This committee should get togeather and elect a national rep. for that committee.
The committee should re-negotiate what the fire standards are for that state.
Then, all the national reps get togeatherand negotiate their state standards into ONE national standard. All other standards would be grandfathered with thoes who already have them.
After the National Standards are develouped, all other standards would be null and void.
So then, anyone moveing from lets say...Nebraska to Michigan could AUTOMATICALLY start fighting fire.
Of coarse this would apply going from vol. dept. to vol. dept. OR paid to paid...NOT vol. to paid. (you should still have to do a physical test and go thru the hireing process if you are not paid. If you are paid already, it should be just an app, background check, and an interview and that's ALL!).
We in the fire service OVERCOMPLICATE things TOO much! In the end, we hurt ourselves and our communities.
Let me know what u think.
Each state should have a committee of Chiefs.
This committee should get togeather and elect a national rep. for that committee.
The committee should re-negotiate what the fire standards are for that state.
Then, all the national reps get togeatherand negotiate their state standards into ONE national standard. All other standards would be grandfathered with thoes who already have them.
After the National Standards are develouped, all other standards would be null and void.
So then, anyone moveing from lets say...Nebraska to Michigan could AUTOMATICALLY start fighting fire.
Of coarse this would apply going from vol. dept. to vol. dept. OR paid to paid...NOT vol. to paid. (you should still have to do a physical test and go thru the hireing process if you are not paid. If you are paid already, it should be just an app, background check, and an interview and that's ALL!).
We in the fire service OVERCOMPLICATE things TOO much! In the end, we hurt ourselves and our communities.
Let me know what u think.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Preston Martin on
-
I think a national standard would be great. I'm not sure of the best way to accomplish this. In Wisconsin we have trouble with our fire codes being NFPA or Comm. codes. It would be nice to unify into one set of rules and standards, but the chances are slim that it will actually happen.
www.fireemsblog.com
-
Permalink Reply by Greenman on
-
I think he was referring specifically to Firefighter standards and the hiring process.
It can vary quite a bit even within a state, let alone between the various states when it comes to application and hiring processes. But that's the way our fine country works, that which isn't specifically granted to the Federal Government by the Constitution is reserved for the State Governments and the People. Just like Driver's licensing, this is one of those things which didn't really exist (at least in its modern form) when the constitution was devised, so it certainly wasn't granted to the Feds by the Constitution.
If, however all of the various jurisdictions could subscribe to an NFPA hiring standard, we could get a "mostly national" standard. Since not every jurisdiction follows NFPA on everything now, I doubt they would on hiring standards either.
-
Permalink Reply by Chris Hayden on
-
If you think things are complicated now, go ahead and get the federal government involved and see how that works out for us. Now I could see maybe a set of standards for certification similar to the national registry for Medics. That way you could move to another state easier.
-
Permalink Reply by Allen Wahlstrom on
-
It is already happening guys and girls. Read on, this has been in the works since the early 1970's, the federal government is fully on board, but grandfathering is iffy. I have about 20 certs from accredited fire academies and schools that didnt transfer over, EVEN THOUGH they are now under Pro Board standards.
ProBoard Accreditation for Fire Service Training Organizations
Pro Board Accreditation
HISTORY AND OVERVIEW
In 1972, the Joint Council of National Fire Service Organizations (Joint Council) founded the National Professional Qualifications System (NPQS) in an effort to help guide the fire service toward professionalism. Certification arose over a concern that training was becoming very uneven between jurisdictions and sometimes even inadequate. As a result of these concerns, a nine member National Professional Qualifications Board (Pro Board) was established by the Joint Council to direct the new accreditation and registry system.
In order to develop a system of rationalized training for fire fighters, the Pro Board requested that the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) charge consensus technical committees with the development of unambiguous standards to be used in the certification process. It is important to remember that the professional standards were developed by persons performing the jobs (e.g. fire fighters worked on the fire fighter standards, fire investigators on the fire investigator standard, etc.). The initial standard for professional competency was developed for Fire Fighter in 1974.
After the dissolution of the Joint Council, the National Professional Qualifications System was incorporated in July 1990 as the National Board on Fire Service Professional Qualifications (NBFSPQ) and continues to be referred to as the Pro Board. The Pro Board operates under the direction of a Board of Directors consisting of one member from the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI), International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and, North American Fire Training Directors (NAFTD) and issues accreditation to those agencies that test to approved fire service standards. Today, accreditation is issued for certification in 72 levels of sixteen standards of fire service related competencies. Individuals may become certified in as many disciplines as they desire. And, because examinations are based on widely available NFPA standards, the Pro Board avoids problems inherent to local or regional certification systems.
In its most simple form, certification means that an individual has been tested by an accredited examining agency on a body of clearly delineated material and found to meet or exceed the minimum standard. In this instance, certification provides the individual with the opportunity to test skills and knowledge against peers from all types of fire departments and fire service agencies. Well into its third decade, the Pro Board is the premiere program in the United States and Canada for certification oversight of fire service professionals, career or volunteer.
Under the Pro Board process, agencies or organizations within States and Provinces apply for accreditation in order to certify individuals to the NFPA standards. These agencies then act as certifying agents operating under the aegis of the National Board on Fire Service Professional Qualifications.
After success on the examination within a particular discipline, the candidate is then eligible to join the National Register of Fire Services Professionals. It is important to remember that under the Pro Board, certifications belong to the individual–a tremendous advantage over local systems. For instance, a certified firefighter on the National Register may, in many cases, transfer between departments in states which are accredited by the Pro Board.
Certification and placement on the National Register works to serve both the individual who is certified and the department that he or she serves. Certified individuals have a credibility that has already proven invaluable to many arson investigators, fire inspectors and others who regularly interface with the legal system. In a profession, which is highly decentralized, certification provides the individual with a sense of accomplishment and draws the fire service as a whole into a much closer alliance. Volunteer members of combination departments who are certified know that they are highly regarded; and wholly volunteer services with nationally certified members know that their competence is well established. As an incentive to professional growth and advancement, certification proves that the member is highly motivated and serious about measuring up to national standards. Certification also addresses the needs of fire service professionals whose career achievements are not as easily rewarded or in evidence as sworn employees. Civilians, many of whom function as inspectors, public safety telecommunicators, life safety educators, and training academy instructors, have long needed a way to present credentials within these disciplines. Being certified to national standards goes far in addressing this concern.
There are also many reasons why having nationally certified members improves the departments for which they work. First, the respect, reputation, and prestige of such professional organizations will expand in proportion to their number of certified members. These departments will have officers and civilian professionals whose credibility is unquestionable. Second, a fire department’s training center will improve as higher goals are secured through the acceptance of the standards. As a result, such training centers will be able to measure themselves as part of a national fire training system. Overall, departments and services that teach to the standards and expect members to become certified will become stronger entities.
Fire departments with a commitment to the national certification process may have an easier time during annual budget justifications. They can argue that having a high proportion of certified members indicates a commitment to the community beyond the adherence to local mandates. Certification indicates a higher level of professional motivation that should be justly rewarded. It is incumbent upon individual departments to encourage their members to become certified by adopting the accreditation and certification scheme as an expectation for all members who fall within the examined disciplines.
Professional standards are particularly important in high-risk industries such as the fire service. We must share the same values if we are to evolve further as a profession. The widespread adoption of the accreditation and certification movement offered by the National Board on Fire Service Professional Qualifications will go far in ensuring that this trend continues to the benefit of each one of us.
This is directly from Pro Boards Page
IFSAC is another branch, and alla our certs go thru the two agencies.
It's already happening, give it another 10 years and we will all be under their cert programs...
-
-
Been going on since 1972!? Give it another 10 years...? I guess the tides of change do move slowly sometimes, but 40-some-odd years to get profession under one set of standards? Plumbers, carpenters and other skilled labarorers have had their own nation standards for many years. In fact my HAZMAT handlers course certification from the Laborers' International Union is probably more widely accepted than the NPQS is right now. How is it in most places?....in the department I was in in Georgia the NPQS was considered a worthy goal, not something anyone was particularly encouraged to try to attain, so we had ONE professional Firefighter who was NPQS'd and he only had it because his volunteer department decided they wanted to push to get their FFs NPQS certified. The net effect it had in the department we worked was he had a nice reflective "NPQS" sticker on his helmet.
Don't get me wrong...I think every firefighter should meet the NPQS, or Pro Board, standard, not just the onesies and twosies we have now. Do big departments produce Firefighters who meet NPQS after their Probationary time is up? I just haven't seen it in the places I've been, which admittedly has been mostly rural, but in a couple of different states.
I know the theory, but how does the practice hold up? If I apply at a Fire Department with a NPQS certification and National registry, do all Fire Departments recognize it, or will some require a retest, or recertification? I've never seen NPQS listed on Fire Department application pages as a requirement for lateral hiring.
I'm still on active duty in the Army and I'm going into the professional Firefighting business in a year, but my wife will probably stay in the Army for another 5-10 years and I'm quite interested in having a NPQS certification...I'm just wondering how universally recognized it is.
-
-
DoD fire brother. You get in as a vet and can follow her with job pref. Also under IFSAC and Pro Board.
-
Permalink Reply by Mick Mayers on
-
Our department accepts IFSAC or NPQ FF 1 and 2 to get you out of rookie school when you get hired, which is six weeks of something I hope never to have to repeat. I would say that there are a few departments out there who will accept the certs but certainly not all.
Let's look at it this way; just as no other profession will allow state to state direct reciprocity without some sort of hoop-jumping exercise, the fire service is one of the worst about "I don't care about how you did it somewhere else".
If you want to look at some interesting models of a more national, or in this case, state fire service, look at what Australia has done. I spent some time there working with the New South Wales and Queensland Fire Authorities and I was shocked (pleasantly) at how someone could be a "firie" out in some cow town and then transfer, pretty much without any effort (or so I was told) into a more urban setting, or anywhere else within the state. And there, the states are like the size of Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama combined.
I have NPQ and IFSAC firefighter, fire officer, instructor, and hazmat tech ratings and national registry paramedic. Hey, to some people they may not be worth anything, but to me, they're worth a shot if I'm looking elsewhere. They may not guarantee me a position anywhere, but they're better than having none.
© 2024 Created by Firefighter Nation WebChief.
Powered by
