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EVOC
Does your department require you to complete Emergency Vehicle Operations Course in order to start driving? I have been hearing as of late that not every department does. What are your thoughts about this and how do you feel about the EVOC course? What needs to be improved with it, where does it stive?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by grant morse on
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our equivalent to an evoc licscense here is a class 4a,, 32 questions multiple guess, then a rubber stamp, unless you have your class 1,2,or 3, semi, straight truck or school bus then you are given 4a with no test,,, makes sense huh, like giving a 12 yr old the keys to the family car and saying there ya go be careful, what can i say welcome to quebec.
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Permalink Reply by Tonymarchitelli on
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In pa you are suppose to have a CDL to operate a vehicle for parades or just tooling around town running the trucks so on and so forth!
I have taken EVOC and im very glad i did. In my last deparment it was not a requirment. In my new department it is a requirment.
I like the fact that its required i think it should be an across the board kinda deal taking it nation wide.
I know if i am ridding the engine to a house fire i want to know that im going to even make it there! If the driver has minimum or no experiance than im going to feel less safe.
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i hear ya,,we all ride in a bus, and depending on who is driving it can get a little hairy getting our gear on, i know i know we shouldn't be standing while the bus is moving anyway, but what the hell that is one for the seatbelts or no seatbelts thread lol
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Permalink Reply by JOHN BEASLEY on
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OUR DEPARTMENT HAS SEVERAL REQUIRMENTS TO DRIVE ONE OF OUR APARATUS. ONE IS AN F ENDORCEMENT ON YOUR DRIVERS LICENSE WITHCH IS FOR HIRE. #2 THE STATE REQUIRES YOU TO TAKE EVOC CLASS ONCE A YEAR. #3 YOU HAVE TO HAVE A CLEAN DRIVING RECORD AS FART AS TICKETS AND MOVING VIOLATIONS. #4 YOU HAVE TO BE CHECKED OFF ON THE TRUCK BY AN OFFICER OF THE DEPARTMENT. I THINK EVOC IS A GOOD THING AND IF YOU DONT REQUIRE EVOC YOU ARE PUTTING YOURSELF AND YOUR DEPARTMENT AT RISK BECAUSE IF AN ACCIDENT OCCURS THE STATE WILL COME IN AND START REVIEWING HIS/HER CERTIFACATIONS AND UPDATED TRAINNING ALSO YOU WILL BE SUBJECT TO LAW SUIT TO THE CHIEF THE DEPARTMENT AND THE DRIVER DUE TO ANY DEATH OR INJURIES THAT RESULT FROM THE ACCIDENT SO EVOC CAN REALLY HELP YOU IN A REALY BAD SITUATION THAT WE ALL HOPE AND PRAY WE ARE NEVER IN!!!!!
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Permalink Reply by Brad Dietlin on
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On my department we don't have EVOC per say, we use CEVO(Coaching the Emergency Vehicle Operator)II. You are required to have CEVO II Ambulance before you get off probation. Once you take the class and obtain the required drive time(non-emergency, no patients) you obtain FAE 1(ambulance and pick-ups). Then comes FAE 2(engines, and CEVO II Fire), and finally FAE 3(aerials). It takes about three to five years to obtain all your driving certs. I've been on for five years and I finally got FAE 3 last month.
BTW, my dept requires certain driving certs to advance in rank eg. LTs have to have FAE 2 and Capts. and above have to have FAE 3.
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Permalink Reply by ee779 on
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We require every driver to get EVOC before they qualify, but, we also have driver training every Wednesday night. Basicly, the engineer or asst. engineer go through the truck, it's operation and start new drivers out in an empty parking lot. That way they have a little bit of a feel for the truck before taking the course.
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What part of PA is that, Tony, because even though I have a CDL the state laws exempt the need for one for volunteer fire trucks!
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As far as informative, most of what I saw was straight from the CDL manual. Perhaps the course was a little easier for me having done everything they taught, in a semi, but for someone that hasn't driven anything bigger than a pick-up...
It still isn't enough, it helps get the engine to the scene, then someone has to run the pump?
I'm ready for the firing squad now...... Yes, I know that's what Pump Ops is for.
I really think they could combine the courses.
For example: for ladder companies, EVOC and Ladder co. ops
engine co. evoc and pump ops
brush co. evoc and pump ops
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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Our Insurance requires EVOC, with refreshers every 2 years plus, a Class B Commercial operators license (volunteer or career) . In addition, the department requires drive time both emergency and non-emergency for each type of apparatus which is progressively more stringent as the apparatus gets bigger. For our pumpers, a minimum of 10 hrs of supervised drive time, plus 25 emergency runs.
I had been driving emergency vehicles for 15 years when I took an EVOC Instructors class, and discovered that I wasn't as good as I thought I was. I had just been lucky all those years. Many, many things I'd been doing wrong. While EVOC is not a security blanket to protect you in the event of an incident, it will definitely look more favorable to you (and your department's) defense when it goes to court, (and it will).
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Permalink Reply by Shelly on
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I can understand the reasoning behind EVOC, but my EVOC class was a joke. I don't even remember the classroom stuff. I think it would be a great class if the instuctor really wants to teach it.
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That is the key to any class, is having an instructor who not only knows the material, but enjoys teaching. I've known many firefighters, paramedics, and law enforcement officers who can recite the book forwards and backwards, but are useless when it comes to application. Just because one has the knowledge and has taken a Methods of Teaching class, does not make them an instructor. Speaking as one who has taught for 20 years, I personally love the challenge of making a class interesting, even if it is a dry subject, (hydraulics, or acid - base balance). The payday is seeing the light come on. To see a blank stare change to one of; "Oh, now it makes sense".
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Permalink Reply by Chris "Firewalker" Davis on
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Here in Escambia county and the individual stations DO require an EVOC coarse. At our station, we require 150miles daytime, 50miles night, 8hrs of pump time, plus an obstical coarse on each apparatus. EVOC is VERY important in my mind and should be manditory for all drivers.
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