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Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on February 17, 2009 at 8:55am

That's an easy one......Go on every call you can with as many different people as you can.....help where needed but sit back and take in the whole picture.....NO call is ever as predicted in the book...every patient is different and not all patients will react to treatment in the same way....That's what I tell my probies when they ride with me.....I like to say medicine is a practice not a science because every patient is different and not all meds or treatment will work the same with ever patient.....I once had a call....very serious injuries resulting from MVA....I didn't even realize until I got to the hospital that I knew the person I was working on.....I don't want that to happen again.....Paul

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Permalink Reply by Trainer on February 17, 2009 at 9:04am

If your allowed, go to the station and familiarize yourself with everything, know the location of every piece of equipment, chances are for a while you’ll be a runner anyways. Ask questions at the station, not on-scene.

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Permalink Reply by Oldman on February 17, 2009 at 9:37am

Learn, listen, listen, and then learn some more. Accept that you will make mistakes, and when you do, learn from them. Ask questions, (at the appropriate time) about procedures or tactics. Remember that fires and patients never read the training book. Work at getting better than you are right now, not like somebody else is or how they think you ought to be.

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Permalink Reply by FETC on February 17, 2009 at 10:57am

Good for you... hope you achieve your goals of becoming a firefighter.

Just be open to listening to everyone who is willing to share their knowledge in the firehouse. Some of the best training can be around the breakroom or dayroom table with some seasoned veterans...

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Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on February 17, 2009 at 12:27pm

Hey Jenelle....where is my penny...? LOL Paul

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Permalink Reply by smalltownfirefighter728 on February 17, 2009 at 12:32pm

The best thing you can do is go to your department's Training Officer and talk to them about training ideas. The fact of the matter is that just about everyone on here could give you an idea about what to train for. But, how their department runs, or the kind of calls that they mainly run, is going to define how they train. If they run mostly grass and woods fires, they are gonna train alot on ground cover. If they run alot of structure fires they are gonna train on firefighter safety, hose handling, ventalation, salvage and overhaul, things like that...If they run alot of wrecks, they are gonna train with extrication techniques.
The Training officer at the department you are with/or joining, can give you a specific area to train on that is going to help you develop into an asset at that department. We can all give you ideas, but the best ideas are gonna come from your TO. If you do have any questions feel free to ask.

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Permalink Reply by Jenelle on February 17, 2009 at 3:35pm

I don"t mean to sound nieve.....but for some people would it not be best not to recognize the patient if they will get emotional?.......But also now that I think of it that may mean poor bedside manner....fore we do not want to be so fixed on stabilizing our patient that we forget they are people......(Im just thinking out loud here...) And about your penny........"IOU"....lol

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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on February 17, 2009 at 4:32pm

keep your eyes open, mouth shut, and train as if your life depends upon it... because it does!

stay safe and train often, mike

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Permalink Reply by John on February 17, 2009 at 4:34pm

Best thing to do is to just listen and pay attention when drills are being conducted.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Burks on February 17, 2009 at 5:51pm

when you respond to a call if it is big enough to have a command set up, you need to be there listening and watching everything that goes on . you may even want to keep a note pad and a pen with you so that if you have a question about something that went on at that specific scene , you can ask the I.C. when it is over . when you are training , you need to participate as much as possible, in conversation and hands on. Never stop training. If you think you know it all ya need to get out of the fire service. Try to learn something new every time you train. I have been a Firefighter for 14 yrs. and the dept. i am on we train every monday night , and I learn something new or a different way to do something . Never think there is a stupid question if you have one ask someone. stay safe and good luck.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on February 17, 2009 at 6:28pm

Always remember....you may get an 85% on your tests......BUT..that means that only 85% of the time you do the right thing.....is that satisfatory????? Paul

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Permalink Reply by Steve Bradley on February 17, 2009 at 6:44pm

Hey there. Like John said earlier pay attention to what people tell you.
Ask alot of questions. When you are first starting out there is no DUMB question. The question you ask may save your life.
Train-Train-Train. You cannot stop training. Even after you are done with your company training, train some more.
Read. read stories about what other firefighters do, have done or are thinking about doing. Firefighters are filled with alot of information.

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