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Explorers and the Fire Department.
We have an Fire Explorers post at our Department, (now before i go to far and get yelled at let me say i am for it and do not have an issue with it) My question is, what is the protocal of other departments in them making live calls. IE: Medical, Grass Fires Structure fires Etc:. Should they be allowed to run with you while you are working an active arrest with CPR in progress? Should they be allowed in the fire line of a structure? I am looking for things other departments do to get them active in the service besides washing trucks and cleaning the station. I for one do not think they need to be allowed to run active calls just because of the things we see and have to do. I do not think they should be allowed inside the fire line because of the danger, but i do think they should be able to make fires for ReHab for the Fire Fighters.
I'm Just wondering what kind of response i will get out of this. and remember, i am for it!! i just think there should be limits on what they should see.
I'm Just wondering what kind of response i will get out of this. and remember, i am for it!! i just think there should be limits on what they should see.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by turk182 on
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Our juniors and soon to be explores are not allowed to operate hose lines unless on training their main jobs are to change cylinders, roll and help pack hose, get tools that are needed, and take the cylinders to the air truck.
Our child labor laws only let them climb ladders and operate hand lines in training situations. we also use them to help the accoutability officer on the fire ground.
For vehicle crashes they mainly stay with the engineer by the truck we do not let them go up to the vehicles.
For any A.E.D. calls we go on we will not let them perform CPR they usually stay outside and help the ambulance crews bring the equipment to the front door.
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Permalink Reply by anne potter on
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Depending of age of child..Why not allow them to go on calls. maybe be in the passenger seat... Is this not the point is prepare them for service... Because of insurance reasons they are not allowed to only do certain things.. they are still kids.. yet depending on age and maturity.. This is what it is all about.....
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Permalink Reply by Jenny Holderby on
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I am going to agree with Turk182. That is pretty much what our younger members do. They work their tails off @ the station & do what ever they are asked to do on scene. They have been trained what to do for the most part & they often check with the officers to see if there is anything else they can do. TRAIN THEM WELL!! They are an assett.
I find that when there is a call that isn't routine, they hang back & wait to be told what to do. How do you/can you limit what they see? They are in training to BE a firefighter. If you don't allow them to find out what the job is really about, how can they decide if they really want to spend their life doing it? Some of them will decide they want to persue a career in emergency services because of the exposure you give them. Others will become volunteers and still others will decide their life path is taking them in another direction. You will find that they also encourage others to join them and your department will grow. Try to give them a good experience. I do know many many firefighters who started as junior members or Explorers who are fine officers today.
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That is an interesting perspective: Why ruin their life too.
I guess I didn't explain very well that it was not my intention to ask a young person to assist in this kind of call. NOBODY of ANY age should have to see the things we have seen, severed limbs, blood, wounds that can't be patched, charred bodies, people dying or dead. . As a firefighter and a mother I understand that you want to protect them. Sometimes that is nearly impossible and a responsibility some do not want to undertake.
When you were 14 or 16 yrs old, did you like to be called or thought of as a child? These people are adolesents, teenagers, young adults who have already learned the things we teach our children. They have a completely different way of learning and of dealing with things they have been taught. They are thirsty for knowledge and for life experience and often for responsibility.
Please, I am not saying hand them a hose & push them through the door or give them assignments that you are not comfortable they can handle. Don't send them someplace you don't want to go or ask them to do soemthing you haven't done or wouldn't do. But I am encouraging you to give younger people credit for being intelligent (although I do use that word loosely for some) creative, valuable people. These are the years that are shaping the rest of their lives. If we don't give them encouragement and responsibility they will go back to their video games & computers, or back to their peers to find other ways to fulfill their entertainment & curiosity. Sometimes those things are far worse than the sight of a little blood.
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Permalink Reply by Royce Terry on
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Hey Sean
Yea you may have come down the ranks but that dosent make you a better firefighter. Explorers our there to help out. Not stand around to do your dirty work. Yea we all do dirty work its part of the job but you seem like your against them. By the BSA It is up to your firehouse if they want a explorer riding in the trucks under red lights and sirens. I Am the explorer captain and if i role up on a scene with a violent crash the first thing i do becasue you know when its bad is you get i get ahold of a chief or officer and ask them is it sutable for an explorer. And if it isent i tell any other explorer that arives on scene to go home and if they happen to see something they our told to talk to me so i can getahold of a firedepartment member or EMS member that was there so they can talk about it. We also after a casualty incident we have a greif seminar at the station for everone.
Most Explorers Post have this poicy where if its bad you go home
END OF STORY
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Permalink Reply by Ben "Batman" Barry on
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With my group we ride with the crew and we can go into calls, ride in the back, and provide care to our scope of care. If te call is dangerous thn we stay in the rig and don't come out unless instructed.
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Permalink Reply by Tony P on
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Royce? You seem to be writing with passion, perhaps that's the reason you wrote so poorly. If passion isn't the reason, then maybe you should be giving more attention to your schoolwork than to being an Explorer?
Read Sean's posts again - he has been an explorer, he is now a firefighter. He looks back and with experience believes that explorers should not be on the fireground. Treat him with a little respect. Ask him questions. You have no right to attack him for his opinion.
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Permalink Reply by meagen on
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i am a junior explorer, and at our station we are allowed to go on calls but we have to stay by the trucks and get the active FF's the tools they need. we are not allowed to go neer the fire or help in putting out the fire, we can assist in the over haul after the fire is put out and declared safe.
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There seem to be so many eager and passionate juniors out there - this can only be good for the future of the fire service. I've met with an extremely mature young lady on here, told her just that and am proud that she asked to be my 'friend' here on FFN. Some others show their lack of maturity. As you stated, they show too much interest in things like lights for their POV's.
To allow under-age non-FF people on the fireground is asking for trouble. That they so desperately want to do it, is fantastic. But as I said in another thread once, where does it stop? Allow them on at 16, then 14, then 12? Because they will always be coming up with the same passionate (I've used that word a lot here, because it's apt) reasons why they should be allowed.
Things are much simpler for us, our Scout Association has nothing like the Explorer program. We have juniors aged 12 to 16, they do not go near the fireground. Then we have firefighters from 16 - mentored until 18.
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Lisen Sorry
I Wasent Trying To Be On The Attack Side Although It Apeared It.
Im From A Small Town Yes Where The Cows Outrank The People.
Sometimes Theres More Explorers On A Fire Call/ Drill Than Firefighters.
So We Do Our Part To Pitch In, Our Chief, Officers Our Very Well Trained And If They See Danger In Any Sort Of Way, Shape, Or Form They Get Us Out.
All Of Our Explorers Our There Because They Want To Make A Difference, I Dont Know How Many Times Ive Been Told From A Class Mate "Thanks Royce" Because They Roled There Car On Friday, It Hits Home Trust Me It Hits Home To All Of Us.
Im There To Make A Difference Like All Of Us
But I Ask You This One Queston You Have A MVA With Entrapment And Theres 4 Explorers That Know How To Use The Jaws And Extricate And Your Short Handed You Mutral Aid And There 10 Minutes Out And The Patient Is Faiding Fast. Do You Use Those Explorers Our Do You Do What You Want And Dont Have Those Explorers On The Fire Ground And Wait For Backup And By The Time They Get There The Patient is In Worse Condition And Will Fight For There Life In The Back Of The Rig To The Hospital.
This Is Small Town NY People Have Jobs That Our Not In Town, Your Lucky If You Pull A Crew For A Structure Fire Better An MVA, You May Live In A Town That People Can Have Jobs In But For Us People Our Hard To Find Durring They Day Sometimes.
Sorry If I Was Being Attackive Again
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Permalink Reply by Jessica Travis on
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my junior department is limited to structural fires on our designated call week during the appropriate times. meaning 1 week out of every 4, this gives us about 6 junior firefighters and a junior officer on call every week. We can respone monday to thursday from 4 pm to 9 pm, and from 4 pm friday til 9 pm sunday. We cannot get within a certain distance of the structure depending on what our advisers say. Usually at fire scenes we can roll hose, change airpacks, take them to be filled, clean up, direct traffic, and keep citizens back.
We train the exact same way our firefighters do
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