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Sould there be a time period for firefighter certifications?
How long of a time period should your certifications be good after you leave a fire department?
We have a member wanting to come back on after an 8 years of being off of the department. He has not been on any department since he left our department. The State of Indiana says your certifications are good for life with the exception of your instructor I and II/III.
What are you thoughts on certification limits and what is your state rules concerning certifications.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Wade Seely on
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I'm not sure about state rules, but in our department I believe that if you are gone longer than one year you must retake the academy. Your certs are probably still valid though.
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Permalink Reply by Ringold15 on
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Its the same way in Oklahoma, but your dept. could do something allow him/her on the dept. but put him through some test and drills to see were he/her are as far as what they have retained over the years. If that doesn't fit your needs you could try putting the person on a probation, 6 months to a year, and see were their at then.
stay safe out there hope this helps
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Permalink Reply by Nathan Henderson on
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Any certs that we collect in WA are good for life as well.
We keep the records of all our members when they leave and have had some return to the department, though never with that long of a gap in between. For us, if they were in the probationary year, we recognize the training but they must start the probie period over again for the full year. With veteran members that have left, we have brought them back up to speed with refresher courses for training and sop/sog's.
If the member returning is fairly qualified, your fd could look into putting him through a mini academy to get him back up to speed on his skills with training and get him caught up with changes in procedure as I'm sure some things have changed since he left.
If the member was an active volunteer who did well and was good to have before, I would think something could be worked out to help them come back and be apart of the dept again.
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Permalink Reply by Courtney Marx on
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Thank you for the replies. The member left in good standings and was a Master FF.
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Permalink Reply by 55 TRUCK on
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His certs are good. This does not mean that he has retained all the knowledge. I would also think that your department has purchased new equepment in the past 8yrs. that he won't be familier with.
Your question should be. " Remedial training for a fireman who's been gone for 8yrs?"
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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on
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Comparing your question to full time career firefighters in SoCal, using the example of a firefighter who has been injured and returns to work, the "certs" never expire once you get them in regard to FF-1 and up. Same applies for other certs. Once you have taken the class and successfully passed it, or if you have gone through a certification series, you are certified for life.
When we have firefighters return to duty, the assumption is that their Captain will be working with them, getting them back up to speed. Don't make more of this than you have to. If someone was in good standing, and are trying to return back to the firehouse, let them. If they are a company officer or even an Engineer, I would suggest some sort of job training / refresher program to catch them up to speed on all the changes. Eight years is an awfully long time to go without doing the job, but certainly not impossible.
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If it were my choice I would say yes, bring him back and have him do a mini academy to get familiar with the new tactics, equipment and anything else he needs to catch up. Since he was well qualified he should be able to pick it up fairly quickly and be able to contribute again soon.
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Permalink Reply by Fireyladd - Retired Chief Sharp on
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Our State (Oregon) requires you to join another Dept or continue your training in another Dept within 5 years or you have to start all over again. Personally, if a person leaves a Dept and has done nothing to keep their training and skills up even for a year they would need to spend some time training whether they have certifications or not. I'm not going to have confidence in a persons ability unless they do. Pretty much need to get back on the horse and ride for a while to develop confidence in your skills and our confidence in your abilities. Of course this has much to do with each State and the leadership/policies of your department.
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Permalink Reply by Marc Hansen on
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PA is lifetime certs also, but you could do a con ed requirement. Several hours of truck framiarazation, SOP review and then hours of training with line officers or training officer to bring them back up to speed. While he has been gone for 8 years i bet it wont take long for him to get back in the swing of things.
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Permalink Reply by Fabulous Heather Days of Summer on
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I would think that there should be some bylaws about such matters.
It would seem that length of actual FF experience should come into account, also length of service on the department that someone wants to return to or length of service on another department.
It seems as though it would matter if a FF served for 1 yr or 10 yrs or 30 yrs and if that FF was active or absent during those years of service.
Perhaps a standard cut off - if a FF has been gone from fire service for more than 5 years, then re-do FF training. But serving on another FD during that time, changes the viewpoint of skill ability and the need to re-do FF training.
Also, the length of service should influence the length of time away from the department (fire service) permitted. If you served 20 years and take a 5 year break perhaps the perspective on re-doing FF training is different compared to serving 1 year and taking a 5 year break. Maybe the cut off should never exceed 10 years if not active in the fire service, otherwise, the gap could be 1/2 your # of active FF years - so 14 years of service could permit a 7 yr break. Then maybe FDs could create a re-fresher FF training (or shorter version), or just a re-test of written and practical???
Though others bring up important concerns about changing approaches and technologies which MUST be taking seriously when setting up bylaws !!!
While it is significantly easier to return to your old stomping grounds than to join a completing new fire department where you have to start at the bottom of the food chain, seems like 8 yrs would create some gaps in knowledge even of your old department. I would feel much better about a FF returning to my department who I previously knew and trusted and whom I had seen having a long history of their solid work compared to a total stranger wanting to come join my department. I'm just sayin...
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Permalink Reply by Tracey Lynn Morris on
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I came from another state had to start over. Now that I was gone from a department I have to start over do I think its fair no I have been doing this for 30 years but this state says.Right now I am really not happy about it but there is no way around it.My thing is I train people now I get told by the state in order to do my job I have to start over and I have to do the same for all my other license. I have been given a hard time since I moved here in the late 80s whats really bad is they can never find me in the registry. Think I don't get frustrated especially when I have to pay for all the classes myself plus go to test site plus my ems classes test site and nursing continueing education plus test and all the license I am about to give it all up because its costing me so much in time and money . I just think this is alot to ask every 2 years. there are better ways to to this.
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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I certainly cannot speak for your state, but to obtain Master Firefighter in Texas, one must obtain a minimum of 400 hrs of college level classes. This doesn't include the 520 hrs required for FFI and FFII, and have a minimum of 10 yrs. in the fire service.
That being said, I would think a Master FF would be welcomed back with maybe a re-orientation of any changes in SOGs and/or equipment. To mandate an academy would probably be a waste of time, money, and might even deter that person from coming back.
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