I was curious how other departments Officers function in that is it a must for them to know how to run the pump on an engine or is this something that an Officer is not required to know?
No progression for us you can go from firefighter to division chief and skip everything in between. It's a screwed up system, after all how can you supervise or evaluate performance if you can't do the job.
personally i feel that the officers should know how to run the pump. I feel as if every officer should know pretty much everything there is to do with the fire service. How can a officer be in charge if their self dont know how to use there own equipment.
everyone at our department knows how to run the pump, from chief to probie. its a neccessity. I personally think every officer should know how to run the pump.
How can i expect to go to the officer if i have an issue with the rig if they dont know what i'm even talking about. I'm fortunate enough to have a Great officer that know the pumps inside and out.... You dont have to know it all but you at least need to know enough that in the worst case senario you can get water and do some minor trouble shooting if need be
I think everyone on in the fire service should know how to run a pump. It dosent matter if your a rookie or the Chief, you never know when you may have to run it. If your on a small Vol dept you really need to be well trained in pumps, or a large paid/Combo dept were you might do it all the time. Like I said before everyone needs to know how to do it. Everyone be safe and always go home and love your familys.
ya i agree every one of our fire fighter/paramedics, firefighter/EMT and all of our officers are fully trained to drive, pump and operated every truck we have. the only one who are not trained to pump are our ems only members.
While I have not yet been trained on pumping, I agree with the consensus that everyone should have at least a basic knowledge of pumping and driving just in case.
If you are an Officer in a Engine Co, you should be qualified to drive, as well
operate a pump. If you are with a Ladder Truck that has a pump on it as well,
you need to know how to operate both the pump, and the areial.