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Fire fighting and Eye sight.
Hi everyone. I am currently an applicant for the Philadelphia Fire Dept. I am so stoked and can't wait to join the ranks. However, I just failed my physical and was put on a review list. My vision is really bad without my glasses. So bad that the Dr. told me that I didn't qualify unless I got corrective surgery. Does anyone have an idea of what the parameters are for vision without glasses????
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jeni on
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I found out today that the standard for uncorrected vision is 20/70. I am going to the eye doctor tomarrow to find out if they can fix my eyes. Wish me luck!!!
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Permalink Reply by Rodney(LFD-IAFF L 334) on
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As far as my department is concerned is that if you have any eye site problems they have to be corrected my glasses or contacts. For me i'm farsited and I wear soft contacts and I have had no problems with them while performing my job. We even have a guy who is color blind. So, I think its up to the department to set the stardard for what they want. The way I look at it is that if you can have your site corrected by glasses, contacts, or surgery thats completely fine because most of the time you cant see inside a structure fire anywyas.
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Those were my thoughts exactly. However, they are really making me stick to the 20/70 thing. I have another consultation with an opthamologist coming up and we will see where it goes from there. They are talking up to $5000 for the surgury.
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Permalink Reply by Salli aka Sam on
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I wear glasses and have since I was four years old...you can also have your prescription put into your face mask (SCBA)..at least here in our dept we can..i would check it out..the other possibality is to have your mask special made to fit so that you could wear glasses...my glasses are made with safetly glass and i have extremely poor eye sight and corrective surgery is out of the question for me.
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Permalink Reply by Huw Jones on
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I had lazer surgery last June, best thing I have ever done, both eyes have a little better than 20/20.
I had worn glasses since I was eleven, then about ten years back went on to contacts. They ended up giving me some problems with my eyes so I had to go back to glasses.
Now, no problems.
It was a little scary making the descision but once made it proved to be one of the best moves I have made.
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Permalink Reply by ILDisasterEMT on
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My department's standard is to do what you have to do to see. I currently wear glasses and have read studies that say that contact lenses are not a good idea on the fire ground, so i wont go that route. Plus I hate having things touching my eyeball. Currently, I wear ESS goggles that fit over my glasses instead of safety goggles/faceshield. My only concern is that if I am wearing the goggles for extrication/rescue they protect my eyes, but not the rest of my face in a situation where SCBA mask isn't warranted. Oakley has a discount program for government employees (which even includes volley departments I am told) that gives up to a 50% discount on their protective eye wear. They can (for a pretty hefty price I am sure) put your prescription in your safety glasses. As I say, I am sure its expensive, but if you are like my department and run 90% medical and rescue calls, it would be worth it over the long haul. Some departments I have known of also will help you defray the cost of some necessary gear like this. I will try to find the link for the Oakley SI (Standard Issue) program and post it here if anyone is interested. I think this is the way I am going to go as soon as I can save the cash and then just wear the safety glasses instead of my normal eyeglasses when working a call.
Best of luck with the eye surgery, Jeni. Im too chicken to get it done, plus, of course there is the cost factor.
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Permalink Reply by William Williams on
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I agree with Huw Jones, having Lasik surgery was the best thing I have every spent money on. Most places give a discount to Emergency Service Employees. I live here in GA and I paid 2500 for it about a year and a half ago. I see better than 20/20 and this is coming from a guy who couldnt see the big E at the top of the eye chart. I wore glasses since I was 4 and then went to contacts at 10. I actually had one of my contacts shrivel up and fall out of my eye while in a fire once due to the heat. After that I started leaning towards eye surgery. Not only that but if you wear contacts and sleep in them, it sucks waking up in the middle of the night and having blurry vision from the contacts. I strongly urge all to check into corrective eye surgery.
Take care.
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