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Explorer Associate Advisers, should they be Firefighters?
I am an Associate Adviser with the Paris Fire Dept.Expoler Post I am not a firefighter, nor do I pretend to be one. I have always wanted to be a firefighter, but chickened out early in life. I have always regreted that choice. Now my neice wants to be a firefitgher, so I am helping reach her dream. I found a exploer post with Paris Fire Dept. I asked if I could be a adviser with them and the firefitghter running the post, said she would love the help. I do know a little about the fire service, so Im not doing this totaly blind. I was just wondering what the experts thought on this subject.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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No, I don't believe advisors should have to be FF's, just be aware of your limitations though. When I started as an explorer, the lead advisor was an electrician and NOT a firefighter. He was the son of a firefighter, worked in the stations when electrical jobs came up, and was well versed in the job.
What did help is that being an outsider, he would also ask questions which many kids won't think of, or may be too shy to ask. For some adults, it helps to ask the "silly question" or do something wrong when learning so others can learn from the mistakes without the social issues or stigma for screwing up in front of peers. Basically it helps to take the edge off, like when putting on PPE for the first time, as an adult making a mistake, it can be easier to learn from.
Basically going in with an eagerness to the job helps. There are some topics which you can learn about and may want to cover and can have a "guest" instructor FF come in and help teach.
I also think it helps to understand the rules of such an explorer program that they are not geared to be training program, but instead a means to show aspects of the job so teens can determine if this is a career path for them. Many kids just want to check something out and not become a member. In some programs adult FF advisors tend to forget this and you start seeing issues where kids may be placed in harms way. Being an outsider, it can help to remain grounded in the rules of the program and keep the bigger perspective.
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Permalink Reply by Fireyladd - Retired Chief Sharp on
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Ed, sounds like a wonderful opportunity. Maybe you should join too and make a learning experience for yourself as well.
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Permalink Reply by Rusty Mancini on
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Ed, sounds to me you reached your dreams. I'll echo Chief Sharps words, here's your opportunity!
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Permalink Reply by ED Squires on
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Thank you all for your replies. I would not try to (teach) any part of a drill or anything like that, I'm there to help our lead adviser with what ever it may be. I am a truck driver by trade, so I think I could relate some of my 21 yrs as a driver into the program. Although there may be some things I could teach to them or the firefighters themselves about driving a 73,000lbs truck down the road. Thanks again for your comments, I appreciate all of them.
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Permalink Reply by Auxman on
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When you're running a program for teens it never hurts to have another adult in the vicinity keeping an eye on things.
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Permalink Reply by Leonora Miller on
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This is interesting Uncle Ed, I agree with Ralph and Chris. :)
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Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on
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No as long as you know your limits and stick to them...I do feel that there needs to be at least one Firefighter around for a basic knowledge base....I only wish more people would get involved.....Paul
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Yes I am registared, I'm also an associate adviser with the Kenosha Police Dept. Explorer post. I have been in that post for 6 yrs with my daughter and a asst. adviser for 2 yrs. There I help the officers with all kinds of stuff, form the drunk driver at traffic stop training to organizing fundraisers and parking details. Those are the kind of things I plan on doing with the fire post. And I look forward to learning a great deal more about firefighting.
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Permalink Reply by Greenman on
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As long as you have FFs in the department to do the actual Firefighting training/activities, then you can focus on the non-firefighting aspects of the Exploring program.
The beauty of the Exploring and Venturing programs are that the young adults in the program run it themselves, that is why you are an "Adviser" and not a "Leader."
The Explorers need guidance and advice and an adult perspective on many things, not all strictly Fire Service related. You are also the second adult, so the Post can meet the two-deep leadership requirement. I can't tell you how hard that is to achieve sometimes!
Through your experience in the Exploring program, you may find that you want to volunteer yourself...either in a firefighting role or as a non-firefighting adjunct like Fire Police, or Rehab coordinator, etc..
Greenman
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On a related note...
I'm a fan of Fire Departments chartering Venture Crews through BSA, either as an addition to Explorer or Junior FF programs, or instead of the firefighting-focused programs entirely.
Here is my reasoning.
Explorer/Jr. FF programs focus exclusively on Firefighting, which often creates a sense in the Juniors that they "are" firefighters - which they are not.
The Venturing Program is open to young men and women 14-21 years old and is basically a high-adventure program which also emphasizes Scouting Values in a different format. Trustworthiness, loyalty, Selfless Service, etc... While Venture crews may focus on a particular high adventure activity such as backpacking, SCUBA diving, climbing etc (which all support Fire Service Skills, and other public safety functions such as Search and Rescue) they are not exclusively Fire Service Skills.
With a fire Department as the Charter Organization of a Venture Crew, the Crew has access to resources the Fire Department has such as Firefighters to teach skills, serve as mentors/advisers, equipment, and meeting locations. If the Venture Crew meets at the Firehouse, the young adults are in the firehouse with Firefighters, learning skills which are valuable to the Fire Service without being given the impression that they "are" Firefighters - which as we see on FFN creates some issues.
Venturers would not need to have any firefighting gear. The uniform for most Venture Crews is a golf shirt with the Crew's name/logo embroidered on it, and shorts/pants, or the BSA has a Venture Scout uniform the crew can elect to wear. The members of the crew decide the focus of the crew, with some guidance. If you live near the coast, or a body of water, they may elect to focus on SCUBA diving. If you live near the mountains, it may be climbing, or backpacking, or paragliding. In any event, the crew can be taught Search and Rescue skills and can serve as searchers/coordinators for Lost Child searches, Lost Hikers, etc. and every EMA system needs a pool of trained and ready volunteers for those events. Older Venturers can even be trained as First Responders and help your EMS system without having to be focused on firefighting.
Basically by widening the focus of the youth outreach of the fire department at little, from fire fighting to high adventure, you attractive a larger pool of potential future Firefighters into the firehouse, many of whom would never have considered Firefighting otherwise, and although not all of them will want to go into Firefighting, they have a better understanding as adults (and voters) of Firefighters, the fire Service and the role they play in the community by being a member of the department-sponsored Venture Crew and being in the Firehouse once or twice a week. Those Venturers who do decide to go into Firefighting will come with a broader experience and more valuable skills then those young adults who either only focused on Firefighting (Jr. FFs/Explorers) or who never participated because as teens they weren't interested in firefighting as a career.
Greenman
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