FireLink

Knowledge, I always thought that’s why they were there.
The commitment and coping with stress comes later if the kid has a good mentor.
That’s the next generation. You had better be glad that they are there. It is hard to get kids involved now a day. With school, part-time jobs, sports, etc. it’s hard to recruit. I get a kid that’s interested; he/she is busy, learning, training, talking, etc. I would love to do this job to the day I die, but the end will come. Someone had better be there to take over.
Oh yea, WECOME PROBIE, hang on, it’s a hell of a ride!

its the best way to learn. i started out when i was 16 and you learn more then so you won't make the mistaks later when you have more responsabilitys.

Sorry for the line, but back in the day.... I started out by a lie. I was was 16 when I took my 1st fire school. When I was found out, they made me take it again. I also took my 1st EMT when I was 17, but took the test on my 18th birthday. Do you think I had a need or what.

smokeeateremt82 said:

in our state you have to be 18....cant be on the fireground until you are 18...though many dept have cadets that train and assist, but are not suppose to be doing fire ops....but i think its a very good thing having a cadet program

I agree with sandy2502. I started at 16 in 1986. Even then the requirements were pretty loose. I was talked down to and beat up verbally unil I proved myself to the older guys. The young guys in the department are our future and should be treated with respect and receive the best training we can offer. I can't see myself in 15 years, putting on an SCBA and running into a house like I used to. For all of the new folks in the fire service, glad to have you, and my back thanks you for comming.

"But with respect to a teenagers psyche can they really handle seeing a burned child, or going to a car accident and someone they go to school with is now part of the dashboard." --Definitely not. They cannot and should not see trauma or mental anguish firsthand. I don't even like it when they enjoy looking at the pictures. If they enjoy that stuff, they shouldn't be there. They do however have a place in the department in everything but active calls. The only real way to learn it is hands on. My biggest issue is that about 10% of teens, or even younger people, are mature enough and are there for the right reasons and want to learn it, and suffer through being the probie and doing grunt work. Most of them want to be instantly "one of the guys" and run their mouths, instead of being quiet, respecting your elders, and learning. For the ones that are serious, they will go far and do well. The others are a hazard and liability.

Im with swirley, I my self being 18, love getting info from the "coots" as we call them at our station, some of the storys, the do the donts, ALL helped me become a better firefighter, I have Takin FFI FFII and working on Fire Officer I. But nothing tought in those classes can compare to the people who are actually doing the stuff. I joined our cadet program when i was 12! (yea that young). As well as Swerlys department Our vol. chief just turned 24 two weeks ago and is in his second year of office! And everytime we get back from a call the coots thank "us young boys" for commin right out of the fire, takin our packs off and rackin hose, If all you Older guys take five min a day to teach a younger person some personal knowlege of yours it will make a world of difference to us!

We have several teenagers in our department ( myself included). I started out as a cadet and trained and did all that good stuff along with the old guys. Now the officers have voted me in and I am a firefighter.

Our cadets are treated well. They're not allowed to be on the fireground at all. No excpetions. They're given gear and a radio with that understanding. They can listen in on the calls, the ff's talking to IC and get a good feel for how they're supposed to act. And on our training days, they gear up with packs just the same as we do. Some of them can even gear up completly with SCBA in a little over 2 minutes. All of the cadets and get full bunker gear on in less than a minute and most of them are intending on take firefighter one and two. Just finshed basic firefighter.

I am 18 and pretty much cant do sh*t at a structure fire cept run tools to other senior members and pull out hoses off the truck and connect a line from tanker to pump and help senior members get their SCBA packs on and make sure they are full. Other then that at a stucture fire thats all we can do. But at a woodsfire we can do a heck of lot more stuff we get on hoses we make fire lines around the fire and seek out hotspots all under senior firefighters watchful eye most times at woodsfire we are very unmanned. So they put Jr.'s to work and i enjoy it. as far as working pump ops NO WAY never the most i've gotten to pumps was helpin a senior refill at a hydr. thats it.

we have 2 young firemen still in school they are both great guys and are very dedicated. i believe they have what it takes to do the type of things us older guys do. i was once in there same situation were the trust level isnt that high but every chance i got i proved my self to the older guys. now im driving trucks to calls and soon ill be entering structure fires.i know you mentioned if they can handle the stress the stress level is going to be there whether you are 16 or 26 every time you see that child, man, or woman killed in a MVA youre heart is going to be heavy youll never get to the point were you say well its just a person, its never JUST a person that is some ones mother, father, son or daughter.

simply tell a superior officer how you fell and what you are stressed about you be amazedwhat that and excercicse can do

rcooney said:

chase1 said:

"But with respect to a teenagers psyche can they really handle seeing a burned child, or going to a car accident and someone they go to school with is now part of the dashboard." --Definitely not. They cannot and should not see trauma or mental anguish firsthand. I don't even like it when they enjoy looking at the pictures. If they enjoy that stuff, they shouldn't be there. They do however have a place in the department in everything but active calls. The only real way to learn it is hands on. My biggest issue is that about 10% of teens, or even younger people, are mature enough and are there for the right reasons and want to learn it, and suffer through being the probie and doing grunt work. Most of them want to be instantly "one of the guys" and run their mouths, instead of being quiet, respecting your elders, and learning. For the ones that are serious, they will go far and do well. The others are a hazard and liability.

I'm all for the cadet program and our department has turned out some great young FF/EMTs. Only one or two of the cadets i've known were mature enough to be there in my eyes. Sure, their the future and they can pass their certs well enough, but they haven't lived life yet. Does that mean that they can't be a FF, No. It's just they don't possess very many real life lessons. Sure they'll learn them in their own due time, but until then, our lives are in their hands and our safety is based on their decisions. Furthermore, I don't want to discredit the achievments of the young firefighters on this site, but I have a hard time with accepting that there are 24 year old fire Chiefs out there. The youngest fire chief I've ever known was 34 and he seemed young for such a position. On a positive note, the young guys bring a lot of positive attitude and energy to the Department. I envy the guys that started in this great profession in their late teens and at times wished that I would have started at that time myself. One bit of advise I have is: If you haven't found a mentor yet...do it! Nothing will get the old guys more excited with the young guys than if they can contribute some of their past knowledge and skills back into the system.

I could not have handled this job as a teenager.

I feel that we as vet fire fighter we should pass on what we know to the jr ff. Between what we know and a little that they can add on to it they would be a hell of a fire fighter. And shouldn't we as a vet ff pass what we know to the young so that we would be carried on and the young ff can become the best that they can? I believe if a jr ff wants to learn I'm not going to be the one to stop him allow him/her to learn and to expand on what we have taught them.

chase1 said:

Agreed. You have to be mature in life experience first. I have seen many young people that are mature. . . .for their age, but not life mature. There is a huge difference. The mature for their age ones are the ones you want to train. But it takes time to be mentally mature enough to handle the things we see and deal with. And the thought of a 24 year old Chief is just +rediculous+, in any size department. I know you will fire back on this, but I can assure you, you are wasting your breath, er, typing.