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I have looked through in the archives, and found nothing about this, so im looking for any info anyone has any info that will help me.  I have been bustin my ass, practicing for the pat, getting ready for the written test, and going to the gym 6 days a week all while working 6days a week because all i want to  do is become a firefighter, now i find out that colorblindness disqualifies me apperently, at least it does with the dept i was getting ready to test for.  Is there a certain degree or something of colorblindness that disqualifies me, or is it just a cut and dry, youre color blind so youre out kind of thing?  any help at all anyone can shoot me would be greatly appreciated, seeing as if its just a cut and dry kind of thing i have just wasted the past 8 months, and would like to avoid wasting more time if i cannot get my dream.

I'm agreeing with Moose here on this one i have never heard that im color blind and have been al of my life and i never had a problem...

I hope everything works out well for you Grind and as always watch you back out there brother

I asked our saftey officer about this and he said to his knowledge there is no reg dealing with color blindness. as long as it did'nt hamper your ability to do your job safley then there should'nt be a problem

firefighter301 says ...

then what do you have for me Brother

i wish you lived up here,we're looking for a couple of good firefighters to fill some open slots we'd take ya in a heart beat

i will keep looking into this as well as my safety officer. dig out the nfpa's and see what we can find out

no problem brother thats what this site is all about! take care

im not gonna give up moose, i called fd today and thier answer was for me to refer any questions i had about the position to public safety recruitment, the firm handling the applications and stuff for them, that was real helpful, the guy was a total jerkoff about it too.   So, i contacted the firm, who in turn contacted the fire department for an answer (they couldnt have just given me the dam answer?) and was told "Unfortunately, it is stated in the minimum requirements for the  blah blah fire department (name withheld to protect the stupid) that all applicants must be free of any color blindness" and that "the rules the department must abide by are the rules set by the comission"  that made absolutely no sence to me, i think i would have gotten a better answer from my dog! I am going to stop in at my local dept tomorrow and ask them about it, since the dept i wanted to apply at and the firm handling the process could not give me a straight answer, they wouldnt even elaborate on exactly what disqualifies me.  A couple friends of mine have buddies that are firefighters, in illinois, that are colorblind,  they too have never heard of this.  Its ok, the more i have to deal with this peticular dept, the more i think i wouldnt want to work for them any dam way.  my dept is out there somewhere, if i have to move to find it, so be it.  thanks again for all the help and you guys lookin into this.

Hahaha CONGRATS!!!!! That's awesome, GOOD LUCK!!!

If I have read this correctly, you have attempted to talk with the Fire department whose hiring policy states that being colorblind disqualifies you from the hiring process?   If this is true go to the policy makers, the city council or city manager and have then explain this policy to you!  I would ask to be put on the agenda for the next meeting and ask them in open forum WHY!  I would contact the press and have them there too.  If you can perform the all of duties of a Firefighter, then this is a discriminating policy. 

Firefighters put the Wet stuff on the Red stuff and Policy is created by bureaucrats to perpetuate the process.

I would say its a dept policy thing and i find it kind of silly i would say red blue is the only thing that would disqualify i dont see how the others would.

i was thinking about it jim, but i was digging around on the internet and found that at least here in illinois, municipalities and villages can with in reason add to the regs  and requirements as they see fit, and coming from chicago, the city where politics reign supreme, if i made a big stink about this, i could easily see myself blackballed or some off the wall crap, probably a little overdramatic on my part, i admit it. but i am not prepared to risk my dream just to stick it to one department.  the way i see it, i will dig and get the answer i want as to why i get disqualified, and then i will wait until i find another dept that is testing and make them proud to have me. the funny thing about it is that whether i call the village mayor, manager, or the fire department directly, noone can give me a straight answer as to why.  too many dam politicians ;)   

  and yeah doolittle, as long as i can see red and blue, and put the wet stuff on the red stuff (thank you raven) that it is silly, but it is thier policy appernatly, but it is also thier loss!! ;)  i am going to make some dept dam proud to have me, just wont be this one.

Posting from the internet:

I just wanted to drop this web site by,  it is in regards to color vision.  I was recently disqualified from the San Diego fire academy for failing my medical Exam.  I failed because I was unable to pass the color vision tests they gave me.  I appealed  the disqualification and did many hours of research on color deficiency and in my research I came across like the colormax lens.  Contact lens called Chromagen lens that are FDA approved.  I contacted an ophthalmologist that is proved on there web site and was able to get a prescription to correct my color vision.  I was able to pass 100% both color vision tests the ishihara and Farnsworth. I was able to retest with the city and passed the color vision part of the medical exam.  The total cost for the Doctors visit and prescription was appox. $600.00.  If this can help any one else with color deficiency I would highly recommend it.

Web Site:  http://www.chromagen-international.com/chromagen/index2_ingles.htm

Jeremy

Ok, According to the EEOC and ADA if you can't pass the color test given, but the doctor asks you to identify basic colors IE Red, Green, and Blue etc. You have to show that even though you cant pass the test you will still be able to perform the basic job duties, by being able to tell these basic colors. You just need to articulate to them they you can perform the basic job duties of identifying the colors of cars and clothing descriptions. POST has also said that if an applicant fails the test, but can id the basics he/she is fine. or if it came down to it, but don’t recommend you can get the x chrome contact lenses which is a couple of hundred dollars.  The lenses don’t enable you to see colors, but changes them so you can identify them.

The test you took was the Ishihara plate test. Which it does tell a Dr. that you are colorblind. The bad thing about this test is unfair for people with a slight colorblindness, since the Ishihara plates are deliberately artificial images, and do not represent the range of colors that people see in everyday life. I had this problem with my agency. Ask them for another option. Ask if you can go and have a Farnsworth D15 test. This test will show how severe your colorblindness is. You will have to pay for it your self. Do keep in mind that some agencies will DQ you for being colorblind no matter what. Good luck and do not let this stop you going for what you want!

There are also sites online that offer the ishihara tests for free and you can use them to “study” what numbers you are supposed to see so you can pass the test. I know someone that did this, got hired and has had absolutely NO PROBLEMS at any point on the job (related to color vision that is). Is it cheating or unethical?..I’ll leave that up to you. Is it worth it to get your dream job? I think so, but that’s just me.

I'm not for sure do not quote me on this...

If you are on a volunteer fire department then the colorblindness reg is not valid, but I do not know for sure..

Sorry to hear that.  I am color blind as well...  It was never brought out throughout my hiring process at my dept.  I would say some where down the line there was a issue at the particular deptment over the issue.  So they had to write a rule for it to cover thereself...  Not necesarily the right thing to do but it solved the issue.  I wouldn't give up though.  For every one deptment that has that rule there are 20 that don't.  If worst comes to worst my deptment is hiring 3-4 guys in Oct-Nov.  With probally about 16 over the next 3 years to help feel Station #6.  If your interested here is the web site: www.joplinmofire.org.  Best of luck.