Career Tips: Things You Didn’t Know About Being A Firefighter

Answer a simple question; what comes to mind whenever you witness a fire truck rushing past your car on the road? You hear the blasting sound of its siren, what do you think? Most definitely, the thought of life-saving firefighters comes to mind, with the utmost respect for such a profession, right? Everyone has a different opinion about having a career in firefighting, but if you are brave enough, do step up. Not only will you save many lives, but you will start respecting yourself even more. 

While talking about the firefighting career, there are lots of exciting things people do not know about it. Becoming a firefighter may be a life-long dream of someone, but not having enough knowledge about it can be daunting. Therefore, firefighters get trained about their duties in the real-world under strict supervision. 

Just like any other career needs adequate qualification, you have to educate yourself in firefighting as well. How will you help others if you do not know the viable ways to do so? To build a successful career in firefighting, get proper education and training. Both of these factors are primary to attain growth and get appreciation from the employers. To give an excellent start to the career, inquire of nearby fire academy to learn about the profession in the best way possible. 

Now, let us discuss some things about this career that you might not know before. 

Mostly Volunteer To Serve The Profession

Almost 75% of the firefighters are in real-life volunteering for the post. It may come as a surprise, but yes, people do volunteer to run into burned houses and save people’s lives. Such volunteers do not care much about getting famous or money in return. All they want to do is serve humanity and contribute towards a happy community. They risk their lives to save others, which calls for endless recognition and support.

Prepare Themselves For The Worst

Do you know how hot a burning building gets during a fire accident? The temperature reaches 600 degrees on the ground floor, going up to 1500 degrees towards the ceiling! To top it off, firefighters run in such buildings without fearing losing their lives to save yours. Most people do not even cook meals at a temperature above 450 degrees. So imagine rushing in buildings on fire to save strangers and not thinking twice of what might happen to them. Such a career certainly takes courage. 

Learn Sufficiently Before Stepping In The Field

As mentioned above, you cannot score the firefighting position without adequate hours of training. As a firefighter, you are supposed to enter buildings on fire legally, and that requires skills. Since the firefighting skills are challenging and practical, a firefighter typically has to cover 100 hours of training (minimum). Without fulfilling this obligation, no man can legally work as a firefighter. They will not know how to react to a fire crisis. Like every other profession needs some training, firefighters need one too, but it is mandatory to attend them. 

Perform Time-restricted Duties

No matter where the incident occurred, the firefighting team has to relocate the victims to a nearby hospital as soon as possible. Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) go along with the firefighters to the incident. If it were a motor vehicle accident, there are higher chances of heart attacks or strokes. Therefore, this one hour is considered the golden hour to shift patients to a nearby hospital. For some, it may sound easy, but in reality, it is not. Within this period, firefighters have to call 911, gather their gear, ride their trucks, save victims, and rush them to a hospital. Moreover, they have less than 2 minutes to dress up and prepare themselves. It means that they have to do a lot in such a limited time, and without being professional, they may not succeed. 

Firefighting Is Not A White Collar Job

If you think firefighters sit behind the desk like others and stay safe all the time, you are wrong. They are some of the most courageous people who choose this profession out of freewill. They might have a fear of getting burned or killed, but they never let this fear control their emotions. They only have one goal in mind; to enter an interior of a burning building and rescue innocent lives within seconds. Unlike other people, they get trained specially to do this. Hence, they are the fire experts. Indeed, they are not ordinary people as they do tasks others feel phobic of their entire life. 

CONCLUSION

All of the points mentioned above show how self-sacrificing this profession can be. Nonetheless, the sense of fulfillment and appreciation from the public is more than enough to keep the firefighting job. If you think this career is an ideal one for you, do step up for the post. The world needs more caring people like you!