A Job of a Firefighter: Main Characteristics and Challenges

Firefighters play a big role in responding during an emergency and they must be prepared to handle any type of incident they get dispatched for. They are trained to handle tasks that may have themselves in danger and to reduce the risk they must utilize their training to manage the situation. When firefighters are not called for fire outbreaks, they may get called to respond to other types of events such as medical incidents, vehicle accidents, or assisting the police in some way.

With that said, the role of the firefighter has changed throughout history and now has been maintained to keep the employees engaged. With the opportunity to rotate positions and gain further training to grow, the role of the firefighter offers a great chance to reach new heights. When arriving at the scene of a fire, it is essential to be on the same page with your crew to effectively work as a team, therefore fit in as a firefighter you must be able to be a team player (Calgary, 2019).

Seeing tragedy first hand will be a common theme in the work field and it is important to maintain yourself. Working as a firefighter you must be a handle to dangerous situations such as working up high as some emergency calls may take place at greater heights (Calgary, 2019).

One of the most important skills a firefighter must possess is the capability to handle a physically intense job. They will find themselves carrying hoses up the stairs or surviving bodies down the stairs as a result of some situations. The many different skills the firefighting job requires reflects how the job itself will be as it differs from a regular nine to five job. The additional departments and jurisdictions offer further training, for example, working as a forest firefighter you would need additional training to deal with the different environments around you as opposed to a firefighter working in the City.

Regardless of if it is a fire that they need to put out, needing to assist a person collapsing on a hot day, or a vehicle accident resulting in death, they will learn and grow their different skills from each call they attend (Government of Canada, 2019)3) The firefighter will need the ability to work with a team and take orders. Since the firefighter's role will have each firefighter to work their own position, you must be able to effectively communicate with your crew members to work together. As a firefighter, you and your team are the first responders for when a severe incident occurs and you must know exactly what your roles and responsibilities are when you arrive on the scene as will your crew (Government of Canada, 2019).

With that said it is important to always be on the same page with your crew and be able to take orders from your captain at a moment’s notice. Firefighters are viewed upon by society as hero’s and must always be professional and assertive during all of their calls therefore any firefighter who doesn’t work as a team player would not make a good fit and would most likely be terminated as a result of it. They also live as a family on shift as a part of their time is spent inside their fire station when they are not responding to calls. They get the chance to clean and maintain all their equipment. They also spend time rotating on responsibilities that must be handled on a daily basis such as buying groceries, cooking, or other work needing to be done at the station.

Newer recruits as well as current members can use this opportunity to train. With that said it is important to have the ability to make a good connection with your crewmates as they will be the ones you depend on the most while you’re on call. Being a Team player is an important ability one must possess if they want to have a successful career as a firefighter (Warren, T, 2018). The Firefighter must have the ability to manage physical work in extreme conditions.

The firefighting occupation requires a lot of intensive physical labor at times and the Firefighter must be prepared to handle it. From carrying somebody down the stairs to carrying a heavy hose up the stairs, the job will require you to be physically fit. The job will also require the firefighter to be at great heights too therefore they must not be scared of going up high (Alis, 2017). They will come across time they will need to go up high during extreme conditions and applicants who are scared of heights would not be very effective firefighters. It is essential that the firefighters are trained to work at extreme heights as often fires may occur in upper high-rise buildings.

Firefighters may also get calls for pets who are stuck at unreachable heights to which they would have to respond and help the public in the best way they could. With that said a good Firefighter must always maintain their physical health so they are capable of handling heavyweights. They get a good opportunity to stay in shape while at work when they are not responding to calls as they can work out at the fire station but must also be willing to maintain their health outside work.

In order to keep all Firefighters safe while on duty, it is essential that they are fully prepared to handle the difficult tasks set out for them. Therefore handling physical labor is an important ability one must possess (Calcagno, G, 2012).

A successful firefighter must have knowledge of the recent changes in the workplace by keeping themselves up to date with the latest training. Firefighters must always be ready to adapt as there are always newer and more efficient methods of dealing with incidents. With that said every day on the job Firefighters will run into something new, some calls may require more effort and attention than others. While training will only get you prepared to work as a firefighter, what you do on the field is the real learning you do. To keep up with modern technology as well as another way to improve the effectiveness of firefighters, newer technology is constantly being implemented into the work field.

While common items such as axes, fire extinguishers, and hoses are used at specific incidents, you must know when and how to effectively use them. The work field will continue to change making the job safer for firefighters. Some examples of technologies that may be used in the work field in the future can include the use of drones. A small aircraft with a camera that you can manually fly and watch footage of in real-time. This piece of technology would be useful and much more cost-efficient than having a helicopter arrive on the scene to assist from above. It would also be effective when responding and assessing the results of events such as floods or tornadoes (Werner, C, 2015). Firefighters must be able to learn and use this piece of equipment because at one point they may have a specific position for the use of a drone (Pitcher, G, 2016). With Safety in mind, it is essential that Department agencies continue to find ways to add technology for the Firefighters to use to make their work easier. Firefighters will have to constantly adapt to the latest technology implemented in the work field as it will make their job already a bit safer.