Career Prospects as an Fire Fighter

Firefighters are one of the most daring and challenging professions which need carefulness and lots of commitment to do the work flawlessly. It uses the principles of Engineering and sciences to defend people from risky scenarios. Firefighters also teach them how to live and safeguard others from unhelpful significances of smoke and fire. Firefighters do design and mounting of the fire system which helps them to diminish the consequences of fire. They also enforce the system so that any unhelpful scenes can be escaped. This field deals with the avoidance of fire. It also deals with diluting the causality which occurs on day to day basis by allowing safety measure and growing the parameters of the standard of living. It helps one comprehends the developments of fire and the outcome of it.

Industry Overview

Firefighters are one of the hardest and challenging fields. It is the most imposing field as it deals with preserving of life of many people around. The progress in this sector is growing on day to day basis as numerous people are now getting conscious of the safety and prevention. People are enchanting extra measures to learn all these things and apply it such that they can also practice it in the case of crisis. The growth is expanding due to an upsurge in the requirement of safety. These engineers are responsible for the consequence of the cause and implications of fire and they try to discover the method to resolve and develop the ways.

Scope of Work

Firefighters make available numerous options and prospects for those who are fascinated in grasping the chance to grow and absorb something fresh. It is one of the risky fields but it permits one to safeguard others from any hazard. Firefighters of this field can go in any division either government or private as per their involvement and choices. They can also get engaged in other businesses such as chemical or combustible
products manufacturing companies like petroleum refineries, textiles, fertilisers, etc. The possibility is enormous in the field of engineering, chemicals, handling bottling plants etc.

Skills required

• Communication skills: Fire-fighters must be capable to communicate situations at a crisis scene to other fire-fighters and to emergency-response teams.
• Courage: Fire fighters’ everyday job duties include risky situations, such as arriving at a fiery building.
• Decision-making skills: Firefighters must be intelligent to mark quick and keen decisions in case of emergency. The ability to make noble judgments under pressure can possibly save someone’s life.
• Physical stamina: Firefighters may possibly have to visit at disaster scenes for extended periods of time to release and treat victims. Fighting fires need sustained use of power and strength.
• Physical strength: Firefighters must be robust enough to transport important instrumentation and move wreckages at a disaster site. They must also be capable of moving victims who are injured or cannot walk.

Work Atmosphere for Fire-fighters

As per the National Fire Protection Association, around 69 percent of fire divisions were operated completely by volunteer firefighters. Volunteer firefighters share similar responsibilities as professional firefighters and account for the majority of firefighters in numerous areas.
When not on the act of an emergency, firefighters work at fire stations, where they sleep, eat, and stay on call. When an alarm sounds, firefighters answer it irrespective of the conditions or time of day.

Injuries and Illnesses

Firefighters have one of the maximum rates of injuries and infections of all occupations. They frequently meet risky situations, excluding crumbling floors and walls, rush-hour traffic accidents, and overexposure to flames and smoke. As a consequence, workers must wear defensive gear to help inferior these risks. Habitually, the defensive gear can be very thick and hot.

Fire-fighter Work Schedules

Firefighters naturally work long and wide-ranging hours. Most firefighters work 24-hour shifts on a sense of duty and are off the subsequent 48 or 72 hours. Some firefighters grind 10/14 shifts, which means 10 hours at work and 14 hours off. When battling forest and wildland fires, firefighters may work for lengthy periods. For example, the 2016 Uttrakhand Forest Fire Siege took almost a month of constant effort by National Disaster Response Force and firefighters to stop.

Role and Responsibilities of a Fire- Fighter officer

• Safeguard the security of the employees by making them conscious of the probable accidents through informative seminars.
• Make them awake about the practice of numerous safety gadgets through illustrative sessions.

Making them attentive of accidents through security posters etc

• Safeguarding that the actions are put into exercise by the employees
• In a nutshell, his job is to teach them on the Do’s and Don’ts at the workstation.

Whether compulsory Practical Training will be given to Aspirants or not?

Certainly, Practical Training will be prearranged as per the Industry Morals. Substantial importance is given to hands-on training in this course. Aspirants need to do ‘On the Job Training’ in numerous firms for which study centre helps the contenders so that their placements can be done properly after the accomplishment of the curriculum with Hands-on Training experience.

Career Options as a Fire-fighters

Course in Fire-fighting management could mould you into an exceptional career opportunities, some of them are as follows:

• Fire Safety Officer
• Fire Safety Instructor
• Fire Safety Engineers
• Design Engineer fire protection
• Estimation Engineer Fire protection
• Fire Alarm Technician
• Fire protection technician

How to Become a Fire-fighter

Firefighters normally want a high school diploma and training in substitute medical services. Potential fire- fighters must pass written and mental tests, with a personal interview which is followed by a practical training at a fire academy, with a grasp on an emergency medical specialist (EMT) certification.

Fire-fighter Education

The entry-level education required to become a firefighter is a high school diploma or alike. Though, some class work further than high school, such as trauma care, is generally required to achieve the emergency medical technician (EMT) elementary certification. EMT necessities vary by city and state.

Fire-fighter Training
Entry-level firefighters get a few months of exercise at fire academies run by the fire department or by the state. Through classroom teaching and hands-on training, recruits study fire-fighting and fire- prevention methods, narrow building codes, and emergency medical techniques. They also study how to fight fires with normal equipment, comprising axes, chain saws, fire extinguishers, and ladders. After joining a fire academy, firefighters must customarily complete a provisional period.

Some fire departments have qualified internship programs that last up to 4 years. These programs aggregate technical training with on-the- job training beneath the direction of qualified firefighters. In addition to joining in training programs accompanied by local or state fire divisions and agencies, some firefighters join centralised training sessions supported by the National Fire Academy. These exercise sessions address topics comprising anti-arson methods, disaster awareness, dangerous materials control, and community fire safety and education.

Documentations and Certifications
Normally, firefighters must be certified as emergency medical technicians at the EMT-Basic level. In tally, some fire subdivisions need fire-fighters to be proficient as an EMT-Paramedic. The National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) endorses EMTs and paramedics. Both levels of NREMT authorization need finishing an exercise or education program and passing the nationwide exam. EMTs and paramedics may work with firefighters at the sights of accidents.

Some states have compulsory or charitable firefighter training and certification programs. The National Fire Academy also offers an Executive Fire Officer certification. To be eligible for the post of Fire officer a firefighters required a bachelor's degree.

Remuneration

Fire Safety management is one of the highly waged careers in India as well as overseas. In India, preliminary salaries vary among Rs.15000/- to 20000/- per month. Outside India, it varies between Rs.65000/- to Rs.80000/- on a monthly basis. The salary for Fire safety specialists differs by industry and knowledge level. Those working in more hazardous industrial organisations’ like oil and gas mining companies, chemical companies etc earn far high salary equated to others.

Institutes Offering This Course in India

• Council of Education and Development Programmes (CEDP Skill Institute), Mumbai
• National Academy of Fire and Safety Engineering (NAFS), Nagpur
• Institute of Fire & Safety Management Dehradun
• National Institute of fire Engineering & Safety Management, Jaipur

Author

Mrs. Shaheen Khan
The author is Founder, Director of Council of Education & Development Programmes (CEDP) Skill Institute, Mumbai