How Long is probation?

[kaishepard0723]

If a new person with 5 years experience as a firefighter and have thier certifications joins your volunteer fire department, How long is the probation period for them?

A)3 months?

B)6 Months?

C)1 Year?

D)Other and how long?

And Why?

[SafetyPro]

Currently, the way our rules are written, its a 3 month minimum (but usually 6 months) period as a Trainee followed by a 1 year probation, regardless of prior training.

The Trainee period is essentially our "evaluation" time. The background check, physical and psych eval are all done prior to or during the Trainee period, and the Trainee is assigned to a Crew (usually the one they'll move to as a Probie). The Captain of the Crew formally evaluates them during this time, and the rest of the members do the same, though informally.
All regular members can vote on whether a Trainee moves up to Probie, so the evaluation time is critical.

Unlike some VFDs, once you make Probie, you can do everything a full FF can (depending on level of expertise, of course). For an inexperienced person, you probably will be limited as to what you can do as a Probie initially until you prove your knowledge, but an experienced person would be allowed to do more initially.

[WTFD10]

We have pretty much the same deal as Safety Pro, except our Trainee (we call it "Piker") period is 4 months long.

I was already an EMT when I joined so if staffing was low I was allowed to ride the ambulance on EMS calls only. If a probie w/ their EMT card or regular FF/EMT showed up I was bumped off the rig.

[BD6413]

My Volunteer Department is 6 Months Probation - Trained or Not. With out Training the probation may be extended depending on school dates but it is rare.

The Company I'm a Career Man At {Volunteer also - Combination} They're rules are a bit stranger.....Two Years minimum probation. One wears a Yellow Helmet and can't even be considered a full member for two years meaning no voting privilages, can't hold office, or be an apparatus operator including the ambulance......They wonder why they can't keep, retain, or recruit new members. "Oh...There's no problem here we've always done it this way...." I've been employed there three years and have not seen one new member come in and actually stay active longer than 4 months. what's that tell ya ?????

Guess we'll have more than 6 Paid Guys pretty soon

[HeavyRescueTech]

on my old department, you had a proby shield until your probationary period was over (which lasted one year or longer). during that time, if you were interior qualified (ie, had FF1 and other stuff), you could go inside. once you are made a regular member, you get a black shield.

on my new department, the probationary period is either 6 months or 1 year (I'm not entirely sure). during your probationary time, you can't vote or hold office. once you get FF1, you can get a black shield. until then, you have a yellow (proby) shield. so even though you still on probation, you can function on the fire scene as a regular FF

[Weruj1]

I checked the one year on the poll marker ........as that what it is normally. We have had a few people that have come on with alll their certs .....it is still technically a year but the officers who interviewed them and the memebership are told that they have some experience, and we let them function without restriction in terms of their level of training/certs they may have as long as they are from teh NR or State of Ohio.

[beastie35]

in our department you have a 1 year of probation no matter who you are. from a 25yr veteran of FDNY or a 18 year old coming to the department for the first time. if your already ff 1 or 2 then you can be interior, but your still on probation

[FFTide]

Probation in my department is supposed to be one year, give or take. Pretty much I joined June of 2004 and after March of this year after how I presented myself on a fire in January and a Fatal MVA in March the guys started to accept me as a firefighter and I'm only called probie when I mess up

[Peetmoss]

It's 3 mounths at my dept. Only restrictions when on probation are you can't drive or be an officer. You can do anything else provided you have the certs.

The driving thing kinda burns me a little. I more qualified to "drive" the apparatus then 99% of our members but I can't for another month, and they still havn't started training me on running the pumps on the engines.

[Weruj1]

ok so why are you "burned" ? You already said you are NOT trained to operate the pumps ..................so why in the hell should you be able to drive ? The key word here is "operate" anyone can "drive" .....

[DougVelting]

Off the street walk in is 1 year
Comming from another dept may be reduced to 6 months

Probie in our dept just means just that, youre on probation. not that your lower than anyone else, but same as the court system, your on probation and if you screw up, see ya.

[ColdFireJT]

Our probationary term is 6 months (which can be extended for probies who have not yet finished firefighter trianing), with the company officers conducting progress evaluations of all probies every month. If a member is prior trained and proves themselves to the officers, the probationary period may be shortened to about 3 or 4 months.

Members have to complete our department's Recruit Program before they can be considered on probation. During probation, members may not vote, hold office, and are not entitled to stipends or an appeals process if dismissed from the department.

During recruit training, everone wears a yellow "dome" style helmet with our station numbers on the side. Once they get on probation, if they are not FFI certified yet they keep the numbers on the side. Once they become firefighter certified, the station numbers come off and a "Firefighter" crescent is put on. Once off probation, everyone gets a "traditional" style helmet with a black FF shield.

[FFTide]

Originally posted by Peetmoss
The driving thing kinda burns me a little. I more qualified to "drive" the apparatus then 99% of our members but I can't for another month, and they still havn't started training me on running the pumps on the engines.

I've been on over a year and haven't sat in the drivers seat to even clean it! I'm asking the chief more regularly to start training me since I can make AM calls most of the time but I'm just a little further out of district than 1st due so that should be happenening this summer. Oh and I'm 27 not 18... I didn't join for the lights and sirens.

~Jeff

[doughesson]

We start off with an application,then at the first meeting you are invited to,you face all the officers that showed for that meeting and explain why you want to be a firefighter with the department.
Then,you go through a background check to weed out mostly those with numerous recent speeding tickets.
We have a 20 hour in house training requirement for the basics about ropes,hoses,ladders and emergency vehicle operations,even though driving is left to longer service members.
Once that is completed,you are issued bunker gear,a pager and a blue helmet with your number on it for your probation period.You can respond to calls but until you get some more training at various state training sessions and more experience,mostly you'll be on gopher detail or traffic control.
We have members with experience from other departments that went straight to red helmets,newbies that need to be watched closely and people with a couple years on and still wear blue hats wondering why when they don't show up for training or too many calls.
Higher up,we have officers with paid,unpaid experience,we have folks who work for the local EMT service,hospitals,the sheriff's office and even a mortuary service(we're trying to get an ob-gyn).
Most of the officers are certified at the state level as instructors so we have a good mix and high expectations for everyone.

[Peetmoss]

Originally posted by Weruj1
ok so why are you "burned" ? You already said you are NOT trained to operate the pumps ..................so why in the hell should you be able to drive ? The key word here is "operate" anyone can "drive" .....

Anyone can't drive. Driving a 40 ft piece of eqiutment with air brakes that weighs 30 thousand pounds is a whole lot diffrent then the famliy caravan. I don't neccsicarly want to drive an engine without being trained on the operation of the pump. I just want the training so I can drive ASAP. And I think I should be able to drive the Tanker, Rescue and the squad. Much better for me to drive then the Officer, EMT don't you think ?

[ROOKIELZ]

There is no probation for anyone in our Dept. I wish there was as it may have helped with a problem or two.
The problem is that we are so hungry for volunteers...well, I'm sure of few of you folks out there can finish the sentence.
Sad but true

[WTFD10]

Originally posted by Peetmoss
I just want the training so I can drive ASAP.

Maybe it's just me but when I first joined, I wanted to fight fire and provide patient care not drive and be stuck at the rig. Matter of fact, I still prefer to be in the back as opposed to driving

[Weruj1]

whbat I am saying is that drive and operate go hand in hand .........you cant "operate it" (pump it, set it up etc.) then dont get in to just "drive it" to the scene........I agree that the officer should NOT be drving the rig unless absolutley neccesary.

[ROOKIELZ]

Now Josh: You know I could operate it long before I could drive it...

[thomas15]

Originally posted by FFTide


I've been on over a year and haven't sat in the drivers seat to even clean it! I'm asking the chief more regularly to start training me since I can make AM calls most of the time but I'm just a little further out of district than 1st due so that should be happenening this summer. Oh and I'm 27 not 18... I didn't join for the lights and sirens.

~Jeff

Jeff,

I'm going to join you in your frustration. I'm no kid either, in fact I'm 20 years older than you. I put in my training time and respond to more than my fair share of calls. As my 1 year birthday with the service is fast approaching, I have far exceeded the minimum requirements for new members.

In truth, I don't want to drive an engine because I want to be where the action is. However, when I get out of bed at 1:00 AM for a MVA and hang out at the station for an hour because I'm not a driver and therefore have to just stare at an unused rig it makes me wonder why I'm doing this.

I don't mind only having 3 or 4 hours sleep before I leave for work --if I were putting my training and time to use at an accident scene, but I don't care for being in sleep deprovation for nothing. I have a wife, kids and a mortgage. Put me to work, yes, but don't expect me to leave home and hearth at 1:00 AM for the privledge of doing nothing.

I'm signed up to take a state mandaded emergency vehicle training course in two weeks. I will not pass this course if I don't get some practice time in before hand. I am getting very tired of asking for said practice time.

Jeff, I feel your pain dude.