04/29/2022
The Probationary Firefighter
By Matt Scherer - 2022
I would like to start this article off, by thanking Lost Art Fire Training and specifically Keenan Willmann for the opportunity to write this article for their blog. As a new member to the fire service, it is an honor to be asked to do this.
A brief background on myself, I attended the Fire Academy and EMT-B school in 2014 and pulled my first shift as a part time firefighter on July 4th 2015, eager than ever for my first call, of course, it was an uneventful night. After a couple years of part time experience and getting my paramedic license I accepted a full-time opportunity as a FF/Medic in a southwest suburb of Chicago in December of 2018.
With about 2 months of experience on probation I sent an email asking “What is Lost Art Fire all about?” Keenan replied and told me, “We strongly believe that the mission of the fire service is centered around the public we serve and that mindset may have been lost in recent years for some people.” I couldn’t agree more. Keenan extended me an invite to write an article for this blog and I jumped at the opportunity. However there was some delay as I left my full time job after 8 months of probation, to start my career with another fire department in a Northwest Chicago suburb in July of 2019. With a little more experience now and 2 probations later, I have some time to write what worked for me and what I’ve seen work or should I say not work so well for others.
In the academy, I was told, “You have two ears, two eyes, and one mouth for a reason.” I believe this is something every probationary, but also every firefighter should remember. We should be trying to learn and perfect our craft not only every shift but every day because the fire service is a lifestyle. I was also told just that, which this is a lifestyle change, I’m going to miss nights out, birthdays, holidays and countless other things, but the reward is having the greatest job in the world. The reward is having the public’s trust to go into their house and help someone, and lock the door on the way out. There is no greater privilege than that.
As you all can imagine, hearing all of this, I had and still do have some pretty big expectations of the fire service. I’ve been fortunate with where I’m at that we are very active in the community and are constantly doing parades, public education events and prior to Covid, we teamed up with a local church to provide lunch to part of our lower income community by grilling and setting up a water curtain (as a sprinkler) for the kids to play in. I’m really looking forward to getting back to that. The Fire Service has lived up to my expectations. Doing these events as well as responding on calls has given me ample opportunities to interact with our community in a positive manner. So as a probationary firefighter, take full advantage of every opportunity you get to interact with the community, because we are here For Them.
I’m going to back track and talk about some of the differences of volunteer or paid on call vs a career fire fighter. I’m going to start by saying as the new guy in either situation be a sponge. I was fortunate to have many great mentors, and one told me the following. Based on a 20 year career, use the first 7 years to learn as much as you can, and share it. The next 7 years you should continue to learn, but perfect what you’ve learned, become an expert. The last 6 or 7 (21 years), you should focus on teaching and sharing everything you’ve learnt and perfected. While I think this is a great guideline. The probationary and off probationary firefighter should be doing something every day to better themselves. Take 10 minutes to listen to a podcast while you are doing the chores or read a quick NIOSH report before you sit in the recliner.
For me, the part time gig was great, I lived at home, and just ran calls. I had some responsibilities at the fire house, but for the most part it was chores, daily rig checks, and respond to calls. Now being a career firefighter, I’m on the training committee, the water/dive rescue team, and a couple other committees. The biggest difference for me is the level of responsibility. Now as a professional firefighter, in the public’s and my opinion, I’m expected to be the best of the best. I don’t think anyone expected any less of me as a paid on call firefighter, however I’ve noticed that the more I took this profession seriously and given it 110%, I have received back from it 110% by gaining the trust of key members and decision makers. They now entrust me with responsibilities and value my opinion. Regardless, what I’ve learned is if you want to be involved ask questions and work hard to get involved.
I would like to end this with some useful tips for any probationary, or 2nd year firefighter going through struggles with the job or crew. My first is as I hinted at earlier, keep your mouth shut and be a sponge. Try to learn as much as you can from your Lieutenant and senior man. Ask questions and then ask more questions, get your crew to explain everything they know to you. If someone asks if you know how to do something, don’t be a know it all. A response that I found useful was, “Can you teach me your way?” Or “Can you watch me do it and show me where I need to improve?” Don’t tell them “B shift does it this way” or “My old department did it this way.” They are going to teach you their way. The senior guys are senior guys for a reason, they have that experience to help you make it easier, so trust in them and the process. Once you’re off of probation, help teach that new guy, but when the senior man is talking act like you’re on probation, maybe you’ll learn something new that he left out for you. My Lieutenant always said to me, “Do what’s best for most”. I love that quote because that speaks to why we are here. As I said earlier we are here For Them, so take the extra second to grab a picture and save it during salvage on a fire, or on an EMS call take the second to bring in the patient’s groceries like we did today. Let’s get back to the basics of putting training and the community first and before ourselves, because that is the oath we all took when we joined the fire service.
I’d again like to thank Lost Art Fire Training for this opportunity, and look forward to reading other blogs from Lost Art Fire Training.
