Skills Needed to become a Firefighter
Firefighting isn’t for everybody and those who wish to choose this particular career will need to have certain skills before considering themselves for entry. If you do have these skills then the fire service might be for you.
What inherentskillsare required for a fire fighter?
The most obvious skills a firefighter needs is a good sense of heights. Firefighters need to be steady and feel safe at incredible heights and under difficult conditions, perhaps with flames leaping around them. If you are the tiniest bit unsure of heights this isn’t the job for you.
In addition to being able to cope with heights one will need a good sense of balance as a firefighter may be needed to hope across burning girders and other obstacles and possibly at great heights whilst carrying a heavy water hose. If one isn’t good at maintaining a steady balance perhaps they should look at another career.
In the same token as the above a firefighter should think twice about this type of employment if they suffer from claustrophobia as a firefighter will sometimes need to go into small places which are sometimes full of smoke and very hot.
An applicant will need to undertake a medical before acceptance and if the individual suffers from a cough or other bronchial problems, firefighters may find smoke a problem and smoke may aggravate a condition that didn’t come up during the initial medical.
Firefighter need nerves of steel and have to be prepared for all types of emergencies. One associates firefighters with property fires, but they do attend other emergencies like automobile accidents. A firefighter will need first aid skills to attend to injured until the ambulances arrive.
A firefighter need to be strong muscular and very fit as the job is hands on and will require strength to deal with most emergencies. A firefighter needs patience and a sense of humor especially when it comes to getting cats out of trees.
A firefighter needs to be able to cope with unsociable hours and be able to sleep when others are out on the town enjoying themselves. Shift work isn’t for everybody and some find the transition too difficult to cope with.
If an individual has all the above inherent skills then firefighting is a reasonably well paid job with excellent prospects for those who want to go on to the management side of the fire service.
