Editor in Chief - John McMahon Ret. Deputy Chief

9 ˝ WEEKS (firefighter edition)

by Capt. Mike Gentili

On Friday 8/18/2000, six candidates took the crucial and final step in becoming recruit firefighters for the City of New Bedford, MA Fire Department. They each successfully passed the state administered Physical Ability Test (PAT). They had previously passed the civil service written exam, medical exam, and interview process.

At 0800 Sunday 8/20/2000, John Almeida, Christpher Azevedo, Michael Branco, Shawn Foley, George Gobeil, & Matthew Raposo were appointed to the rank of Probationary Firefighters and assigned to recruit training for a period of 9 weeks (9 ˝ from the PAT to graduation). The responsibility of training these recruits falls on the NBFD training division and its staff of instructors.

Over the next few weeks we will follow along with the class as they prepare to transform from civilian to full time career firefighters. We will also get to meet these new firefighters and hear their comments and feelings. These six individuals are all military veterans so they already understand the concept of rank, discipline, and teamwork, all vital prerequisites to success in this field.

Monday, 8/21/2000, 0800: First day of training. All members are on time and nervously make their way into the training classroom for orientation. They are greeted cordially but firmly by the staff and told to take a seat at one of the six tables set up for instruction. They are introduced to the training staff and are then asked to introduce themselves to the staff as well as to each other. This is the first step in becoming part of the brotherhood we all share. Their intros are as brief as they can possibly make them. They will quickly overcome their shyness. They are then introduced to and hear welcoming remarks from the department administration, which includes the Chief of Department and his two Deputy Chiefs. The Fire Chaplain is next and after meeting the new class he invokes the intercession of St. Florian (patron saint of firefighters) in blessing the new recruits. The remainder of the day consists of rules and regulations, union issues, remarks from the local union chair officers, recruit training requirements, meeting with the Physical Training (PT) staff, distribution of books (Essentials 4th. Ed), assignment of class number (8-2000), selection of the class president (Almeida) and class treasurer (Raposo) by lottery. They are told of their responsibilities. The president is the class spokesman and is the only one allowed to bring class concerns to the staff. He is also responsible for class discipline. The treasurer of course is responsible for the coffee fund and any other financial matters pertaining to the class. After the homework assignment is passed out, the class is dismissed and the first day done, whew!

Tuesday, 8/22/2000: First day of PT and one mile run. Everyone completes the run and exercise program with no trouble. Housework is assigned and completed. This is a long day of classroom instruction. FD Organization, Intro to the Incident Command System, and Firefighter Safety. Boring…but necessary!

Wednesday, 8/23/2000: Today is a little more interesting. We studied Fire Behavior and did a lot of tabletop as well as outdoor demonstrations. Concocted a couple of chemical reactions that resulted in controlled fires and watched some interesting and eye opening videos on Flashover and Backdraft. PT is still going fine. Class President on behalf of the class voices a concern about the time it took to do the reading assignment along with the study guide questions. It was agreed to forego the study guide portion but the reading would continue. The study guide will now be used over the weekend for review. Climbed an aerial ladder for the first time, today. Recruits were allowed to go as high as they felt comfortable doing. Some went to the top, some only half way. They will continue climbing aerials each week. All students must climb the 100 or 105' aerial ladders. They will!

Thursday, 8/24/2000: According to the class, the homework was much better without the study guide (only about 2 hours instead of 4). Will see next Monday when the first quiz is given. Today is more classroom instruction. Building Construction and Personal Protective Equipment are today's topics. The first Hep "B" of the 3 shot series and Tetanus/Diphtheria shots are administered today. Instruction on infectious diseases and accidental exposures is also presented to the class. The class is starting to come together already. They are planning to get a class tattoo, if you can believe that. They are planning to get together over the weekend to come up with some type of fire graphic which they can add their class number to and have zapped into their skin. Now that's a team!

Friday, 8/25/2000: First Injury!!! One member is excused from the daily mile run because of a minor calf injury. He is allowed to walk the course but must participate in the rest of PT. Today is SCBA. They like this because there are a lot of hands on and the importance of this piece of equipment is stressed so heavily. First week is finally done. Everything going fine. No quitters that I can see. See you next week

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