fire fighter

tonyheaney

what is the standard training to become a fire fighter in Ireland?

Heathen

Hi Tony,

Are you asking what is the standard training that firefighters receive as recruits? or what kind of training you need to have completed before applying to become a firefighter?

Full time (whole time) firefighters, once hired, usually do between a 8 to 12 week training course before going on station. (sometimes in the UK)
Retained (on call) firefighters do between a 2 and 3 weeks training course before going on station and then after that do the rest of the courses as they go along.

If you are wondering what courses/ training is needed before applying? well there is no right or wrong answer to this, you don't necessarily need to have courses under your belt, they are looking for the ideal candidate to send away to be trained, they don't need you to be already trained up so dont worry if you dont have courses done.... That said, you can make your application stand out by maybe going on a first aid course or manual handling, health and safety kinda courses. if going for full time, you could try applying for retained first and serve your time, a lot of the full timers have retained service under their belts before going full time, you might also try your local civil defence as they do a lot of fire fighting training and would be very familiar with the equipment used in the fire service. Another thing you can do is visit your local station, we have people coming in for a look around and asking us questions before they go for interviews and we are all very accommodating to hopeful candidates, because we were in their shoes before we joined.

As anyone in the fire service will tell you, your training never ends, you will be on courses for the rest of your career learning new skills and brushing up on old skills, if you like learning, its the right job for you!!

Let me know if i can help you anymore

H

tonyheaney

Heathen wrote: »

Hi Tony,

Are you asking what is the standard training that firefighters receive as recruits? or what kind of training you need to have completed before applying to become a firefighter?

Full time (whole time) firefighters, once hired, usually do between a 8 to 12 week training course before going on station. (sometimes in the UK)
Retained (on call) firefighters do between a 2 and 3 weeks training course before going on station and then after that do the rest of the courses as they go along.

If you are wondering what courses/ training is needed before applying? well there is no right or wrong answer to this, you don't necessarily need to have courses under your belt, they are looking for the ideal candidate to send away to be trained, they don't need you to be already trained up so dont worry if you dont have courses done.... That said, you can make your application stand out by maybe going on a first aid course or manual handling, health and safety kinda courses. if going for full time, you could try applying for retained first and serve your time, a lot of the full timers have retained service under their belts before going full time, you might also try your local civil defence as they do a lot of fire fighting training and would be very familiar with the equipment used in the fire service. Another thing you can do is visit your local station, we have people coming in for a look around and asking us questions before they go for interviews and we are all very accommodating to hopeful candidates, because we were in their shoes before we joined.

As anyone in the fire service will tell you, your training never ends, you will be on courses for the rest of your career learning new skills and brushing up on old skills, if you like learning, its the right job for you!!

Let me know if i can help you anymore

H

Hi H

Thanks for your reply. I always wanted to do something constructive and i have always admired the fire service. I recently brought my 3 year old son to see an appliance that was parked outside the station and a firefighter very kindly offered us a look around at all the different appliances. If my son was amazed you can imagine how i was the hairs were standing on end of my neck lol and though how id loved to have been a fire fighter. I have done many manual handling and health and safety courses and first aid course myself but im 40 next year so im probably too old to join up and its nothing more then a dream for me sadly.

What is the age and health requirements in becoming part of the fire service?

Heathen

Don't let the age thing knock your ambition if you are serious about it... there is no age limit however the retirement age is 55.
I am nearly sure that two of the firefighters in my station started when they were either 40 or just about 40... I myself started later in life than most of the lads on my crew. Also i think a few older lads were taken on in Corks last recruitment too...

Is there a full time station near you or would you be applying to be retained?

If you want to drop me a PM with your email address i can send you on my recruitment course notes for you to read over and help you decide if its something you want to persue.

H