Anyone ever taken it? I took one yesterday for the Forsyth County Fire Department.

It was, HANDS DOWN, the hardest 5 minutes of my LIFE!

You may be thinking, "5 minutes?!?! Hell, I can do ANYTHING for 5 minutes!"

Trust me when I say that I seriously thought I was going to die when I got done. Out of 20 of us, 4 could not complete the test, 5 needed IV's, and I'd say about 1/2 threw up and/or passed out.

I NEVER imagined in my whole life that after 5 minutes of ANYTHING, that I'd feel as bad as I did.

Just curious if any of you, or someone you know, has taken one.


:santa:

 

Did the girls have to take the same test as the guys?

I took it way back in the day, just out of high school. The girls had a MUCH easier test to take back then... Which I thought was stoopid. On a fire scene, everyone is expected to do the same work.

 

What did it consist of?

 

The girls had to run the exact same course and lift the same amounts.

The test:

1. Drag a 150 lb dummy 150 ft, turn around and drag him back.

2. Raise an extension ladder to it's max, let it down, raise it back up and let it back down. You had to go hand over hand, you could not let the rope 'slide' through your hands on the way down.

3. Lift and carry a 4" hose over your shoulder up 5 flights of stairs

4. Drop the 4" hose

5. From the top of the 5 story 'buiding', pull up a 30 lb hose, lift it over a 5 foot railing and set it down.

6. Pick up the 4" hose again and carry it down 3 flights of stairs.

7. On the 2nd floor was a dark room about the size of a 2 car garage. There were 6 dividers inside the room. This room was DARK. The darkest thing I had ever seen. You had to get down on your hands and knees and do a 'left wall crawl'. Basically you had to get on your hands and knees and crawl along the left wall all the way around the room. NO light whatsoever.
~I broke my nose on one of the walls and it bled the entire rest of the course.

8. Pick the 4" hose up again, carry it down the remaining 2 flights of stairs.

9. Drop the SOB

10. Lift a ladder off of the truck, carry it down an obstacle course 50' to 75' long (I would say 100', but I think that was just what it seemed like). Lift the ladder back up and put it on the truck.

11. Run 200' uphill to a fire hydrant

12. Crank the fire hydrant on (about 25 turns with resistance).

13. Run 50' to the end of the hose you just turned on.

14. Pull the nossle up over your shoulder and drag the hose 100', turn around at a cone and drag it back 150'.

15. Run back to the hydrant and crank it off (still with resistance).

16. Pass the 'F' out!



You had to complete the course within 12 minutes. The top 10 times out of 85 proceed to the written test. Positions 11 - 85 are not considered for the job.

It sounds simple enough, and probably is, if you can stop and grab a smoke and a beer whenever you want, but when you are competing for one of the top 10 spots, you are busting your a$$ out there.

 

Glad to hear that the girls take the same test these days...

That sounds like the same test I took. I didn't break my nose, but it was tough.

If you don't pace yourself from the beginning, you likely will have a hard time completing the test.

 

Ouch! Sorry to hear about that Tuff....first your truck, then your nose...you might want lay low the way your luck is going...avoid sharp objects.
So, did you find out where you ranked? Edit: (Out of the 20 that took the test in your group.)

 

That's what I failed to do. I thought that I would come out strong and impress the Chief and three Captains that were there...by the time I got to the top of the stairs, my whole body was dead.

 

welcome to my world....


regards...

 

pgh-

I thought of you before I went in there. I would like to become a medic as well once I get in there.

How do you like it? Has the newness worn off?

This is a family that I REALLY want to be a part of. I am so ready to do something that I enjoy that I cannot stand it.

 

Trust me buddy; as a medic, you really don't want to be a medic.

Hopefully, next time it will go better.

 

I've done several versions of the agility test. Some are harder than others, but from what I have seen, most agility test are easier than they were 10-15 years ago. Back then it was almost unheard of to have a woman pass the test, but from what I have seen lately, my mother could pass some of them with a little training. TUFF FORD's test sounds like one of the more difficult test. The hardest part of the agility test is the fact that you don't have the huge adrenaline rush that you would in a fire.

IMHO, having the agility test before the written test is totally asinine. The firefighter that you hire today is going to be the company officer someday. Wouldn't you rather have the strongest smart guy/gal instead of the smartest strong guy/gal?

Good Luck, TUFF FORD!

 

Well, that's a career path I can scratch off my list of 'things to be when I grow up'.

Thanks for the heads up Tuff!! Good luck!

 

Wow, sounds like quite the workout! I'm pretty sure it would kill me!! What happened to the police job you were after? Change your mind or just exploring other options? Good luck with whatever you end up doing.

 

I can sympathise with you Tuff.
Every 4 years I have to redo my Offshore Survival Training.
We get to do an underwater helicopter escape, righting of liferafts, escaping up and down jacobs ladders, knotted ropes and scramble nets, various team exercises all in freezing water.
The fire fighting part of the course sounds similar to your test except for that you have to fight fires too.
The escape from building in heat and smoke is probably the scariest.
You get to do the left hand wall crawl but they have set straw bales on fire and left things to warm up. You cannot take your mask off because you cannot breath. Damn, its hot too.

When I was in my early 20's, I used to laugh at the old geezers who struggled on the course.
Now I'm in my mid 40's, thats me

 

I had to take this test in fire school I'm a volunteer, but the schooling is the same, paid or volly (I love the science of firefighting). I got started real late in my life.

I took the course when I was 36 years old. I did it in 4:27 which is respectable. I could'nt believe the young kids, 18 - 20 that are so out of shape and counld not finish.

You really need to be in shape for this kind of work, more firefighters die of heart attacks, because of the strain on the body, than the fire itself. You need to learn to pace yourself. i

Before firefighting i was an EMT. That got boring to me , but I still wanted to do something for the community, so firefighting it was. I have no regrets or fears about my decision.

TUFF, sorry to hear you did not do well, but keep trying. The job is well worth it.