In today’s world moving towards the future at light speed thanks to bleeding-edge technologies, the very definition of firefighting has been altered to encompass a wide variety of fields and situations. Indeed, today’s firefighter is more a jack-of-all-trades that what was traditionally expected of a firefighter, and firefighter academies all over the world have begun to reflect the same. Firefighters today are expected to be trained and knowledgeable in fields such as medicine, psychology, and a range of other disciplines dedicated to the protection, betterment and preservation of human life. The responsibilities of a firefighter do not begin however, at the door of the fire truck or the entrance of the station house, rather your career as a firefighter begins the before you start firefighter academy when you start you EMT of First Responder training.

A firefighter is more than just an individual, for all intents and purposes, one who chooses to become a firefighter is indeed a hero! Because when it comes down to it, a firefighter saves lives. They are the primary response team called in to any emergency, and the absence of a firefighting crew at the scene of an emergency is certainly a great cause for concern. Therefore, the primary and most important duty of a firefighter is the preservation of human life, this maybe simply accomplished by training intensely to improve reaction times, to the more hazardous sometimes fatal act of getting inside the burning building and rescuing all the lives in peril. In most regions, firefighters are certified emergency medical technicians, or at the very least certified first responders. The majority of emergency calls are medical and for this reason those who recieve the call must be medically trained at a basic level. A firefighter must have a good knowledge of first response medical assistance, especially relating to CPR and basic life support. The relevance of such a characteristic scarcely needs any further clarification and therefore we shall leave it at that. It is worthy however to mention, that one stands a higher chance of success in a career of firefighting if one possesses substantial knowledge in this discipline.

The firefighter may also be expected to know a thing or two about psychology, and how to handle trauma victims, specifically in case of victims who are in shock or are suffering from a hysterical episode resulting from incidents. A good firefighter is not just someone who keeps the fire from getting out of control, rather a good firefighter is one who ensures the protection of all lives involved both physically and in terms of mental stability as well. A firefighter who is capable of performing this task will find herself/himself in a good position in terms of career improvement as well, in addition to the obvious mental satisfaction. In closing, the individual who is considering a firefighting career choice is advised to weigh their abilities to perform the aforementioned duties and if need be, to seek training to further improve their knowledge of these areas, which will undoubtedly result in their success in this field.