spenac Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 There was a big hub-bub at my Dept.when a 33yr. old made Capt. There were guys that had been on the Dept. longer than he was alive. He jumped over them somehow. Luckily he could handle it and eventually became Chief in another town. But that was wrong. A person should not expect to get the promotion just because of how long they have been around. At 33 the person could have better education and enough experience to bring positive changes rather than old guard doing the same way its always been done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmeaner Posted November 22, 2008 Share Posted November 22, 2008 Many professional services insurance requires the age to be at least 21 to 23 for employment; so kids are not usually placed in charge. R/r 911 Or they are hired and not allowed to drive, which would be fine if they are riding as a third person, but this is typically not the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfaulknor Posted November 22, 2008 Share Posted November 22, 2008 I am 20 years old, and working as a Paramedic in a busy ALS service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmy Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Are you the sole provider or under supervision? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfaulknor Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 After completing the standard FTO Time, I am paired with an EMT-Basic, and we run calls as a two-person team. My age has made no difference in how I have been treated within our company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arizonaffcep Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 After completing the standard FTO Time, I am paired with an EMT-Basic, and we run calls as a two-person team. My age has made no difference in how I have been treated within our company. As was the case when I worked private EMS. But, with a fire dept. it is different. 1 person is in charge of 3 others (on a 4 person engine). This person MUST know the ins and outs of command, command structure, strategy and tactics. Just like (in theory) with the supervisor for EMS, public or private. Although the knowledge base is different, the ability to command is similar. Would you feel comfortable if you were placed into the roll of the supervisor? Responding to calls, not as the provider, but as the supervisor, keeping in mind the big picture, organizing large scenes and multiple agencies? Unified command? Etc. etc. etc? I would agree that it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with age...but more often than not, the younger you are, the less experience you have at something. This is where the age thing comes into play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfaulknor Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Do I feel I have anywhere near the experience needed to act in a role of a supervisor? no... of course not... But I don't think that is because of my age, I think that is because I have only been in EMS for two years. If someone got into EMS at age 40, I don't think they're going to be ready for a supervisor role by the time they hit 42... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arizonaffcep Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Do I feel I have anywhere near the experience needed to act in a role of a supervisor? no... of course not... But I don't think that is because of my age, I think that is because I have only been in EMS for two years. If someone got into EMS at age 40, I don't think they're going to be ready for a supervisor role by the time they hit 42... I agree. But...the OP was talking about a 19 yo LT. I believe that they said you have to be 18 in order to take the FF1 test. Which means, he has 1 year experience. This is what I was refereing to. There is no way they have the knowledge base, proper classes and experience to properly advance to a rank of LT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher.Collins Posted November 23, 2008 Author Share Posted November 23, 2008 Wow, sorry I havnt dropped in on this... I forgot I even posted it :oops: Yes in one instance I am reffering to a Leutenant who is 19 years old..., and they by law could not have possibly recieved Firefighter-1 certification sooner than their 18th birthday. Nor could they have been eligable for senior membership in the department sooner than their 18th birthday. By the way Im not talking administrative either, shes a full fleged line officer in command of the ladder truck. My other question is whether or not someone who is 18 is really experienced enough a driver to operate an emergency vehicle? Ultimatley age isnt the issue itself its more so the ammount of experience you can gain in 1 year. cfaulknor your assesment of 40 year old joining is the same idea just older... and I believe I made that reference in my OP that it would still apply to older newbies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmy Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 So, you did your paramedic degree then all of a sudden became the senior practitioner on the ambulance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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