Just wondering what I’m getting into. Have one lined up on Sunday. Main thing I’m dreading is the hose hoist over the railing.
done something similar when I had to do Damage control & crash & salvage FF trining in the navy… It isn’t too bad as long as you are in descent shape. the tougher excersizes (as I recall) are the ones with a charged hose.
OFC these guys are also doing the physical stuff with half the gear I had to wear while doing it, so you could take what I say with a grain of salt LOL…
Regardless GL with the test
As long as you’re not in Junkman physical condition, you’ll be fine. 
The hookers love my money and thats all that matters.
you probably kiss them on the mouth too…
Only the ones i kill and stuff into 55gal drums.
Ouch lol. So I made the mistake of getting some dental work done… I changed the rear brakes on the tsx and the whole time I could feel my heart beating out of my mouth. I guess we’ll see what happens tomorrow. The test is prep for another test. Thanks for the vote of confidence y’all!
I got my wisdom teeth pulled in boot camp and only got 1 day of rest. It’s all mental, don’t stress about it.
So I did it this morning and passed it!!! Had almost a minute left over which means that I didn’t do that well. Guess I’ll have to train more.
So obviously a little late to the party here, but congrats. If you found that challenging though you will want to be training a bit as neither the Biddle or the CPAT are close to how difficult training will be, and that again is way easier than actual fire ops. I know for my department there is a requirement to pass the CPAT to qualify but there is a significantly harder V02 max test which must be passed to gain entry and then in training there are a couple more timed runs and physical tests which must be completed to graduate, all of which are way harder than the pretest CPAT. Basic expectations are the ability to easily complete a 1.5 mile run in 12 minutes (most were in the 10 min range) and have the strength to do basic body weight exercises like wide grip pullups with no bouncing, pushups etc. I forget the actual requirements but I know I was average in testing with 9 pullups and 52 pushups after the run. There were some others like V-sit hold, vertical jump etc but i don’t recall the numbers on those. Real life is harder than training too, and you don’t have the privilege of knowing how far you have to go in the test or what is coming up. For instance a couple months ago I had to hump all the hose packs, thermal cameras and full gear up 18 stories for a fire call as the elevators malfunctioned, so the 4 you do in the test give a good idea of normal operations but don’t think it never happens.
Did the same test and passed - only to have an asthma attack after crossing the finish line because the SCBA was strapped to my chest uber tightly. Good times!
Mine was on wayyyyy too tight. Couldn’t get a breath in. It also kept my helmet really low. Right now I’m trying to work on quick recovery. Just sprinting and jogging on the treadmill at an incline with a ton of weight. I guess I better start working on long term endurance too. I’ve always had the strength which is probably what got me through it. Before that, I hadn’t gone on a run for about 2 years lol. I had awesome cardio before though hahahah. I might not go for it, though. I just found out that at the max point of being a firefighter, I would probably make about 2 more dollars than I am making now. On top of that, I would have to take a huge paycut and wold have to wait quite a few years to even get to what I am making now… Decisions decisions. This is under the assumption that I even interview well enough to be considered.
True firefighting isn’t going to be a high paying gig, it is, however, worth it for quality of life. Personally I am not entirely motivated by wages but rather have a job which I enjoy and one which I look forward to going to. I can honestly say that firefighting is the best job in the world. When you are busy you are making a difference and doing really cool things, or at least driving a really badass truck fast with lights and sirens. Even false alarms are fun (except at 315 am, less fun then). If you are having a slow day it is like hanging out with a bunch of buddies and being a 12 year old with training, screwing around and joking and working out. Then you get time off, I work a 4 on 4 off rotation which is awesome as it allows guys to work on the side, or me, being unmarried, to go skiing or biking when the resorts are not crowded and get lots more done than I ever could with a 9-5. I recommend it but you do have to really know what you are getting into and if it will suit your life. I can’t take weekends off or make it to every soccer game etc when I have kids, but I do get to go home in the evening after work unlike those in the military and the respect you get from the public is pretty rewarding too.