| The Physical Standard Issue |
| Recently, I went onto the Women in the Fire Service web page. I visit the site on a regular basis. Within the site is a communications bulletin board that covers a variety of issues. One issue that tends to dominate the bulletin board is the Physical Standard issue. After reading a posting from a firefighter's wife, I felt compelled to voice my opinion on this much debated issue. Below is the response I posted. You can visit the WFSI bulletin board to see all the postings by clicking here. Dear Firefighter's Wife, I read your posting and it was thought provoking. I too believe that a fair physical standard should exist within the fire service. My opinion is the reason physical standards have been controversial is that it is a single measurement of a multi-faceted job, a job that requires both brains, brawn and heart. Too often this standard has been used to eliminate qualified people from this job using the phyisical measurement as the sole determining factor. Another thing that is frequently done with these standards is they are used as a right of passage into the fire service and never applied to the firefighter again once he or she leaves the Fire Academy. The ideal firefighting standard would be one that measured ALL the qualities needed to perform our jobs. In addition it should be a standard that ALL the members should be able to meet. I am not speaking of gender delinations as much as age deliniations. If a physical standard is put in place it should be a reasonable standard that can be met both by the young "rookie" firefighters as well as the older "veteran" firefighters. In addition a measurement of mental acuity, environmental endurance, medical skills and decision making skills should be included. This standard should not just be a right of passage into the fire service but a continued measurement of competancy of each member of the fire service. Regarding you mentioning having your husband go down, and fearing that the woman he is with is unable to "drag" him out, I have a couple of opinions on that too. First of all, we as firefighters are all supposed to be trained to do rescue techniques, to do partner rescue. Another fact is during a recent study it takes 12 firefighters to rescue one trapped member. It takes up to 20 minutes to accomplish this. Statistics show though that most times firefighters are injured as a group, more often then not. I believe the physical strength is important in this instance, but hold mental acuity, and stress endurance to equal importance in this type of situation. The abilty to think clearly under these stressful conditions will be of more help then any other quality in this type situation. The example I will use is something I experienced while in the Fire Academy. I was partnered with a strong man for this exercise. It was a search and rescue exercise. Prior to this evolution, it was common knowledge that the individual I was partnered with was just in this for a "paycheck" (i.e. he had no heart). For the record, I was having a difficult time on one portion of our physical standard evolution (using a maul -- sledgehammer -- to drive a tire with rim across the room). We were both placed in a pitch black narrow winding hallway with multiple doors. The man went first. He became frustrated almost instantanously. I then offered to go first. By using my head, I got us to the door in record time (the instructors on the other side did not let me out the first time because they thought I cheated). We beat all the other teams in this evolution. It was brains that won in this instance. In closing I believe you have fallen victim to an all too old argument, an argument that has no place in the new milleniuem. Diversity has brought about positive changes for both men and women within the fire service. We have learned that brass fittings and cotton hose can be replaced by aluminum alloy fittings and lightweight hoseline, allowing the firefighter to use his/her strength to do other things like: put out fires or rescue people. Technological advances, due to demand, will continue to make the fire service more "people" friendly. This will ensure the health and safety of ALL members of the fire service. So I beckon you, instead of investing your energies in discouraging women to enter this field, maybe you can appeal to the fire service to make your husband's job safer through continued training and safety equipment that will make his safe arrival home a reality. A Woman Firefighter |