Expert: Mike Smith Date: 7/14/2008 Subject: eye sight
Question QUESTION: when i am 18 i would like to join the fire services but my eye sight is not perfect. would wearing contact lens's be allowed and counted as perfect eye sight
ANSWER: Joshua Dude,
The simple answer is no. There are some activities and the fire service that do not allow you to wear contact lenses, for instance hazardous materials teams. Under the law if you're not allowed to wear contact lenses while working in hazardous materials field. But the good news to that is that they make a holders for your glasses inside of your air pack mask. It's a little bit of a pain but it certainly wouldn't exclude you from the fire service.
Many the people I know where glasses and once they get used to wearing an air pact with the glasses inside they do very well.
I admire your ambition to work in a fire service being under 18 years old. Study, Study, Study, and get the best grades you can, getting a professional career position in the fire service is very competitive. Try to get your EMT, CPR, basic first aid, and even the CERT program would do you well at your age.
Welcome to the fire science profession.
Good luck and let me know how it turns out,
Mike
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: thank you alot for your help. i live right next to a fire station so i hope that i get an opportunity to start off there. i know that you have to be very fit to do this job but is there any way you can test that you are fit enough??
and if you don't mind me asking how did you first start off in the service??
Answer Joshua,
Walk next door and ask them if you can take a pack test. Or if you live in a metropolitan area, ask them if you can take a CPAT test.
Be ready though, many of the guys that take these tests puke. But many of them make it even though they get sick.
If it's a volunteer department they may have no physical requirements and all. But from Mike to Josh, even if they have no physical requirements get in shape anyway. Your own safety and possibly your life could depend on it.
As far as me getting started in public safety, I started out as a police officer, then they required medical training, then they went to PSO concept. That required police fire and medical training.
Being cross trained in all three saves your agency a lot of money.
After they got into it over a 10 year period, they split the divisions because money became available for all three disciplines.
And yes, I've done the tests I told you about the CPAT and a pack test. I puked on the CPAT, and thought I was gonna die during the pack test. But I believed getting fit for the job has saved my life.
Good luck.
Mike
