CARMEL — Do you have what it takes to be a first responder?
In a brand-new Good Morning Indiana series, we're taking you behind the scenes to show you what goes into the training of new firefighters, police officers and EMTs.
Firefighters wear about 75 pounds of gear when responding to a fire and it’s important that everyone on the truck can perform the job adequately.
That’s why each year they have to go through a course that mirrors job functions in their work performance evaluations.
Tim Griffin, a Carmel firefighter for 18 years, has done the Work Performance Evaluation every year since. He said whether its your first year or your 30th on the job all fire fighters must pass the test.
“They have their physical and then sometime a week or two after the physical, they'll come here and they'll go through this and it just basically is a way for us to make sure we're still physically capable and the job that we need to do,” Griffin said.
The goal is to get it done in 8 minutes, 21 seconds. Griffin finished in 5 minutes, 16 seconds.
If a fire fighter doesn’t get it done in 8:21 at the Carmel Fire Department, they would have to go on light duty, meaning office work. They would also have to meet with a peer fitness training and get in shape to do the job and go through the evaluation again.
Luckily, everyone at the Carmel Fire Department passed the Work Performance Evaluation.
