National Certification: Part 1
As you begin and continue your training as a firefighter in NYS one of the aspects that needs considerable attention is whether or not to take national certification exams. There are several reasons for this, the first being that you simply never know if an opportunity (such as employment or family) will take you out of state and having national certification can help you continue your career as a firefighter immediately without having to repeat any training. A second reason would be to verify to yourself, your volunteer department and/or career fire service employer that your skills are legitimate.
Let’s take a look at some of the nuts and bolts of the national certification firefighter program in NYS. Some basic definitions first. Accreditation (or to be accredited) means to have an outside, third-party agency look at the courses offered and determine whether or not a specific course(s) meet a certain level or criteria. In NYS The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA – NFPA.org) sets the standards that are used by these third-party agencies to accredit the firefighter courses that are offered by the Office of Fire Prevention and Control (OFPC). Further, in NYS only specific courses are accredited and not the agency (OFPC) itself and only for the purposes of national certification and not awarding college credit.
The third party that runs that check system for firematic courses in NYS is call “The Pro Board” (www.theproboard.org). The Pro Board will compare the course syllabus with the NFPA standards to determine whether or not the two documents are consistent. If so, then the agency, in this case OFPC can offer a national certification test that theoretically can be used by other states to recognize your training as being sufficient. Not every firematic course offered by OFPC has a national certification test. In fact, there are only fifteen courses in NYS where a national certification test can be administered. They are as follows and can also be viewed here (https://www.dhses.ny.gov/national-certifications):
NFPA 1001
Firefighter I* (Download Firefighter I Practical Skills Test)
Firefighter II* (Download Firefighter II Practical Skills Test)
NFPA 1003
Airport Firefighter
NFPA 1021
Fire Officer I (Download Fire Officer I Practical Skills Test)
Fire Officer II (Download Fire Officer II Practical Skills Test)
Fire Officer III (Download Fire Officer III Practical Skills Test)
NFPA 1031
Fire Inspector I
NFPA 1033
Fire Investigator
NFPA 1035
Fire and Life Safety Educator I
NFPA 1041
Fire and Emergency Service Instructor I
Fire and Emergency Service Instructor II
Live Fire Instructor I (Download Live Fire Instructor I Practical Skills Test)
Live Fire Instructor-In-Charge (Download Live Fire Instructor-In-Charge Practical Skills Test)
NFPA 472
Hazardous Materials Operations (Download HazMat Ops Practical Skills Test)
Hazardous Materials Technician
There are several subtleties that need to be understood and passed along regarding national certification tests.
1) National certification exams require a separate application and a separate training authorization Letter (TAL)
2) Not ALL states accept national certification so firefighters may have to do some research as to how certain states go about accepting these tests in lieu of re-training. As an example, Florida does not accept any and Pennsylvania still requires a review of your coursework before accepting your training.
3) Some are simply a paper test with the vast majority of the questions being multiple choice although some (like Fire Officer 1) have short answer questions that provide a specific scenario and ask to describe the proper procedure or legality. Still other national certification tests as can be seen in this article have a practical skills part as well as a paper test.
4) Lately, national certification exams are being given at the conclusion of one of the 15 courses but the instructor must arrange when they register the course for the national certification test to be administered at the conclusion. This is because there is a different registration process and arrangements such as having enough proctors, who by law cannot be the course instructor(s). If the instructor does not make this arrangement, then the firefighter will have to arrange to take a national certification test separately.
5) Even if you take/pass some national certification tests will not be officially recognized until you take the next level course. For example, Fire Officer 1 won’t be recognized on your transcript until you have passed the Firefighter 2 course. In other words, you will have a passing grade but won’t be issued the certificate until you take and pass Firefighter 2.
6) A passing grade on the written exams is 70. Usually, you get two opportunities to pass the paper and/or practical test. As an example, if a firefighter passes the practical but not the written they will be given a second opportunity to pass the written without having to repeat the practical. However, if that firefighter does not pass the written a second time, they will have to repeat both the written and practical again.
If you decide to take a national certification exam the worst thing you can do is take it lightly. Don’t put off studying and/or preparing or you will be disappointed at the results. Just like any other training take it seriously and at the end of the day you’ll be proud of your accomplishment.
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