STEM fields for career
- Science
- Technology
- Engineering
- Mathematics
Tell us what you do in your profession.
As a career firefighter, for the past 27 years, my job consists of many tasks: We live at the station together for 24 hours so daily we train and do station maintenance and house work. We also respond to fires of course (different types) house fire, apartment fire, car fire, train fire, semi fire, motor home fire, boat fires, wildland fires, etc..
The majority of calls are medical emergencies: including CPR, difficulty breathing, allergic reactions, falls, seizures, diabetic emergencies, motor vehicle collisions and train accidents too.
We also have Technical Operation rescues: involving special rescues (people need rescue with a rope and hauling system if they have gone over an edge of a cliff or stuck in a tree or radio tower, confined space if stuck in a concrete vault, trench rescue if in situation construction site with dirt caving in on someone, marine rescue, swim rescue emergencies and many more.
How did you end up in your career?
My dad said I would always look out the window when I was little to watch the fire engines roll by. My dad was a police officer and wanted me to be a California Highway Patrol officer but I had a different draw. In my teen years I was a lifeguard and swim instructor for the city where I lived. I found out about that from my best friend about lifeguarding and started that at 16 years old. We had some medical emergencies and traumas at the pool and we had to call 911. I really liked what I saw when the Fire Department showed up and my interest grew more. When I graduated High School I worked multiple jobs while going night school. I started taking Fire science classes along with childhood educational classes at a local community college after my day job and moved from California to Washington before I could finish all the required courses. I knew that I wanted to be a firefighter when I started taking those classes. I came across some volunteer firefighter signs in my new home of Washington state and signed up… I had turned 21 years old a couple months before and had some big changes. When I was accepted to the fire academy for my volunteer FD one of the instructors was a female and it was the FIRST time I met a female firefighter. Then I was assigned to my station and met my lieutenants and one was a female, it was cool to see someone that was like me doing that job. I loved volunteering and found out I could test and get hired on as a career firefighter and set my goal…. I took every test I qualified for over that next year (16 of them), I learned as I went on how to test and how to get stronger and was offered a career position across the state.
What advice would you give to a girl going in to 8th grade who loves STEM?
Same as I told my son. Do your best in school, don’t hurry to grow up ‘enjoy being a kid’ and don’t get distracted and never underestimate what you can do. Why? Because you have this short time to be a kid, and only a few years in school and then you’ll be an adult the rest of your life. Enjoy being a kid and try different sports, and hobbies you’ll be surprised what you can do and what you will like. You can get sponsorship etc and there are women groups that want to see you succeed and will help you like the ‘Whirly girls’ which is a helicopter pilot group. Take math and science classes, take trade classes, building construction, take advantage of online tutors… there are so many available today that I did not have, it would have helped me understand algebra better, I really liked geometry. You will succeed, ask for help if you need it, be persistent if you need help. Find a mentor or someone that can help you find a mentor. If you want to pursue a firefighter career sports is a good thing because it shows discipline, team work and listening skills which is great for a firefighter.
What would you do differently?
Have more confidence in myself, I was a bit shy and soft spoken and would look for a woman firefighter to mentor me. I would not hesitate to ask questions and learn as much as I can.
Other STEM positions she has had
I worked a handful of months for a mechanic and did some apprentice work and learned about cars. Put a clutch in a car and also learned how to put an engine in my car, fix my brakes and fix the timing on my car.
What does _________ Job ____ mean?
I am the senior firefighter. Which means all other firefighters in my rank have less seniority on the department than I do. It also allows me to mentor and evaluate newer firefighters since I have been doing this longer than them. Also, when our primary driver is gone I drive the fire engine.
What kinds of things do you do each day?
We work a 24 hour shift together, so we live at the station. We show up earlier than our start of shift so we can get the ‘pass off info’. Which means the shift we are relieving will tell is any fires or major medical calls, any equipment they might need to be restocked in the supply room, fuel needed if running calls all night, any problems with the rig or equipment and any problems during responses. We check out our rigs and equipment to make sure they run and are ready to go. We will have training on our different disciplines and station maintenance including household chores in between emergency calls. Since we are at the station for 24 hours we each have a room to sleep in for the night, most nights we are up multiple times for emergencies and don’t sleep.
Education (colleges & Degrees; additional certifications):
I have taken some fire science college classes. Completed my Fire Officer Development Academy, completed my Engine Driver Operator class, Instructor 1 IFSAC cert, Rescue Systems classes, Emergency Medical Technician, Rope Rescue, Trench Rescue, Emergency Vehicle Instructor Cert, Live Fire Cert, and multiple other IFSAC and Fire service classes. Don’t stop learning, keep training.
Notable accomplishments
I am one of many career women firefighters that volunteer for a leadership week long live in camp for 16-19 year old girls. Camp Blaze happens every other year and it is amazing. I also have volunteered for two day girls fire camps in Olympia/Lacey area as well as volunteering with LA City FD camps. What makes these camps amazing? These young girls/ladies get to do things that every day people do not. They get to use the ‘Jaws of Life’ , climb ladders, fight fire, force open doors, learn CPR/first aid and a few more things we do on the job. Us women that volunteer foe these camps love mentoring other firefighters and those wanting this profession.
Another Week long camp organization that my family and I volunteer for is the Burned Children Recovery Foundation, Camp Phoenix. It is a one camp of others in the country for children up to the age of 18 years old that have been traumatically burned. These camps are important for these burn survivors as they get to be kids no bullies, the older kids mentor the younger kids and they are one big family. The cool thing is that we get to see these kids grow up into adults abs have families of their own & see them succeed. Last but not least is I have been married over 20 yrs and my favorite role is mom to my 16 year old.
Anything else you would like to share?
Step out of your comfort zone and try some new sport or class, don’t underestimate yourself, you got this and you are not alone. I really like what I do and it makes work ‘fun’. I like that every shift is different and every call is different and we are called to figure out how to ‘fix’ the problem or emergency.
