[quote=CA renter][quote=briansd1]CA renter, please give me a break. Police and firefighter don’t even have college degrees. Many of them barely made it out of high-school.
Why not require minimum 4-year college degrees from accredited universities?[/quote]
I’ve never heard of a police officer or firefighter who “barely made it out of high school.” They have to take an exhaustive battery of tests (including I.Q. and extensive psychological tests) in order to be accepted.
Almost all new firefighters are required to have their paramedic certification. Here are the requirements:
· 1090 hours total
· ~450 hours didactic &
skills lab
· ~160 hours hospital
clinical training
· ~480 hours field
internship to include 40
ALS patient contacts
Many police officers and firefighters have college degrees. Still, most of the skills required of these jobs are not learned in a four-year university. They are learned in fire or police academies, and in the on-going training received by public safety personnel, in addition to what absolutely needs to be learned “on the job.”
Requiring a four-year college degree would not improve the level of candidate material, IMHO. What you need in public safety are hands-on, quick-thinking, level-headed individuals with a tough constitution and ability to deal with the ugliest things humans will ever have to encounter. Also, people with the highest degree of integrity are what’s needed in these positions. That is not something they teach in college.[/quote]
To me police and firefighters are skilled or semi-skilled labor, much like an electrician or many of the other skilled trades.
I can personally attest that there are other fields that have substantially more entrance barriers and requirements.
“~450 hours didactic &
skills lab”
…I think I spent that much time on one E&M problem.
And honestly, you may want to refer back to my earlier post on police and firefighter worship.
