Trainee Basic Life Support Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Summary
This position is located within the Fire Department under Facilities Engineering Service at the Coatesville VA Medical Center, Coatesville, Pennsylvania. The Firefighter (Basic Life Support/Hazardous Material Technician) participates in all aspects of structural firefighting and rescue operations.
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Duties
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***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION***
The Firefighter (Basic Life Support/Hazardous Material Technician) works to control and extinguish fires, rescue persons endangered by fire, and reduce or eliminate potential fire hazards. These positions also perform work as a pre-hospital medical provider trained at the Emergency Medical Technician (Basic) level to provide efficient and immediate medical care to injured or ill patients using basic life support measures such as determining mechanism of injury or nature of illness, airway management, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and treatment of simple or multiple system trauma as dictated by state protocol and performed under medical control. Additional duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Fire Suppression
  
  • Serves as a team member effectively controlling and extinguishing fires, operates various nozzles and hose lines, makes connections to and operates fire hydrants, performs forcible entries, ventilates structures, carries, raises and lowers ground ladders, performs or assists in rescue operations, uses a variety of hand tools, hydraulic tools and portable fire extinguishers, and performs salvage and overhaul
  • Performs specialized rescues, hazardous materials spill response and serves as a driver/operator of pumpers, ambulances and special service vehicles
  • Combats fires in residences, medical and psychological facilities, multiple story office buildings, industrial shops, warehouses, fuel storage areas, public assembly areas, brush and wooded areas
  • Provides stand-by and other protective measures as required for hazardous operations such as confined space entry, helicopter landings and liquid oxygen deliveries including response during hazardous weather conditions
  • Performs duty of rescue from hazardous permit required confined spaces, bodies of water, rescue from hazardous materials spills, below grade rescues as well as rescue from fire
  • Attends periodic classes to keep proficient in operation of fire hose lines and nozzles, use of forcible entry tools, ventilation of structures, use of specialized rescue equipment and other fire and emergency skills needed to maintain proficiency
  • Operates and uses fire extinguishing equipment carried on the apparatus such as foam and dry chemical extinguishing agents
• Basic Life Support
  
  • Provides emergency medical care per Basic Life Support Protocols and emergency medicine techniques to determine, based on the assessment of the patient, the approach or combination of approaches
  • Maintains practical knowledge of the major body systems and diagnostic signs to perform patient examination and to provide prompt and appropriate medical care
  • Understands the legal considerations of emergency care, e.g., actual/implied consent, good Samaritan laws, to limit the government's and the paramedic's exposure to lawsuits, while maintaining the legal standards of care
  • Ensures appropriate patient destination based on assessment and preselects/plans the route to ensure a safe and expedient transport to the proper health care facility
  • Operates emergency and patient transport vehicle characteristics safely under all weather and/or traffic conditions while transporting patients
  • Performs proper operator maintenance to ensure vehicle meets safety and operating requirements
  • Obtains and relays information to and from dispatchers and health care providers
  • Operates specialized medical equipment and provides BLS level care in areas such as controlling bleeding, treat shock, immobilize fractures, etc.
  • Assists Advanced Life Support staff including doctors, nurses, paramedics, etc.
• Hazardous Materials Technician
  
  • Responds to hazardous material/Chemical Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives (CBRNE) incidents surveying the scene to stop / control the release
  • Identifies hazards, collects/interprets data, determines container damage and assists with strategy/tactics development
  • Performs advance control and confinement operations
  • Decontaminates personnel, equipment and supplies which were exposed to hazardous materials/ CBRNE releases

DESIGNATED DRUG-TESTING POSITION: Applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Applicants will not be appointed to the position if a verified positive drug test result is received.
Work Schedule: 56 hour work week that includes 48 hour shifts with up to 96 hours off, with other 24 hour shifts assigned; including weekends and holidays
Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized
Requirements
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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Copies of all certifications are required at the time of application is received.
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Physical Requirements: Incumbent must maintain physical condition to don personal protective equipment consisting of: coat, helmet, boots, gloves, bunker pants and self-contained breathing apparatus, which weighs 75 pounds. Incumbent must wear this equipment when responding to and during all emergency calls (excluding ambulance) regardless of temperature. Incumbent is expected to enter buildings and atmospheres that are unsafe due to fire, oxygen deficiencies, etc. and perform very strenuous types of work carrying heavy equipment and victims.
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Required Documents" below for details.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.
Qualifications
English Language Proficiency: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position.
This position includes a Selective Placement Factor (skill, knowledge, ability or other worker characteristic basic to - and essential for - satisfactory performance of the job). Selective Placement Factors are a prerequisite to appointment and represent minimum requirements for a position. Applicants who do not meet it are ineligible for further consideration.
The Selective Placement Factor for this position is:

• International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC) or ProBoard Firefighter I
• International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC) or ProBoard as a Firefighter II
• National Registry or Pennsylvania State certification as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Basic
• International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC) or ProBoard Hazardous Materials Technician certification
• National or International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC) or ProBoard Driver/Operator Pumper certification
• International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC) or ProBoard certification as a Fire Inspector I
• International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC) or ProBoard Fire Inspector II certification or willing to obtain a Fire Inspector II certification within 2 years of employment

You must submit copies of your certifications listed above with your application to receive further consideration.
AND
Specialized Experience: Possess at least one (1) full year of specialized experience that equipped you with the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the Firefighter (Basic Life Support/Hazardous Materials Technician) position. To be creditable, this experience must have been equivalent to the next lower grade level of (GS-6) in Federal Service. Such duties may include (1) controlling or extinguishing fires as a member of an organized military, industrial, volunteer, or governmental fire department or brigade; (2) rescue operations; (3) detection, reduction, or elimination of potential fire hazards; (4) operation of fire communications equipment; (5) controlling hazardous materials incidents and/or (6) developing, implementing, or providing training in fire protection and prevention. (Your experience must be detailed documented in your resume.)
AND
Maximum Age Requirement: This position requires a maximum entry age for an initial appointment; applicants cannot have reached their 37th birthday by the date of appointment. Applicants who have passed the designated entry age limit, but who have previously served as a federal employee in a covered position, may be eligible to re-enter the fire service provided that they: (1) meet all applicable qualifications for the position and (2) will be able to complete a total of 20 years of covered and creditable Federal fire service by the time the firefighter reaches the age of 57.
AND
Driver's License Requirement: A current and valid state-issued Driver's License is required for this position. NOTE: We cannot accept photographs, therefore; please do not submit a copy of your license with your application package. If an interview is requested, you will be required to provide a copy of your current and valid state-issued Driver's License at that time.
Medical Requirements:
Applicants for positions that have duties of an arduous or hazardous nature must meet the medical standards described below. Since individual positions may not include all such duties, a physical condition or impairment may be disqualifying for employment only if there is a direct relationship between the condition and the nature of the duties of the specific position to be filled.
Employees in positions involving firefighting duties or other duties involving arduous physical exertion may be subject to periodic (e.g., annual) medical examinations following appointment to determine fitness for continued performance of the duties of the position. (See 5 CFR 339.)
Any serious deviation from sound medical condition may be grounds for rejection of an applicant regardless of whether the condition is named below. Remediable defects or curable diseases will not exclude a person from consideration, but proof that such defects have been remedied or the disease cured must be received during the life of the eligible register before persons otherwise qualified may be considered for appointment under civil service rules.
Eyes: Corrected distant vision must be at least 20/30 in one eye and 20/70 in the other eye. Uncorrected distant vision is required only if it is likely that corrective lenses may be lost or broken. If so, uncorrected distant vision must be at least 20/100 binocular. Ability to distinguish basic colors is required. Applicants must be free from acute or chronic eye disease.
Ears: Using an audiometer for measurement, there should be no loss of 30 or more decibels in the unaided worst ear at the 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz levels.
Nose, Mouth, and Throat: Applicants must be free from conditions that interfere with distinct speech, free breathing, or with the use of breathing apparatuses or protective equipment.
Lungs: Applicants must be free from any pulmonary or chest wall disease or condition that results in not being able to perform the duties of the position.
Heart and Blood Vessels: The following conditions may be cause for rejection: organic heart disease, valvular or vascular diseases, coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, recurrent syncope, or history of myocardial infarction.
Abdomen: Acute or chronic disease or inflammation of the abdominal viscera, hernia, or significant enlargement of the liver or spleen that interferes with the performance of the duties of the position will be cause for rejection.
Spine, Pelvic, Sacroiliac and Lumbo-Sacral Joints: Applicants must have free movement of spine and pelvic joints.
Neurological System: Degenerative neurological disease or disorder that results in documented evidence of neurological impairment that renders the applicant unable to perform the duties of the position will be cause for rejection. A history o...