Recruitment at Airservices – Aviation Rescue Firefighter

Hi, I’m Paul, leading firefighter at Airservices Aviation Rescue Firefighting Service at Sydney Airport. I’ve been a firefighter here in Sydney for about five years now. I first heard about their services when I was in the Army, looking to change careers. A friend of mine told me about the firefighting service they have here at the airport. I looked into it, and applied to become an aviation firefighter pretty much the next day.

I went on an 8 week training course in Brisbane at the time, which has now moved down to Melbourne, and it’s an 11 week course. I like Sydney, because it’s always busy. Every day is different. Always different turn outs, and different sort of training.

Yeah, in the event that there is an aircraft emergency, we’re responsible to make a turning point in the airport in two minutes, with no more than three minutes.

The reason that we’re positioned on the airport and so close to the runways, is because in the event of an aircraft emergency, we need to be on scene almost straight away. There is a real emphasis on being a rapid response.

While most of the aviation incidents we attend are relatively minor, but they have a potential to be a major hazard, and we’re here as a precaution, and quite often the pilots will have us on standby, just in case something does go wrong.

One of the particular things I like about being in the aviation rescue firefighting, is the fact that we have to stay fit. You have to have a good level of fitness to join the job in the first place. I’ve always enjoyed working in a team environment, and here is probably the best team environment I’ve worked in. Everyone is your best friend, as well as your colleague. Quite often, you’ll catch up the guys down shift outside of work as well. It’s just a really good environment to work in.

Behind me is the latest bit of equipment that we’ve got in the AAF. It’s the Mark 8, ultra large fire vehicle. It has two monitors. It holds about 9,000 liters of water. It’s six wheel, all-terrain, and it takes all our equipment with us to the job. It’s got numerous hand lines, breathing apparatus, all the equipment that you’d need in the event of a plane crash.

This is the main control for our main roof monitor, and this is the controls for our bumper monitor and forward looking infrared. This is our control unit for our lights and sirens, and these are our controls for our radios. We’ve got the UHF radio that we operate on, and the VHF radio that is our communications with tower.

This is our fire control center, where we’re able to watch every takeoff and landing on the airport. Here, we also got the ability to control the alert systems for the stations. From here we can respond trucks to various incidents. Attention, attention, 1029, turnout to a first aid. Terminal one, bay 10, to a possible heart attack. Attention, attention, 1029, turnout to terminal one, bay 10, for a possible heart attack.

Yeah, I definitely recommend this job for anyone who’s looking for an exciting and interesting career. Every day is different. It’s a great physical job.

I thoroughly enjoyed working here for the past five years, and I’ll be working here for many more. For anyone who’s interested in a challenging and rewarding job, I’d definitely recommend applying to Airservices

 

Brent C

After becoming a Firefighter, I developed a massive interest in the Fire Services Recruitment and Selection Processes. I've been in the fire service working since 2007 to learn everything about how Fire Services Recruitment works. I've tested and refined proven methods to help people get the edge over the competition. Today, over 300 of my former students are living their Firefighter dream.

FREE TRAINING: Become a Firefighter Without Wasting Years of Your Life!

0 Shares
Tweet
Share
Share
Pin