Aspergers and Firefighting

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Howdy. Over the past few days I've been considering becoming a firefighter. I love to help people out and I'm sure firefighting would be more exciting than sitting in an office cubical. Not to mention I feel very comfortable around fire (I'm a bit of a pyromaniac and once burned down part of my back yard with a magnifying glass)

However, I have Aspergers and I'm wondering how wise of a choice it would be for firefighting. Would it have benefits or drawbacks? Should I tell them I have Aspergers?

Do not volunteer any information that they do not ask you for.

Why dont you volunteer and see how it goes? And I agree with PM: do ot provide any information that is not required from you.

I'm wondering what kind of effects Aspergers would have on Firefighting so I can prepare ahead of time how to deal with them.

anxiety?

Lack of communication with teammates?

General emotional maturity.

moral dilemmas.

You may be good at it! Since it is something you may enjoy that might overcome the anxiety.
If you focus well on the things you love to do your hyperfocus may be an advantage.
Go for it!

John Elder Robison wrote in his book about an experience in which he saved a man's life in a car wreck. The scene was very bad, I think it was either a decapitation of the passenger or just very bloody. He said he didn't even notice it, he just knew what to do and did it. The police officer responding threw up seeing the wreck. His focus allowed him to see past the emotional and do what needed to be done. Of course, you also have to be aware of your surroundings.

Obviously if your not afraid to go into burning buildings it helps, here's some other things to consider.

You have to be flexible. You will be expected to drop what your doing on a moment's notice when the buzzer goes off. You will have no idea when the buzzer will go off. Some days you might run calls almost non-stop, others you might not get a call all day. You will not have routine.

You will have to communicate and deal with frightened children and adults.

You will be seeing people on the worst days of their lives.

It's very fast paced job.

There will be ball busting but my uncle was a fire fighter and he said they do genuinely appreciate those who are solid workers. The person behind you is the one who will save your life if you go down, and I think ultimately, they will appreciate that you can do that, even if your not a social butterfly.

I would not say anything about your condition.

I would seek out a volunteer fire company and apply. Your def needed.

I'm moving forward with becoming a Firefighter

The one thing that I would worry about is the noise....

The firebells, sirens, crying families, more sirens, the screetching of metal from the jaws of life and fire itself is really loud. Then trying to maintain social skills with your teammates while dealing with the noise and staying on task.

I did a tiny bit of Firefighting training in the Navy. It was a total rush. It ranks up there as one of the coolest experiences in my life. I definately recomend it.

Good Luck.

It all depends on what your AS symptoms are. If you can detach yourself from situations, and don't' have sensory issues, you should be a really good firefighter.

I work in the medical field, ICU/Emergency medicine.

Attwood had a great bit in his Big Book that described me well. Essentially, I can lose it over stupid trivial matters and be rock steady calm in extreme situations.

I have done a little firefighting and have Asperger's. I was a volunteer for 6 years and loved every bit of it. From the essentials of firefighting course to first responder training, it was all very rewarding. They called me "Hush" because I would hardly ever talk. I usually was part of the water supply crew and never went into a burning structure on the scene (practice was another story) although have done a number of grass/woods fires and that was pretty cool.......or hot I should say! Unfortunately I have relocated to Virginia and now to scared at the moment to get on a department here. Even being 500 miles from my old department I still listen to their calls with the Android app: Scanner Radio lol. Even the non-exciting fundraisers were pretty enjoyable.

When I lived in Philly for a year I tried to get on with the PFD but when I checked it was February and they weren't hiring until the fall of that year. I ended up moving before the fall came but still don't even know if I even had a chance with them

As long as you can carry at least 200 lbs on your back...

Most women find firemen to be sexy, so that's a perk!

Most departments will look very unfavorably on someone who is there for any other reason than saving people's lives.

I mean, we all know there are certain perks that come with the job (and certain grave dangers and annoyances) but just make sure that you are there to save lives, not get chicks.

If you have no problems with anxiety then just go for it.

For me that would be impossible, because I would possibly get some anxiety attack or I could ignore orders and risking myself sort of things

I am educated to be a intemediate level paramedic during my civil service time, but it showed to me that I wasn't always capable to cope with the stress and anxiety, which was a bad thing.

Even if I like to help people I had at least twice some kind of anxiety attack during some operation. And that is a really bad thing if you are supposed to help but just can't.
But not all aspies have that kind of problems, I guess.

If you have it, I would advice you to think twice.

If you go for it, don't tell that you are aspie because that would disqualify you immediately I think.
If you have to sign something that is like to give a guarantee that you don't have any disorder or so, then you probably have to tell it.

Well and fire fighting is more a technical thing so maybe easier. I don't know