Posted on 04/24/2012 10:01:45 PM PDT by grundle
While reporting this week's cover story "Hosed," the Voice obtained two FDNY Entrance Exams (identified as "7029" and "2043"). We took all the questions ourselves, and were kind of amazed at how idiotic some of them were.
Answering them, we had to wonder: why shouldn't minorities be expected to do as well on these questions as white people? But equally troubling was this thought: is answering these questions correctly really going to make someone a good firefighter?
Here are what we considered the 10 most painfully obvious questions. Take them yourself and let us know what you think.
10. A group of firefighters and their officer respond to a fifth floor apartment in a seven-story building. When they arrive at the apartment, they are told that the contents of a wastepaper basket was on fire, and the fire was extinguished prior to their arrival. The officer instructs the firefighters to ventilate, or remove, the smoke from the apartment by first using a method that will not cause damage to property. Which one of the following would be the most appropriate method for the firefighters to use to remove the smoke?
A) Breaking out all the windows with a crowbar. B) Pulling down the ceiling with a six-foot hook. C) Cutting through the floors with an eight-pound axe. D) Manually opening all the windows and removing the screen.
9. Firefighters are required to operate on the subway tracks during emergencies in the subway stations. Which one of the following would present the greatest threat to the safety of a firefighter working on the subway tracks?
A) A subway platform crowded with people. B) Rubbish burning in a small garbage can located on a subway platform. C) A subway car entering a station. D) A maintenance crew working on the track.
8. Firefighters conduct building inspections to locate potential life-threatening conditions in the even there is a fire. Which one of the following would the most-serious threat to life in the event of a fire?
A) An unlocked front door in a building. B) A locked basement door in a building. C) A car in the driveway of a building. D) A building with a missing fire escape.
7. A fire department instructor is explaining the hazards of operating on a frozen lake to a newly-assigned firefighter. Which of the following is an action that a firefighter should not take in this situation?
A) Put on a personal flotation device. B) Bring heavy equipment onto the lake. C) Prohibit civilians from going out onto the lake. D) Engage firefighter safety line prior to operating on ice.
6. After firefighters are sure that a fire has been extinguished, and that there is no hazard in the building, they begin a salvage operation. Salvage involves moving and covering furniture and other properties, covering broken windows and holes in the building with plastic, and redirecting and cleaning up water to minimize damage. After extinguishing a fire in a high-rise apartment building, firefighters begin salvage operations. Which of the following pieces of property is in the most danger of being damaged?
A) A leather couch that has been burned on one side. B) A large screen television with a broken screen. C) An antique painting hanging under a leaking ceiling. D) A pillow laying [sic] on the floor in a puddle of water.
5. Firefighters have responded to an apartment for an emergency water leak and are now standing in front of the door to the apartment. Which one of the following actions should the firefighters take first to gain entry into the apartment?
A) Knock loudly on the door and then try the doorknob. B) Cut a hole in the door with a portable saw. C) Strike one of the door hinges with the back of an axe. D) Locate the fire escape and climb into the apartment through a window.
4. A fire department instructor is explaining to a newly-assigned firefighter the hazards of electrical wires that have fallen in the street. Which one of the following is an action that a firefighter should NOT take?
A) Keep people away from the fallen wires. B) Use caution when working near energized wires. C) Handle highly-energized wires while standing in a puddle of water. D) Notify the utility company and tell them to respond to the emergency.
3. Firefighters must stop the flow of traffic in the safest possible manner when operating at the scene of fires or other emergencies located on highways. Firefighters have been assigned to stop traffic at night while operating at the scene of a car fire located on a highway. Which one of the firefighters is the most likely to attract attention of motorists in the safest manner?
A) Firefighter Reilly, who is waving her hands back and forth. B) Firefighter Chang, who is jumping up and down. C) Firefighter Ali, who is yelling as loud as she can. D) Firefighter Diaz, who is waving his flashlight in a back and forth motion.
2. Firefighters are sometimes expected to administer aid to victims who are bleeding. To control bleeding, firefighters must perform the following actions in the order given.
i. Apply direct pressure to the wound by placing a sterile dressing against the wound and applying firm pressure. ii. If #1 is unsuccessful, elevate the bleeding part of the body above the level of the victim's heart. iii. If #1 and #2 are unsuccessful, find the nearest artery by the wound and press the artery against the underlying bone. iv. If #1, #2, and #3 are unsuccessful, use a tourniquet, which should be placed between the heart and the wound. Note: Tourniquets should only be used for severe, life threatening bleeding that cannot be controlled by other means.
Firefighter Jacobs has just come upon a young woman who has just started bleeding profusely from the lower part of her right arm. Which one of the following actions should Firefighter Jacobs take first to control the woman's bleeding?
A) Hold the woman's right arm above her head. B) Apply a tourniquet just below the woman's right elbow. C) Press the artery that is closest to the wound against a bone. D) Use a sterile dressing to apply direct pressure to the wound.
1. While operating at the scene of a car fire on a street, a firefighter was told to inform the officer of any dangerous conditions at the scene. Which one of the following conditions would be considered most dangerous to the firefighter operating at the scene of the car fire?
A) The car is leaking gasoline. B) The car has four flat tires. C) Vehicle traffic has come to a complete stop at the scene. D) The car's windshield is broken.
Answers: 10-D, 9-C, 8-D, 7-B, 6-C, 5-A, 4-C, 3-D, 2-D, 1-A
P.S. The current trend is to move right to applying a tourniquet if direct pressure fails to control bleeding, skipping elevation and pressure points and ice. Makes the bleeding-control testing station simpler.
Many of the trauma treatment standards come from things the military is learning on the battlefield.
A former coworker, black female, was arguing for affirmative action. I asked her “You’re having brain surgery. Do you want the best black brain surgeon or the best brain surgeon?”
She said that was a racist question.
These kind of questions remind me of the exam I had to take to get into a highly trained army unit, thus getting out of being drafted as a grunt as Vietnamese gun fodder.
“If boy A goes down on a seesaw, what direction does boy B go?”
“The following is a picture of A) a screwdriver, B) a wrench, C) pliers, D) a hammer”
Do playgrounds even have seesaws anymore?
They lose people almost every year fighting major fires, most other Fire Departments in the country are paramedics with fire extinguishers.
On 9/11, hundreds died staying in buildings way past the acceptable time limit for that type of structure.
Gravity is the enemy in a structure fire, the rank and file knew it, and so did their command, a lot of whom died with the men they couldn't order to evacuate for obvious reasons.
The communist in chief and his henchmen at DOJ are lawyers with political motives, the opposite end of the humanity spectrum from FF's.
Apply quik-clot, dress with a battle dressing, and transport. :-)
I can.
The Voice is leftist, but intellectually honest, Nat Hentoff leading the effort by example.
Wow, that's remarkably insensitive and insulting to firefighters nationwide.
My husband’s dept trains it’s officers with and in NYC. They lost people they knew on 9/11, and I agree with much of what you say but hubby does more then use an extinguisher and provide EMS.
Sorry, not trying to be insulting.
As Casey Stengel often said, “You can look it up.”
Sure the training is the same all over, and I am not disparaging the bravery or preparedness of any other department, but NYC is the equivalent of Afghanistan when it comes to chances of dying on the job compared to other US Cities.
9. Firefighters are required to operate on the subway tracks during emergencies in the subway stations. Which one of the following would present the greatest threat to the safety of a firefighter working on the subway tracks?
D) A maintenance crew working on the track.
Well, it’s painfully obvious when they repeat the actions to be taken, in the correct order, in the question itself!
You are holding a bag of Skittles in one hand, an Iced Tea in another hand, a Cell Phone (while talking to your Girlfriend) in another hand and pulling your Hoodie over your head with another hand.
Which hand do you use to punch the White Latino in the nose?
Seems the DoJ is asserting that the people most likely to get even these questions wrong are minorities.
So what does that make Holder?
A) Bigoted.
B) Racist.
C) A fool.
D) Insane.
(Yes, it’s a trick question)
“There is no Firefighter Tommy the Transsexual’ throwing glitter bombs.”
No, he’s just trying to gain attention with a double post :)
The direct hint of “direct pressure” is in bold below. It was part of he question.
2. Firefighters are sometimes expected to administer aid to victims who are bleeding. To control bleeding, firefighters must perform the following actions in the order given.
i. Apply direct pressure to the wound by placing a sterile dressing against the wound and applying firm pressure. ii. If #1 is unsuccessful, elevate the bleeding part of the body above the level of the victim's heart. iii. If #1 and #2 are unsuccessful, find the nearest artery by the wound and press the artery against the underlying bone. iv. If #1, #2, and #3 are unsuccessful, use a tourniquet, which should be placed between the heart and the wound. Note: Tourniquets should only be used for severe, life threatening bleeding that cannot be controlled by other means.
Firefighter Jacobs has just come upon a young woman who has just started bleeding profusely from the lower part of her right arm. Which one of the following actions should Firefighter Jacobs take first to control the woman's bleeding?
A) Hold the woman's right arm above her head. B) Apply a tourniquet just below the woman's right elbow. C) Press the artery that is closest to the wound against a bone. D) Use a sterile dressing to apply direct pressure to the wound.
9. Firefighters are required to operate on the subway tracks during emergencies in the subway stations. Which one of the following would present the greatest threat to the safety of a firefighter working on the subway tracks?
E. Peeing on the third rail
“No, he’s just trying to gain attention with a double post :)”
The double post was due to clicking enter and there was a hang...the real attention is the loser who picked up my mistake and tries to gain attention for himself by sounding funny but reads like Michelle obama’s ass on steroids. ;)
No wonder the blacks are crying racism. The racists that wrote this test gave the right answer to the white Hispanic.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.