Firefighter (Intermediate Life Support)

This position is located within the Safety Emergency Management Program Service (SEMPS) at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Pineville, LA. The Firefighter (intermediate Life Support) provides fire prevention and protection/suppression services including emergency medical care (basic life support) for the LA VA Health Care System which is comprised of 30 Buildings spanning 147 acres of land, one Veterans center, and five remote community-based outpatient clinics.

IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR THIS POSITION AT THE GS-8 LEVEL YOU MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-7) in the Federal Service that has equipped them with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of a Firefighter (Intermediate Life Support) GS-8. Specialized experience includes: (1) providing emergency medical care and advanced life support; (2) controlling or extinguishing fires as a member of an organized military, industrial, volunteer, or governmental fire department or brigade; (3) rescue operations; (4) detection, reduction, or elimination of potential fire hazards; (5) operation of fire communications equipment; (6) controlling hazardous materials incidents and (7) developing, implementing, or providing training in fire protection and prevention. NOTE: Your experience must be fully documented in your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. ~AND~ AGE REQUIREMENT (Maximum Entry Age): For initial appointments, applicant cannot have reached their 37th birthday by the day of appointment. Applicants who have passed the designated entry age limit noted, but who have previously served 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 firefighter service by the time the Federal firefighter reaches the age of 57. Prior service in covered positions and creditable towards retirement may be subtracted from the applicant's age to determine if the Federal firefighter meets the maximum entry age. ~AND~ DRIVER'S LICENSE REQUIREMENT: This position requires a current, valid state driver's license. Please indicate either Yes or No to the following question and do not upload a copy of your license at this time. If an interview is requested, you may be required to provide a copy of your current, valid, and unrestricted state driver's license. ~AND~ 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. ~AND~ SELECTIVE PLACEMENT FACTORS: In addition to the meeting the above requirements, you must also meet the following Selective Placement Factors (SPF) for this position. SPFs are skills, knowledge, ability, or other worker characteristic basic to - and essential for - satisfactory performance of the job). SPFs are a prerequisite to appointment and represent minimum requirements for a position. Applicants who do not meet them are ineligible for further consideration. The Selective Placement Factors for this position are (You must submit copies of your current and valid certifications with your application to receive credit): Certification as a Firefighter II. Must be IFSAC, PRO Board, or State Certification. Certification as an Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic (EMT-P) National Registry or Louisiana State certification. Hazardous Materials Operations certification. Must be IFSAC or PRO Board certified. Fire Apparatus Driver/Operator Certification. Must be IFSAC, PRO Board, or State Certification. You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: Communication Emergency Care Fire Management Hazardous Materials IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Physical Requirements: The Firefighter/EMT is subject to hazardous duty, potentially imminent danger situations, and must maintain a good physical condition. The work requires regular and recurring above average physical exertions due to inspections, surveys, fire suppression activities and emergency services. The employee must be able to crawl, walk, run climb stairs, climb ladders, manipulate specialized fire related equipment, work at heights of 40+ feet, carry heavy loads and wear specialized fire and chemically protective personal protective equipment. Incumbent must be able to maintain fitness standards in accordance with the Firefighter physicals that are conducted annually. The employee must pass a fitness for duty physical. This physical will include examinations for both firefighter and hazardous materials response. The medical examination will include a history relating to the handling and exposure to hazardous materials and the incumbent's ability to wear any required personal protective equipment including respirators, under conditions including temperature extremes that may be expected at the work site. Employee 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. Employee must wear this equipment when responding to and during all emergency calls (excluding ambulance) regardless of temperature. Employee 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. The requirements of the job are such that the employee must maintain alertness, self-control, and emotional stability when working under conditions of stress, confusion, panic and where physical injury or death are present. Incumbent is subject to overtime call back and mandatory overtime to ensure mandatory compliance with minimum crew manning requirements. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.