Town of Madison Fire Department
Madison Area Technical
College
Student Intern Firefighter
Program
Purpose:
To
provide Career Firefighter responsibilities and experiences to selected Madison
Area Technical College (MATC) Students.
Selection
of Interns:
The
student will be selected for the Intern program by the Chief of the Town of
Madison Fire Department; utilizing the department’s regular selection
process. The following are the criteria
that will be used to select candidates.
1.
The
candidate must thoroughly complete all application materials by the stated
deadline. Applications must be received
by the Town of Madison Fire Department (or postmarked) on or before the
established deadline. Late applications
will not be considered.
2.
The
candidate must apply to the MATC Fire Science Program by November of the first
year of their internship.
3.
The
candidate must successfully pass an oral interview in front of a panel of not
less than 4 Town of Madison Fire Department personnel. The Chief of the Fire Department will select
this panel.
4.
The
candidate must pass a background investigation. This consists of but is not limited to contacting previous
employers and references as will as a driver license check. The candidate will sign an authorization for
release of information form.
5.
The
intern must be able to meet all physical requirements as specified by the Town
of Madison Fire Department, and may be subject to a physical examination or
have current physical exam results available for inspection.
6.
The
intern must have and EMT Basic license within the first three months of their
internship.
7.
The
intern must take the Compass reading placement test.
Expectations
for Participation:
Once
a student is selected for the Town of Madison Fire Department Intern Program,
the following expectations will be required
1.
The
intern must be a full-time student enrolled in the MATC Fire Service Associate
Degree Program.
2.
A
credit load of at least 12 credits per semester must be maintained.
3.
The
intern will maintain a 3.0 grade point average in the core classes of the Fire
Protection Specialist program, AND a 2.5 overall grade point average.
4.
The
intern will be required to successfully complete the minimum training
requirements as provided for all full time Town of Madison Firefighter / EMT’s.
5.
The
intern will complete station duties, truck inspections, and any and all other
duties assigned by the on-duty fire chief.
6.
The
intern must attend Paramedic class within his or her first year and become
certified as a paramedic within 18 months of his other start date with the Town
of Madison Fire Department.
Failure
to meet the basic expectations will result in the removal of the Intern.
No
increase in pay until the intern passes their National Registry Paramedic exam.
Provisions
to the Intern:
1.
An
assigned permanent bed for use.
2.
Storage
area for personal articles and clothing.
3.
Access
to washer and dryer to launder clothing.
4.
Firefighting
turnout gear. The items are the
property of the Town of Madison Fire Department and must be returned upon
leaving the Student Firefighting inter program.
5.
Parking
space for one private vehicle per intern.
6.
Insurance
coverage for workers compensation and any other applicable coverage’s extended
to members of the Town of Madison Fire Department.
7.
Compensation
in the amount of $200.00 per month for the first year, then with completion of
the paramedic program and upon receiving their National Registry at the
Paramedic level, pay will increase to $300.00 per month.
8.
If
the intern leaves or is dismissed within the first or second year of the program he or
she will reimburse 100% of the cost of the paramedic program and any other
educational cost, third year 25% reimbursement.
9.
The
inters Paramedic program will be paid in full by the department, and a
reimbursement of $1000.00 per semester for the MATC Fire Service Associate
Degree Program this will be paid out at the end of the semester.
10.
One
benefit for interns is the opportunity to earn $17.00 per hour working on off
days in the first aid room at the Dane County Coliseum, or at the Expo Hall.
Intern
Expectations:
1.
The
intern’s appearance is considered a reflection of the level of professionalism
and dedication to the department. The
intern shall pay attention to his or her basic hygiene. Beds are to be made neatly each morning
before 0800.
2.
The
intern is to awake, shower and dress for the day before 0700 daily, including
weekends.
3.
Clothing is to be stored on hangers, in a dresser, or within clothes
bags. Piles of clothing will not be
tolerated. Rooms will randomly be
inspected weekly.
4.
All
duties are to be completed on time.
5.
The
Intern’s actions, ad the actions of their visitors, reflect upon the
department. The student is responsible
for the actions of their visitors.
Visiting hours are limited to 0800 to 2200 hours. Exceptions are granted only by the Chief of
the Department, or the on Duty Chief.
6.
The
intern is responsible for their long distance phone call expenses. It is required that a phone credit card of
some type be used to avoid charging calls to the Town of Madison Fire Department. Calls that are billed to the department are
not allowed and will not be tolerated.
The use of the business telephone will be permitted. However, phone use must be regulated so that
at least one business line will be available for the department business at all
times.
7.
AT
NO TIME are interns to store or have alcohol, firearms, ammunition, or anything
else deemed dangerous by the Fire Chief in the station. Immediate dismissal from the intern program
is at the discretion of the Fire Chief.
8.
The
intern will decline any offers of wild land firefighting while in the intern
program. This is due to staffing
problems and insurance reasons.
9.
Employment
outside of the intern program is not desirable, but is permitted as long as the
outside job can be scheduled around intern responsibilities and does not
interfere with interns’ hours.
10.
If an intern works a third shift job, he or she is allowed to go to sleep at 1800
hours.
11.
All
other interns will be courteous to an intern that is sleeping.
12.
If
the intern is to be away from the area (not available for calls) for more than
24 hours, the intern is to notify the Chief on duty as to the length of time
they will by gone, and information as to how they can be contacted.
13.
Semester
grades are to be provided to the Town of Madison as soon as they are available
to the intern. The grades are used to
determine GPA performance and will go into the personnel file of the
intern. If the have not been provided t
the Town of Madison Fire Department by the start of the next semester, the
intern will be removed from the intern program.
14.
Interns will be given 216 hours of vacation time.
No intern will be allowed off duty unless sick or vacation time is
used. Vacation request should be
submitted to Chief O’Connor.
15.
The
intern is responsible for his or her own income taxes and Social Security.
Daily
Duties:
The
on-duty intern is responsible for the cleaning and the presentation of the fire
station and its equipment during assigned shift.
Daily
duties will be completed by 1900 hours.
Some duties will need to be completed a second time each day depending
on the activities at the station (example – vacuum the day room or doing
dishes). The intern on duty is
responsible for all duties until 0700 hours, at which time the station is open
to the public.
Excessive
trading of duty hours will not be tolerated.
The Chief will give verbal warning to the intern when he has determined
that the trading of duty is becoming excessive. Trades will be submitted in writings for approval by the Chief or
on-duty Chief.
Duty
Shifts:
The
on-duty hours are from the end of school day until 0700 hours the
next morning during weekdays of the school year.
The
on-duty hours are from 0700 hours to 0700 (24 hours) the following day on
weekend days during the school year.
The
on-duty hours are from 0700 hours to 0700 hours (24 hours) the following day
when school is not in session (Christmas & Spring breaks and Summer
vacations).
The
Town of Madison Fire Department retains the right to schedule interns up to 56
hours per week.
Daily
assignments include but are not limited to:
1.
Cleaning
of the front offices and police departments
2.
Dorm
room, living room, floors vacuumed.
3.
Kitchen,
hallway, fire office and bathroom floors mopped.
4.
Apparatus
floor swept and picked up.
5.
All
garbage bins are to be emptied and new bags placed into the bins.
6.
All
counter tops, tables, stove, and refrigerator wiped down.
7.
All
dishes washed, dried, and put away (any intern creating dishes is responsible
for them).
8.
Any
and all other assignments as directed by the Fire Chief or on duty fire Chief.
The
on-duty intern is to stay up till 2200 hours.
At that time all doors are to be locked. A walk through the station will be conducted to make sure that
all duties have been accomplished. If a
call comes in after you station duties have been completed, you are still
responsible for the appearance of the station until 0700 hours that
morning. (Ex. You may need to re-vacuum
or do dishes)
If
you are unable to complete these duties on a certain night, it is your
responsibility to have another intern cover for you. However, you will still be held accountable for getting the work
done and done correctly.
If
you are unable to complete the cleaning duty on a certain night, it will be
your responsibility to have another intern cover for you. You will still be held accountable for this
assignment.
Vehicles
are to be checked for their readiness to respond to an emergency. The intern is responsible for performing the
vehicle checks for the day that the intern is on duty. Truck check sheets are to be placed in the
Chief on duty mailbox nightly.
Dispatch
Duties:
1.
Answer
incoming fire department phone calls.
2.
Take
complete messages on phone message forms and deliver the message to the person
or forward to voice mailbox.
3.
Acknowledge
pages from the Comm. Center.
4.
Handle
requests for information form fire units.
The
interns as a group are responsible for the below stated duty:
Saturday: Help paid staff flushing
apparatus room floors and pumping drains (weather permitting).
Sunday: The refrigerator will be cleaned out. Any unused food that has “expired” will be thrown away. The inside of the stove is to be cleaned. All appliances will be wiped down. Stove and refrigerator will be moved out and
the floor underneath will be cleaned.
The outside of the cupboards and counters will be wiped down.
Wednesday: All dorm rooms will be
cleaned thoroughly and put in a presentable stated. The bathroom sinks will be cleaned and showers scrubbed
down. Shower doors will be washed. All mirrors are to be cleaned.
Friday: All building windows are to be washed and trash is
to be picked up around the station, and behind bushes and what not.
All
interns will help shovel sidewalks and pavement in front of bay doors. Snow is to be removed from all sidewalk
area’s that lead to or are attached to the stations. The snow in front of the bay doors is to be removed 10 feet from
the building.
All
brushes and shrubs will be trimmed.
The
Town of Madison Fire Chief is the head of the intern program. Paid personnel and other volunteers on the
department are to report to the Chief on duty if duties have not been
completed. This would include station
duties and truck checks. The Chief will
then come to the intern on duty and discuss the problem.
It
is hoped that there will be no need for any type of discipline. This policy is in place to have a course of
action in the event that responsibilities of the intern are not met. The Choice is available to the intern not to
fulfill any of the daily, weekly, or other responsibilities, but upon the
decision by the intern not to complete assigned duties, corrective action WILL
result.
The
Town of Madison Fire Chief has the option of terminating the student
firefighter intern program at any time if the Chief determines it is in the
best interest of the Town of Madison Fire Department.
Any
intern who is in violation of the inters’ policy, or the policies and
procedures of the Town of Madison Fire Department or in the Fire Chiefs opinion
is in violation of the policy, or be in possession of alcohol, firearms,
ammunition, or anything else deemed dangerous by the Fire Chief, will be removed
from the program immediately.
For
all other issues not covered herein, the intern will go through tree steps
before they are dismissed. They are:
1.
The
Fire Chief will meet with the intern and discuss the problems. This meeting will serve as a notice that
there is a problem with the Intern’s performance. Corrective actions will be discussed and the intern will abide by
the Chiefs instructions.
2.
If
the problem is not resolved in step one, or, there is a continuance of various
other problems, a review committee will be formed. This committee will consist of at least 4 department members.
3.
If
the committee should recommend that dismissal is in order, the Chief will
dismiss the Intern. The dismissal will
be effective immediately.
Original
Version 12/96
Rev. 06/11
I, _____________________________ do certify that I have read the above Intern policy. I agree that I will abide by the rules and responsibilities as outlined within this Intern policy. I understand that I can be removed from the Intern program at any time due to poor performance, inadequate grades, misconduct, or for cause as determined by the Town of Madison Fire Chief. This does not constitute a contract of employment with Town of Madison Fire Department.
X__________________________ ___________________________________
Intern Town of Madison Fire Chief
____________________________ ____________________________________
Date Date