This position provides fire prevention and protection/suppression services including emergency medical care (basic life support) for the Alexandria VA Health Care System that includes a variety of buildings, land, and remote community-based outpatient clinics. The degree of hazard ranges from low to high and includes a variety of building and occupant types. This position assists the medical center in complying with The Joint Commission requirements.

Duties

Duties include but are not limited to: Performs responses to activities such as firefighting operations, search and rescue operations, emergency decontaminations, mobile hospital deployments, and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support response. Ensures that fire inspections are completed in all buildings and areas of the medical center. Maintains care of emergency equipment and properly disposes of biohazard materials. Pre-employment physical required. Performs work to control and extinguish fires, rescues persons endangered by fire or other hazardous situations, and reduces or eliminates potential fire hazards. Provides advanced or detailed patient assessment by conducting a physical examination of the patient. Performs electrocardiology procedures and advanced and invasive airway procedures. Administers medications and solutions and addresses fractures. Prepares incident reports in a clear, concise manner both orally and in writing. Serves as a member of the Hazardous Materials Response Team and responds to incidents Work Schedule: Firefighters work a rotating shift work; seventy-two (72) hours per week. Fire Department operates twenty-four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week in which employees are assigned to alternating shifts of twenty-four (24) hours. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Firefighter (Intermediate Life Support)/PD03419A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/27/2024. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-08 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: (1) controlling or extinguishing fires as a member of an organized military, industrial, volunteer, or governmental fire department or brigade; (2) rescue operations; (3) detection, reduction, or elimination of potential fire hazards; (4) operation of fire communications equipment; (5) controlling hazardous materials incidents and/or (6) developing, implementing, or providing training in fire protection and prevention. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: CommunicationEmergency CareFire ManagementHazardous Materials 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; religions; 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. 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. MAXIMUM AGE REQUIREMENT: This position requires a maximum entry age for an initial appointment; applicants cannot have reached their 37th birthday by the date of appointment. Applicants who have passed the designated entry age limit, but who have previously served as a Federal employee 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 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. MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT OPERATOR QUALIFICATIONS: For those positions requiring the operation of specialized firefighting pumping equipment, mounted pressurized systems, dispersing devices, and/or rescue tools, applicants may be required to demonstrate the ability, before appointment, to operate the specific equipment to which they will be assigned, or similar related types of hydraulic equipment. 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. Employees 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. Employees must be able to maintain fitness standards in accordance with the Firefighter physicals that are conducted annually. The selected candidate 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. Employees 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. Employees must wear this equipment when responding to and during all emergency calls (excluding ambulance) regardless of temperature. Incumbent 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 employees must maintain alertness, self-control, and emotional stability when working under conditions of stress, confusion, panic and where physical injury or death are present. Employees are subject to overtime call back and mandatory overtime to ensure mandatory compliance with minimum crew manning requirements. Work Environment: On a regular and recurring basis, employee is exposed to infection and contagious diseases, is required to work in all types of weather conditions and faces risks and discomforts at the scene of the accidents, to include the possibility of noxious fumes and dangerous substances, requiring the employee to comply with special safety and health precautions and/or to use protective gear. There is also exposure to dangers of high voltage from electrical equipment. Employee does not perform at Level 9-3 which describes a work environment which subjects the employee at regular and recurring high risks, such as unprovoked physical attacks. As a member of the rescue crew, the Firefighter may be involved with the duty of rescue from hazardous permit required confined spaces, fast moving water, high angle above ground rope rescues, rescue from hazardous materials spills, below grade rescues as well as rescue from fire. 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/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Use Of Selective Factors

Some positions in this series require knowledge, skills, and abilities in addition to those described in this qualification standard. For such positions, job-specific selective factors may be required to ensure that applicants have the background necessary for successful performance in the position to be filled.

This position includes Selective Placement Factors (skill, knowledge, ability or other worker characteristic basic to - and essential for - satisfactory performance of the job). Selective Placement Factors 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:

• FIREFIGHTER II - IFSAC, Pro-Board or a State Certification
• DRIVER/OPERATOR- IFSAC, Pro-Board or a State Certification
• HAZARDOUS MATERIALS OPERATIONS - IFSAC, Pro- Board or a State Certification
• EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN PARAMEDIC (EMT-P) - Must have a valid State of Louisiana or National Registry License:
• Driver's License: Applicants must possess and maintain a current and valid state-issued driver's license.

Performance Test

Agencies may require candidates to demonstrate satisfactory performance of the minimum physical abilities necessary to perform safely and efficiently the essential tasks of a particular position. The abilities may be demonstrated through prior satisfactory performance in the same or a similar position, or agencies may choose to use a task demonstration. A task demonstration must be directly related to the essential job tasks, and thus, must consist of a sample of operations or steps that reflect a reasonably faithful representation of those selected job tasks. Any demonstration required must be uniformly applied to all similarly qualified candidates; the level of proficiency required cannot exceed that which is required in actual job performance; and reasonable accommodation must be provided where necessary.

Medical Requirements

Applicants for positions that have duties of an arduous or hazardous nature must meet the medical standards described below. Since individual positions may not include all such duties, a physical condition or impairment may be disqualifying for employment only if there is a direct relationship between the condition and the nature of the duties of the specific position to be filled.

Employees in positions involving firefighting duties or other duties involving arduous physical exertion may be subject to periodic (e.g., annual) medical examinations following appointment to determine fitness for continued performance of the duties of the position. (See 5 CFR 339.)

Any serious deviation from sound medical condition may be grounds for rejection of an applicant regardless of whether the condition is named below. Remediable defects or curable diseases will not exclude a person from consideration, but proof that such defects have been remedied or the disease cured must be received during the life of the eligible register before persons otherwise qualified may be considered for appointment under civil service rules.

Eyes: Corrected distant vision must be at least 20/30 in one eye and 20/70 in the other eye. Uncorrected distant vision is required only if it is likely that corrective lenses may be lost or broken. If so, uncorrected distant vision must be at least 20/100 binocular. Ability to distinguish basic colors is required. Applicants must be free from acute or chronic eye disease.

Ears: Using an audiometer for measurement, there should be no loss of 30 or more decibels in the unaided worst ear at the 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz levels.

Nose, Mouth, and Throat: Applicants must be free from conditions that interfere with distinct speech, free breathing, or with the use of breathing apparatuses or protective equipment.

Lungs: Applicants must be free from any pulmonary or chest wall disease or condition that results in not being able to perform the duties of the position.

Heart and Blood Vessels: The following conditions may be cause for rejection: organic heart disease, valvular or vascular diseases, coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, recurrent syncope, or history of myocardial infarction.

Abdomen: Acute or chronic disease or inflammation of the abdominal viscera, hernia, or significant enlargement of the liver or spleen that interferes with the performance of the duties of the position will be cause for rejection.

Spine, Pelvic, Sacroiliac and Lumbo-Sacral Joints: Applicants must have free movement of spine and pelvic joints.

Neurological System: Degenerative neurological disease or disorder that results in documented evidence of neurological impairment that renders the applicant unable to perform the duties of the position will be cause for rejection. A history of serious mental disease may be disqualifying.

Extremities: Individuals cannot have anomalies in the number, form, proportion, and movement of the extremities that interfere with function. This includes non-united fractures; nonreducible dislocations; united fractures and reduced dislocations with incomplete restoration of function; amputation of arm, hand, leg, or foot; loss of any skeletal portion of the thumb of either hand; loss of more than the two distal phalanges of the ring or little fingers of either hand; any lose joints; pes cavus, weak foot, or clubfoot; flatfoot with symptoms unresponsive to orthotics; loss or deformity of great toe or any two toes on the same foot; torn cartilage or loose foreign bodies within the knee joint; instability of the knee joint; or inadequately healed surgical procedure.

Contacts

• Address Alexandria VA Medical Center 2495 Shreveport Highway Pineville, LA 71360 US
• Name: Cynthia Rowe
• Phone: 717-205-7996
• Email: [email protected]