All,
Just submitted for my 1600T upgrade and the ball busters at the USCG are requesting I retake basic fire fighting as the certificate is now 5 years and 20 days old even though it must be within 5 years to submit for licensing over 200T. The funny part is that I have taked advanced fire fighting in the past 9 months. Does this seem a little imbalanced… especially when I already hold an STCW endorsement on my 200T license? I read it in the CFR, it is definitely there that both basic and advanced must be within 5 years but sheesh!
Join the club. I have to do the same thing. Basic FF next week. We have to bite the bullet and get over it.
Every Advanced FF course I’ve seen is 5 days and includes 2 days of Basic FF. Why doesn’t that count???
I feel your pain though, trying to get my boiler restrictions lifted from my RFPEW, but they say I need to have the heavy fuel oil purifier assessment signed off. Doesn’t make any sense to me or my former instructors.
It does count… I had to do the same thing, I took adv. ff. and the basic part was the first two days… It’s all in one class at most places… Check to see if yours was, if it was, tell your evaluator that.
Not all Advanced FF courses include the 2 days of Basic. If the course includes the 2 days of Basic and then include that in their approval request to the Coast Guard then it will be approved for both and will be indicated on their approval letter.
[QUOTE=Kingrobby;70690]Every Advanced FF course I’ve seen is 5 days and includes 2 days of Basic FF. Why doesn’t that count???
I feel your pain though, trying to get my boiler restrictions lifted from my RFPEW, but they say I need to have the heavy fuel oil purifier assessment signed off. Doesn’t make any sense to me or my former instructors.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Robert;70909]Not all Advanced FF courses include the 2 days of Basic. If the course includes the 2 days of Basic and then include that in their approval request to the Coast Guard then it will be approved for both and will be indicated on their approval letter.[/QUOTE]
If the course includes Basic, it is called a “Combined Basic and Advanced Fire Fighting” course. Basic is not normally included in an adavanced course, unless it’s one of the combined courses. Advanced covers entirely different material, it teaches how to manage and coordinate fire fighting, while basic teaches the tools and techniques of fighting the fire.
[QUOTE=JW-Oceans;70710]It does count… I had to do the same thing, I took adv. ff. and the basic part was the first two days… It’s all in one class at most places… Check to see if yours was, if it was, tell your evaluator that.[/QUOTE]
Don’t bother. The evaluator knows what the course is approved for. They are looking at the actual approval given to the course. As noted previously by myself and others, an “Advanced Fire Fighting” course is not approved for basic. Only the “combined” courses are.