A good firefighter needs to be able to take the heat – and in ways you might not expect, Lieutenant Colonel Jennyline Fan tells CNA Women.
In another life, I once donned a hazmat suit for an emergency drill. The drill lasted just 10 minutes but I remember how breathless I felt; how hot and stale the air was in the suit.
One of the things that first drew the 34-year-old to the SCDF was the physical challenge. Training to be a firefighter is said to be the toughest among the uniformed organisations. “The default firefighting gear is called ‘bunker gear’. It’s fire retardant so it’s very hot. On top of that, we have to wear the breathing apparatus set, which is really heavy. Then there’s the helmet and additional equipment, such as the hose and breaching tools,” she told me, referring to the tools used to break through an entrance.
“Along the way, we drank water and if we really couldn’t take it, we’d let our trainers know. But we pushed ourselves as much as we could. “Most senior officers would want to be a commander at some point in their career and I’d always found it to be a fulfilling position. But with rank comes responsibility and there are challenges associated with that,” she said.
“Operational readiness is something we cannot compromise on so I’ll supervise to make sure they do proper equipment checks. Sometimes, I do random spot checks.
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