Name of host : Kris Zoppa
Relationship to you : Father
Interview
What is your job title? I am a Firefighter working in the city of Vancouver.
What is your job description? Fire fighting, medical calls, car accidents and inspections are some of the duties we have.
What are the duties you perform at your job? Responding to 911 calls ; emergency or non-emergency, maintenance for the hall and equipment, and most importantly training.
What qualifications do you have for this job?
Training? We have to learn how to handle intense conditions, which includes strength, fitness and also learning the correct skill for multiple procedures.
Education? In class sessions and hands-on training are both included in the fifrefighting job.
Experience? I think it takes a good bit of experience to make a good firefighter. In order to make less mistakes you have to first learn form them, which means you do have to make some. Every firefighter does and this is why my job requires experience.
What are some things you like about the job? I enjoy helping people and it’s nice to know that I’m apart of something bigger than myself.
What are some things you dislike about the job? Watching people suffer is always the worst part of the job.
How do you think working in vancouver is different from any other city? In my opinion, because we live in such a big city there are more issues. I think there is probably more work here than there is anywhere else I know of.
How do you think this job will change in the next 5 years? I think there will be more calls being made and we will only get busier since the population is only increasing. To add, there will be more and more elderly than need to be taken care of.
Student reflexion
Why would you like this job?
• Helping people would be a good way to give back to my community
• Being trusted to save people’s lives would be a really big honour
• I think it’s good to be apart of something bigger than yourself, which is what firefighting is
Why wouldn’t you like this job?
• I think the pressure in such tough situations would be hard to bear
• I would not let anyone down and so the fear of failure would constantly hold me back
• I would always question if it’s worth putting my life at risk for somebody else’s and being a fireman you can’t second guess yourself and your purpose
What is the value of the TOKTW experience relating to post-secondary? I think this experience was extremely valuable because it can give you a good idea on your likes and dislikes and help you narrow down all of your options. The most important of all, it can open your eyes and show you to truely respect your parents and what they do.