Today, firefighters do much more than fighting fires. They are also community first responders, responsible for responding to accidents, structure fires, and medical emergencies. They also offer rescue services, conduct fire prevention drills, and handle hazardous chemical emergencies.
Before you can become a firefighter, you have to prove that you are intellectually capable of providing rescue services. This is what the firefighter cognitive test is all about. You have to demonstrate efficiency, accuracy, and reliability in response to specific firefighting challenges. The test can be tough since it’s all about mental reasoning. You are not required to refer to the dictionary or use a calculator.
The secret to passing the cognitive tests lies in proper preparation and one way to do it is to know the kind of questions that you should expect. As a guide, here are the key areas that define the firefighter tests:
Logical Reasoning
This section assesses your ability to employ firefighting principles in determining the outcome of a specific challenge. For example, you are expected to understand the basic layout of a building and to know how fire spreads in such a place so that you can offer rescue services. Your reasoning should be in line with the firefighting principles to be logical.
Visualization
As a firefighter, you should be quick in reasoning. You should determine the steps you are going to follow to offer rescue services. You should also form the mental image fast. This is what is examined in this section.
Arithmetic Reasoning
This section is used to test your mathematics reasoning. Since you are not allowed to use a calculator, you need to be quick in applying arithmetic functions in different firefighting situations. For example, you need to know how much water you need to put off a specific fire.
Reading Comprehension
Here, you are required to answer questions depending on your understanding of a particular text. You are expected to comprehend general orders, patient reports, and equipment manuals when you are out there in the field as a firefighter.
Spatial Orientation
The concept of smooth navigation comes into play in this section. It tests your ability to professionally move from one point to another. This is in response to a specific firefighting emergency. Remember that such navigations should be done in a safe manner.
Bottom-line
With the above pointers, you can now start preparing for your firefighter tests. The fact that you have decided to become a firefighter is commendable. It takes such a heart to successfully pass the intelligence assessment.