The Ultimate Firefighter Situational Judgement Test Guide [2024]

Best response: B
Worst response: C
Competency: Interpersonal skills (teamwork).

In this scenario, you want to help a fellow firefighter improve on a personal quality. You need to decide on the best course of action.
Response B is the most appropriate response. By asking your fellow firefighter for her input, you show her that you value her opinions. By demonstrating that you value her input, you will increase her self-esteem and self-confidence.
Response C is the worst response. You want to help boost her self-confidence, not damage it. By pointing out her mistakes, you will not be improving her self-confidence. Rather, you will be achieving the opposite.
Response A may sound like a good response as you are encouraging Sheila to take credit for her efforts. However, you need to first boost her self-confidence in order for her to take this future action willingly.
Response D may sound like a good response as constantly praising her work could indeed increase her confidence. However, the response states that you also praise Sheila when she makes mistakes. This, in fact, could be detrimental to her work and service as a firefighter as she will continue making the same mistakes over and over. She may become more confident, but she will also become incompetent in her work. Response C, however, is the worst response as you are asked what are the best and worst responses to boosting Sheila's confidence. In this case, response C is detrimental to Sheila's confidence, while response D is detrimental to her performance as a firefighter.

Correct answer:

A-1

B-4

C-3

D-2

Competency: Integrity and professionality (ethics)
Explanation: In this scenario, a firefighter witnesses his teammate taking the wallet of a man they just assisted. You are asked to rate the responses to such a situation.
First, the appearance of the situation is that of theft – the firefighter picks the wallet up when no one is around and places it in his pocket. The right thing to do in case a man you evacuated to the hospital drops his property is to bring it to the hospital staff for safe-keeping until he is conscious and able to receive his property back. Firefighter Johnson’s actions don’t indicate any such intention. Stealing from civilians you are rescuing is both a crime and a serious ethical violation.
It is your responsibility as a firefighter not only to work ethically but also to maintain your team’s ethics. When you witness such an incident, it’s your responsibility to make sure your supervisor is informed, despite the difficulty of reporting a fellow teammate. Your supervisor will decide on the proper response toward the firefighter and help you make sure that the stolen object returns to its owner. Response A finds a middle ground — Firefighter Garcia makes sure that Firefighter Johnson’s actions are reported to their supervisor, while also allowing Johnson an opportunity to repent. This is the most appropriate response as it combines high ethical values and teamwork competencies.
The next best option is D – here firefighter Garcia acts to get the wallet back to its owner. This is a positive and active response. However, it is not the best. Firefighter Garcia doesn’t make sure that the wallet actually reaches its destination – counting on the thief to return the stolen object is not a guaranteed course of action. In addition, Firefighter Garcia fails to inform his supervisor of this ethical violation. It’s important to understand that reporting this incident is a firefighter’s duty, not an option.
Next up is response C. In this response, Firefighter Garcia tries to raise Firefighter Johnson’s awareness of the effect his actions have on others, as well as his empathy. While this action could be useful on its own, it cannot be the only response in this situation. Firefighter Johnson’s actions must be reported.
Response B is the worst response. As explained before, Firefighter Johnson’s actions seem like theft. Being able to trust your teammates is important, of course, but when witnessing something that points otherwise you should take action. If you are not sure of what happened, informing your supervisor and letting him or her take the necessary actions to investigate the incident is the right decision.