New Fitness Thresholds and Point System Changes in State Fire Service Recruitment

The Ministry of the Interior and Administration has submitted a draft amendment to reform State Fire Service recruitment, aiming to shorten the hiring process and adjust physical standards.

MSWiA Wants to Shorten PSP Recruitment

A draft amendment concerning the qualification procedure for admission to the State Fire Service has been submitted for review. The changes introduced by the document are intended to shorten the time it takes from announcing the qualification procedure to the actual admission of the candidate. According to the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, which authored the project, this is expected to increase the number of admissions.

The ministry explains that from January 1, 2025, to June 26, 2025, recruitment notices were announced for 755 positions (85 in the daily system and 670 in the shift system), for which a total of 7,062 candidates applied. A total of 364 candidates were admitted to service.

According to an analysis by the Headquarters of the State Fire Service, the average time from the announcement of recruitment to a candidate’s admission to the service is approximately 8 months and 26 days. For candidates intended for the shift system, this period averages about 9 months and 4 days, the MSWiA explains.

The solutions introduced by the draft regulation aim to make the recruitment process more flexible and efficient. This includes solving the problem of waiting for medical commission rulings, mainly in cases where candidates appeal against issued rulings of unfitness for service.

New Fitness Thresholds and Point System

One of the key changes concerns the scoring required to pass the physical fitness test during recruitment. For men, the requirement is proposed to change from 50 points to 45 points, and for women, from 46 points to 41 points. Furthermore, when the number of candidates who passed the physical fitness test is smaller than the number of positions for recruitment, the minimum passing threshold for both genders is to be lowered from 41 points to 38 points.

The ministry justifies this change as necessary to prepare the PSP to respond to various civilizational and environmental threats. This results in admitting specialists from various fields into the ranks of the State Fire Service.

On the other hand, during the swimming test, which is not conducted by all PSP units, the passing time is to be reduced from 90 seconds to 60 seconds. In the opinion of the MSWiA, it is essential to ensure that candidates for service possess an appropriate level of physical fitness enabling effective and safe rescue operations in the aquatic environment.

Changes also affect the point system, which is intended to place more emphasis on professional preparation. For example, training in the firefighter profession or equivalent training is valued at 20 points, holding the title of fire technician at 25, and fire engineer at 30. Emergency medical technician qualifications are worth 15 points, basic training of a volunteer fire department firefighter is worth 10 points, and VFD membership longer than 12 months adds another 5.

MSWiA Prepares Changes in Medical Examinations

The draft regulation also assumes changes in medical examinations. Currently, if a candidate receives a negative ruling from a medical commission and appeals to the appeal medical commission, the head of the PSP organizational unit cannot send another candidate to the medical commission. The project introduces a change that will allow State Fire Service organizational units to send subsequent candidates with the highest total points obtained in all stages of the qualification procedure to the medical commission without waiting for the ruling of the appeal medical commission.

Practice has repeatedly shown that at the time a candidate decides to appeal the received ruling, the entire procedure related to the final determination of fitness for service in the formation lasts up to several months. Enabling the dispatch of subsequent candidates to the medical commission will streamline the entire recruitment process and, consequently, allow for more efficient admissions of applying candidates, the ministry justifies.

In addition, the draft allows heads of organizational units of the State Fire Service to refer subsequent candidates from the list for medical examinations within up to 6 months from the date of admission of candidates selected as a result of the announced qualification procedure, in the event of a vacancy or vacancies corresponding to the position for which the qualification procedure was conducted.