Certification Testing

Certification Testing In lieu of MSCB administered testing, the Board shall recognize all accredited NFPA-based Fire Fighter I and II certificates issued by the Mississippi Fire Academy after September 1, 2005 as being equivalent to the MSCB certification requirements. Furthermore, the MSCB shall utilize current NFPA fire service professional qualification standards and the basic fire fighter training curriculum (NFPA 1001 1&2) as used by the Mississippi Fire Academy and approved by MSCB as the official state standard and curriculum for basic fire fighter certification training. Policies regarding delivery of curriculum and certification testing shall be established by the Mississippi State Fire Academy in accordance with criteria set forth by the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress, subject to approval by MSCB. Departments administering basic fire fighter training to their own employees must contract with the Mississippi State Fire Academy for delivery of curriculum materials and the certification examination process. In general, Mississippi Fire Academy entrance requirements set forth for minimum standards certification (Fire Fighter I and II) shall be established by the MSCB as recommended by the Academy’s Executive Director. Such entrance requirements shall not apply to fire personnel who fall outside the scope of Miss. Code § 45-11-203 and therefore, are not within the jurisdiction of the MSCB. Academy entrance requirements established for non- minimum standard courses and other programs shall be set by the Executive Director in conjunction with the Academy’s Advisory Board. The minimum standards certification process requires all candidates to successfully complete the Mississippi Trainee Agility Test (MSTAT) prior to entering an approved Fire Fighter I and II training program. In order to meet the entrance requirements for certification training and testing, the MSTAT exam must be administered at the Mississippi State Fire Academy or monitored by qualified Academy personnel at locations approved by the Board to conduct the MSTAT exam. The validity of any MSTAT qualification shall expire three hundred and sixty- five (365) days after successful completion of the exam. Candidates must have officially started an approved certification-training program within the 365-day period. Should any candidate’s MSTAT credentials expire before entering an approved certification-training program, the candidate must retake and successfully complete the MSTAT exam. All subsequent MSTAT qualifications shall remain valid for three hundred and sixty-five (365) days from the most recent test date. Miss. Code § 45-11-7 provides the Mississippi State Fire Academy with the authority to assess a reasonable fee to account for the cost of providing off-campus certification testing and monitoring services. Such fees shall be directed to and paid by the entity or governing authority requesting the additional testing services.