The CPAT as it is today is a watered down physical test that was made a standard because most people could pass it regardless of physical ability, so more people could be included if you know what I mean.
In the fire academy, the physical stuff goes well beyond CPAT level exertion, so the females that come out are in decent condition. In my personal opinion, where you run into trouble is when the females get into their mid 40's and beyond. We have an annual test called the Work Performance Evaluation that you need to pass in order to keep working in the field. It's basically a beefed up CPAT on air. Here it is:
The limit is 10:47. The bulls knock it out in 4:00 - 5:30. Guys in their 40's do it in 6:30-7:30, the old guys do it in 8 or 9 minutes, although some of them look half-dead when they're finished.. Not that it hasn't been done, but I haven't seen a female get sub 6 mins. The younger ones seem to come in at 8 mins. give or take, and of all of the failures, it's almost always older women, or skinny ones that just do bodyweight stuff and running for PT, and don't do anything to maintain or increase strength. I've seen some older females quit halfway through and rip off the mask, and stop several times in each station. If you walk the thing slowly and methodically, you'll come in at around 7:30. I would be too bored trying to slow it up to 9 mins. or so.
In my opinion, to work in fire suppression, male or female, the bare minimum physical standard should be a 135# back squat x 10 or 135# front squat x 5, 205# deadlift x 5, ground to overhead 135# x 1, 2000m row in 10 minutes. Anything less and you're a liability. For EMS, I would say 95# squat x 10, 155# DL x 5, ground to OH 95#, and still 2000m row 10 mins. I do the 2000m row in just under 7 mins, so 10 mins. is perfectly reasonable. It's not the weak people that get hurt, it's the stronger people lifting with them that need to compensate, that get the injury.
If you need to routinely call for a lift assist for patients as light as 200# you're doing it wrong (male or female), and need to question if you belong in EMS from a physical standpoint. I don't feel that this is particularly harsh, as any normal person can achieve those above benchmarks if they just put in the damn work. Lift things up, put them down, and do an intense circuit finisher after the session, and every few days run a 5k as fast as possible or do 4-8 500m rower sprints with 1-2 mins. rest between bouts. it's not too complicated. Grab a kettlebell, swing and squat with it a bunch of times. Learn Turkish Get-ups to work what the main lifts miss, so you don't tear something when you lift at an odd angle, like taking some out of a bathtub, between the bed and the wall, or doing the Reeves down a few flights of narrow stairs.
