Legal & transparency
Last updated June 2026 · Plain-language policies, kept in one place so they're easy to review as First Step grows.
First Step Fire Prep ("First Step") is an educational and preparation platform: study material, practice questions, mock interviews, resume tools, career guidance and general fitness and nutrition information. It is not a fire department, EMS agency, certification body, testing organization, academy or government organization, and nothing here is a promise that you will pass an exam or interview, earn a certification, or be hired by any department or agency.
Use First Step for your own preparation. Don't share your login, scrape or copy the question bank or other content, resell access, use the service to harass anyone, or try to break, overload or reverse-engineer it.
Pro includes monthly allowances for AI features (for example 15 mock oral boards and 1 included department research). Creating multiple or fake accounts, automating requests, or otherwise attempting to bypass allowances, free-plan limits or payment is prohibited. We may suspend or close accounts that do this and decline to refund them.
The First Step Fire Prep name, design, software, question bank, explanations, prompts and other content are owned by First Step or its licensors and protected by copyright. You may use them for personal, non-commercial study only. Third-party names and standards referenced for study context belong to their owners.
First Step Fire Prep is an independent product. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT), IFSTA, Pro Board, the NFPA, any state EMS authority or fire marshal, the CPAT program, FCTC, any fire department, or any testing or hiring agency. Trademarks belong to their owners. Practice questions are original works informed by publicly available standards; they are not actual exam items.
You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you enter and for keeping your login private. You retain ownership of the resumes and other content you create; you give us permission to process it in order to provide the service.
Physical exercise carries inherent risk, including injury. By using First Step you voluntarily assume the risks of acting on its content. To the maximum extent permitted by law, First Step and its owners, operators and licensors are not liable for any damages, injuries or losses arising from your use of, or inability to use, the service. Your remedy for dissatisfaction is to stop using the service.
By creating an account or using First Step you confirm you have read and agree to these terms and the policies on this page. We may update them as the platform grows; material changes will be reflected here with a new date.
Your account details (name, email, a securely hashed password, and a profile photo if you add one); your study activity, exam results and bookmarks; mock-interview transcripts and evaluations; your resume content; your fitness evaluation answers, plans, workouts, food log and progress entries; your Road Map answers and progress; and subscription status.
When you use an AI feature, the relevant content — an interview answer, resume text, fitness answers, a food description or a food photo — is sent to third-party AI model providers to generate the response. Voice answers are transcribed by a speech-to-text service and the audio file is deleted after transcription; the text transcript is kept with your interview. Food photos are analyzed and are not stored on our servers — only the resulting food items are saved to your log.
Subscriptions are processed by Stripe. We never see or store your full card number; we keep your subscription status and Stripe customer reference.
We use a login cookie (httpOnly) to keep you signed in. We do not run third-party advertising trackers.
Passwords are stored hashed, traffic is encrypted in transit, and your content is only ever returned to your own signed-in account — other users cannot see your resume, interview transcripts, fitness or food data. No online service can promise perfect security; if you believe your account has been accessed by someone else, change your password from the Account page right away.
We use your data to run the service, personalize your plans and track your progress. We do not sell your personal information. We share data only with the service providers needed to operate First Step (hosting, database, AI model providers, payment processing) and when required by law.
You can edit or remove most content inside the app (resume, food entries, Road Map answers). To request deletion of your account and data, contact us through your Account page.
The mock oral-board panel and its scoring, resume organization and review, personalized fitness plans and daily workouts, food and photo macro estimates, and Road Map recommendations are generated or evaluated by artificial-intelligence models. Practice questions, grading of multiple-choice answers, calorie-target math and the Road Map backbone are not AI-generated.
AI output can be incomplete, inaccurate or out of date, and can sound confident while being wrong. Use it as a preparation and assistance tool: verify important facts against official sources, and use your own judgment.
The interviewers are AI-generated characters. Questions, follow-ups and feedback are designed for practice. Scores are not official hiring scores, do not predict how a real board will rate you, and do not guarantee interview performance or employment.
AI helps organize, improve and review wording and structure. It is instructed never to invent certifications, employment history, qualifications or personal information; you are responsible for verifying every detail and reviewing the final resume before sending it to an employer. An AI-reviewed resume does not guarantee an interview or a job.
AI picks next steps from a fixed list of milestones and phrases location guidance as things to research. It does not have verified department data. Completing every milestone does not make you eligible for, or guarantee, employment anywhere.
Fitness plans, workouts, calorie and macronutrient targets, food estimates and related content are general educational and fitness-planning information. They are not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not a substitute for a licensed physician, registered dietitian or certified fitness professional who knows your history.
Consult a healthcare provider before starting a new exercise or nutrition program — especially if you are under 18, pregnant or nursing, have a heart, metabolic, kidney, joint or eating-related condition, take medication, or have an injury. Stop any activity that causes pain, dizziness, chest discomfort or shortness of breath and seek care; in an emergency call 911.
The app only offers weight-loss timelines inside a safe range, caps daily calorie deficits, never sets targets below a healthy weight, and is instructed not to recommend extreme restriction, unsafe exercise, or training through pain. These limits are safety rails, not a medical assessment.
Calories and macros are estimates based on typical serving sizes. Portion sizes and ingredients — especially from a photo — may be misidentified. Treat values as approximate and correct anything that looks wrong.
Road Map steps, station-visit tips, resume guidance and interview preparation reflect common practice in the fire service. Requirements vary by department, city, county, state and agency, and certifications and testing requirements change. Always follow the specific instructions of the agency you are applying to.
Practice questions, explanations, flashcards and timed exams are independently written educational tools created for informational and practice purposes. They are written in First Step's own words around generally taught concepts, professional standards and publicly available information; they are not copied from, and are not official items of, any textbook, publisher, certification body or examination provider. The short 'Concept / Standard' note under an item tells you what the item is about — it does not mean the named standards body or any organization wrote, reviewed, approved or endorsed it. Content may contain errors; verify current requirements with the agency, academy, certification body or department you are dealing with.
First Step provides independently created educational and career-preparation tools. Unless explicitly stated, First Step is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by or licensed by any fire department, publisher, certification organization, examination provider, testing organization or government agency, and the names of such organizations are used only to describe subject matter. Using First Step does not guarantee employment, certification, examination results, academy acceptance or any hiring outcome.
First Step Premium is offered monthly ($20) and yearly ($200). Premium includes 15 mock oral boards per calendar month (unused boards do not roll over); additional packs of 10 interviews can be purchased for $10 and carry over until used. Other AI features have generous monthly fair-use allowances. Prices and features may change with notice; changes apply at your next renewal.
Paid plans renew automatically until cancelled. Cancel any time from your Account page; you keep Pro access until the end of the period you already paid for. Fees are non-refundable except where required by law.
Premium access is tied to your account and is for you alone. Allowances reset each calendar month; unused mock interviews don't roll over, purchased packs do.
A limited number of practice questions, a short mock-interview demo, the resume editor and the Road Map are available without a subscription. Unlimited practice and exams, the full mock oral board, resume PDF download and AI review, and the Fitness Plan are Premium features.