Operate pumps connected to high-pressure hoses.

“Operate pumps connected to high-pressure hoses.” is a core task performed by Firefighters. Among the occupation's 30 rated tasks, workers place it 20th by importance (#11 most important). About 99% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Protect people or property from threats such as fires or flooding. in Performing General Physical Activities

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E0. No direct exposure — current language models give little or no time savings on this task.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.00. Automation potential label: T0.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Rescue victims from burning buildings, accident sites, and water hazards. · importance 4.7
• Dress with equipment such as fire-resistant clothing and breathing apparatus. · importance 4.6
• Assess fires and situations and report conditions to superiors to receive instructions, using two-way radios. · importance 4.6
• Move toward the source of a fire, using knowledge of types of fires, construction design, building materials, and physical layout of properties. · importance 4.6
• Respond to fire alarms and other calls for assistance, such as automobile and industrial accidents. · importance 4.6
• Create openings in buildings for ventilation or entrance, using axes, chisels, crowbars, electric saws, or core cutters. · importance 4.5
• Drive and operate fire fighting vehicles and equipment. · importance 4.5
• Inspect fire sites after flames have been extinguished to ensure that there is no further danger. · importance 4.5
• Position and climb ladders to gain access to upper levels of buildings, or to rescue individuals from burning structures. · importance 4.5
• Select and attach hose nozzles, depending on fire type, and direct streams of water or chemicals onto fires. · importance 4.5
• Maintain contact with fire dispatchers at all times to notify them of the need for additional firefighters and supplies, or to detail any difficulties encountered. · importance 4.4
• Collaborate with other firefighters as a member of a firefighting crew. · importance 4.4
• Patrol burned areas after fires to locate and eliminate hot spots that may restart fires. · importance 4.3
• Collaborate with police to respond to accidents, disasters, and arson investigation calls. · importance 4.3

See all tasks on the Firefighters page.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-task-22988,
  title  = {Operate pumps connected to high-pressure hoses.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-22988}
}