Firefighting & Rescue Social / Professional Network
Just my opinion and I'm stickin to it!
Just some thaughts that I really need to get off my chest:
1. All junior firefighter programs should be shut down.
2. 100% volunteer departments should close and be combi stations at the very least with a minimal staffing of four FULL-TIME professional firefighters
3. All emergency lights should be banned from ALL personal vehicles
4. No volunteer firefighter should be allowed to respond directly (with the exception of any chief officer) to the scene under any circumstances. You miss the truck, you miss the call...sorry about your luck
5. A mandatory amount of training of 16 hours a month should be required to stay active on the roles, physical fitness training included
6. Failure to wear seatbelts just one time should result in a 30 day suspension any other violation should result in automatic dismissal of the fire department; no questions asked
7. A written equipment familiarization test should be issued every six monthes, testing on location of equipment on the apparatus and how it works
This line of work is NOT taken serious enough. It is just a glorified glamour show for so many whackers who just want to look and feel important.
Safety is not an issue, very few care.
They act like they do but really don't & I see it everyday
Does everybody really know their stuff? I have seen some who are known as the elite but just proved to me that the are just smoke firemen...see smoke, spray water. Too bad it was just a burned up motor in the basement.
How many vollies are really capable of running command? I see so many who can't even speak english over the air but hey; they will be the best chief...okay there Mr. gold badge with a glorified title with a portable hanging off your hip for no reason
Bet you don't know the definition of Liability, LODD, and oh ya, a structure fire
What qualifies a "fireman" to get on the truck? Oh okay ya that vote and just a signiture on an ap reallty makes you a real fireman. Who needs training and testing to do the job? I guess FDNY has been going along so wrong over the years along with all the other departments who mandate training and testing. Nope, no need to prove yourself, just say you're only a volunteer and everything will be okay and hunkydory. It's okay if the block burns down and if your friends die. You're just a volunteer.
I am so proud to be a VOLUNTEER firefighter but am so embarrassed to what the reality of it really is. I don't even admit in public that I'm a vol. fireman because they all (the public) see how volunteer firemen are. a bunch of whackers who think they are the top dawgs or something.
I'm sorry, I'm just a bit bitter over some things and may regret typing this later. But I'm not making this up because I'm just getting off my chest everything that bothers me that I hear every single day. How many arson fires do we have to see before it stops?
How many useless LODDs do we have to witness before it stops?
How many more lives have to be lost because of an untrained command officer who has no business being in charge?
Why do some have to rely on juniors in school (children) for manpower?
something has to give and I want to see improvement. I want to see less LODDs and I want to see firefighters in this job for the RIGHT reasons, other than just going real fast through red lights.
Again, I'm not trying to be out of line but I just see too many things wrong that can be improved so easily that will save lives for both firefighters as well as the public.
1. All junior firefighter programs should be shut down.
2. 100% volunteer departments should close and be combi stations at the very least with a minimal staffing of four FULL-TIME professional firefighters
3. All emergency lights should be banned from ALL personal vehicles
4. No volunteer firefighter should be allowed to respond directly (with the exception of any chief officer) to the scene under any circumstances. You miss the truck, you miss the call...sorry about your luck
5. A mandatory amount of training of 16 hours a month should be required to stay active on the roles, physical fitness training included
6. Failure to wear seatbelts just one time should result in a 30 day suspension any other violation should result in automatic dismissal of the fire department; no questions asked
7. A written equipment familiarization test should be issued every six monthes, testing on location of equipment on the apparatus and how it works
This line of work is NOT taken serious enough. It is just a glorified glamour show for so many whackers who just want to look and feel important.
Safety is not an issue, very few care.
They act like they do but really don't & I see it everyday
Does everybody really know their stuff? I have seen some who are known as the elite but just proved to me that the are just smoke firemen...see smoke, spray water. Too bad it was just a burned up motor in the basement.
How many vollies are really capable of running command? I see so many who can't even speak english over the air but hey; they will be the best chief...okay there Mr. gold badge with a glorified title with a portable hanging off your hip for no reason
Bet you don't know the definition of Liability, LODD, and oh ya, a structure fire
What qualifies a "fireman" to get on the truck? Oh okay ya that vote and just a signiture on an ap reallty makes you a real fireman. Who needs training and testing to do the job? I guess FDNY has been going along so wrong over the years along with all the other departments who mandate training and testing. Nope, no need to prove yourself, just say you're only a volunteer and everything will be okay and hunkydory. It's okay if the block burns down and if your friends die. You're just a volunteer.
I am so proud to be a VOLUNTEER firefighter but am so embarrassed to what the reality of it really is. I don't even admit in public that I'm a vol. fireman because they all (the public) see how volunteer firemen are. a bunch of whackers who think they are the top dawgs or something.
I'm sorry, I'm just a bit bitter over some things and may regret typing this later. But I'm not making this up because I'm just getting off my chest everything that bothers me that I hear every single day. How many arson fires do we have to see before it stops?
How many useless LODDs do we have to witness before it stops?
How many more lives have to be lost because of an untrained command officer who has no business being in charge?
Why do some have to rely on juniors in school (children) for manpower?
something has to give and I want to see improvement. I want to see less LODDs and I want to see firefighters in this job for the RIGHT reasons, other than just going real fast through red lights.
Again, I'm not trying to be out of line but I just see too many things wrong that can be improved so easily that will save lives for both firefighters as well as the public.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tom Wheland on -
Start by parking all on the same side and tell them to keep well back from the incident.
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Permalink Reply by Captain703 on -
They do that right. But it just looks like a parade on the side of the road. We have some who will park in the way of the ambulance not thinking of them being on the way but not there yet.
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Gaudio on -
Micheal & Shaun,
I'm not going to argue your points. I had some things on my mind when I posted this and shouldn't have said some of the things I did.
Vol. depts shouldn't shut down but I do think that combining stations and putting a couple of guys on shifts would be a great idea.
I don't think the Junior program should shut down but when departments let their juniors go into fires, how often does that happen? If even just a few depts allow juniors to enter a fire, that's uncalled for and that's why I added that in there.
How many vollies are capable of running command?
Around my area there is no requirement for officers. So there might be an officer who shows up to run command and doesn't know what a collaps zone is. Now do you understand? Do you want an unqualified officer running command who doesn't know how to read smoke from outside or has no clue how to order approaching fire apparatus into the scene? How about an OIC who doesn't know when to pull the interior guys out. A few beers and a company vote and anybody can be a chief. That's not right to me.
What does qualify a firefighter to respond? You didn't understand my paragraph so allow me to explain better. You show up at a fire, get ready to go in, you are ready to make an attack when suddenly your partner gets scared and bails out. Or you have a partner who has no clue what's going on and poses more danger to you than you are already in. How about a member who is completely incompetemt and can't even comprehend the most simple task? I feel that there should be some simple tests for all vol. ffs who join to see where they stand in the dept and if they're compitent enough to respond on calls.
unfortunately about as many as will die because of trained command officers that have no business being in charge......don't set yourself up for failure by thinking that just because someone has training that they become "magically" competent - you have a very good point.
Why do some have to rely on juniors in school (children) for manpower?
the same reason some placed rely on senior citizens.....and the same reason some rely on 20somethings
I don't understand...I can't make sense of that. No kid should be pulled out of school for a vol. fire dept. Another reason why I said junior programs should shut down. If a department can't be responsible for it's juniors, then there shouldn't be a junior program.
Right reasons...well if someone joins just to have a bunch of blue lights on their vehicle but won't be worth a hair on the crack of your a** in the dept or on scene, they're not in it for the right reasons. If someone joins, and just wants to be an officer, just to look important while they walk around at parades, they're not in it for the right reasons.
If you join to be a firefighter, to save lives and property, you are in it for the right reasons.
I hope that helps.
I appreciate you takin time out to respond to my discussion. I was a bit upset over some things when I posted this but once it was up, I couldn't change it.
I'm not going against vol depts and I said earlier in this discussion that I would put some vol. ffs against any paid ff because of their knowledge and skill.
This is not aimed at all fire departments. Only toward the certain ones who are lazy, refuse to train and have no place in the fire service.
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Permalink Reply by blair4630 on -
I know what you means about the officer requirements. While all of our chief officers are very experienced and active...we have one I was talking to about one of our members going down to VA to take a dept.'s CPAT, he said "what's that?"....not too big of a deal, he's never been to a CPAT or tried out for a dept.
We had another lieutenant who me and him shared our same first fire...we were still in essentials.
So yeah, I feel what you're talking about.
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Permalink Reply by Capt.Alex Arnold on -
Jeff-
I am very impressed with the way that you have handled this post. You clearly stated your opinions (and I am a proud vet that fought for you, like many before and after me, to have that right) and you have clearly stated any remarks that address such. BRAZO ZULU (Navy talk for good job). I would tend to agree with some of your comments like many of us do.
Allow me to share the "Four Standards of Failure" with you. Really quickly the history of this. The US Army was noticing that there were some definite issues going on, pertaining to training and expectation of standards. Many brains got together and developed a very simple and clear statement that draws out where and how failures occur.
1-Failure of Standards: Standadrs are unclear, impractical, or nonexistent.
2-Failure of Training: Standards exist but are unknown or ways to achieve them are not known.
3-Failure of Leadership: Standards are know but not enforced.
4-Failure of the Individual: Standards are clearly known but are not followed.
Now these are also know as the "Major Reasons for Human Error." Typically, it is the first three that are the cause of issuesand failures, especially on the volunteer side. Now I know that this is not a vollie vs career thing , and I to do not want this to be that way. But since you shared your opinion I will share mine. I think that the wonderful men and women of the Volunteer Fire Service (of which I am) have more heart than a career FF. I say this because they are volunteers and not doing it for a pay check. The issue lies, has you stated, in what the standard are no matter if it is a career or vollie. Many of these standards can be reached and sustained with just a little bit of true conversation. The expectations may sometimes be unclear and never truly clarified for years. So then the issue continues on and on until finally someone gets hurt, physically or emotionally. Then all of the sudden there is a big case of CYA going on and a group can suddenly become individulized.
I highly recommend that we all, no matter what your position, proffession, intention, and anything else might be, to post those standards of failure someplace. Then when you are questioning either your own or someone elses poor decisions think of those and see where the failure truly lies. I can gurantee you that the majority of the time it will be one of the first two, but rarely will it be the last. Individuals in this service are here to succeed not fail.
Remember, the failed expectation is most of the time the uncommunicated expectation.
Be safe and learn something today.
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Gaudio on
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Thank You very much Alex, and thank you for your service to our country.
I appreciate your response and I do learn something new everyday.
Stay Safe.
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Permalink Reply by KimiAnn Corey on -
agree. i dont like jr. departments. in my station alot of us respond from home. i mean say we have to catch a truck or no go. so if there is a call on my road between my house and the station, i cant stop?? no i would stop and call central and let them know whats goin on. never drive by a call. lights are good for that to. espically in the dark if a pov gets there b4 the truck it lets us know or the ambulance where the sence is instead of straning there eyes at 4 in the am. Yes everyone needs to train. but im a volunteer i have a house payment if i have to miss a few trainings to pay my bills then i miss those house. punish me for feeding my family no biggie. paid is a little different. i train as much as i can but we i need money i need money.
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