John Ball's Page

Hometown:

South Bend

I Live: (City, State)

South Bend, Indiana

Years in Fire/EMS:

five years

Why I Joined the Fire/EMS:

There are alot of reasons that I joined the fire service. The main reasons being obviously because I have always had an urge to help people in need, maybe thats why I am also a medic in the Army National Guard. Also growing up I thought that the fire department would be a very fun place to work and to this day I have no complaints and I love going to work at the station.

Relationship Status:

Divorced

Primary Fire/EMS Department:

South West Central Fire Territory

Department Type:

Combination Fire Rescue Department

Rank/Role There:

Firefighter / EMT-Basic, 911 Operator/Dispatcher, Driver / Engineer

Years With This Department/Agency

Five years

Dept. Web Site:

http://www.swcft.com

My Training:

Since joining the department I have went through a multatude of classes including: Firefighter 1-2, Hazmat Awareness, EMT - B, EVOC, NIMS 100 200 and 700 and I am currently working on getting my Automobile Extracation Operations as well as my EMT-Advanced

About Me:

Hey everybody my name is John and I have been a firefigher for the last 5 years. Growing up I always wanted to be a full time firefighter so when I got into high school I was given the oppertunity to get on the fire department through a Co-Op program. Then in 2005 while still on the department i decided to join the military and left later that year for boot camp. When I got back I was still on the department but I was no longer going through the Co-Op program, I was a real person. I remained a volunteer on the department. Also when I came back I found the person that I thought that i would spend the rest of my life with so only 3 months after we started dating we got married at the courthouse. Then in early 2007 I found out that I would be going oversees to Baghdad. So I went over and faught for my country and then when I returned I started the divorce proceess which unfortunatly is still going on to this day. Then in Feb. of this year I took a full time firefighter position on South West Central Fire Territory where I am currently at station 2 on A shift.

Day Job:

Firefighter

Side Jobs or Other Organizations:

911 dispatcher for St. Joseph County Fire Dispach

Personal Site/Profile:

http://www.swcft.com

Top Issues Facing Responders:

I think that there alot of issues facing responders, on the top of the list woould be lack of funding and for the departments that rely on volunteers a lack of people wanting to volunteer. Also everything is constantly changing, everything from adding new subdivisions, new building materials, and all the new medications coming out now.

I Love Being in Fire/EMS Because:

I know at the end of the day that I have given back to society