What
is the biggest misconception that the public has about firefighter/fire
departments?
I posed this
question to our FDI social media outlets the other day and fire chiefs
throughout the United States with overwhelming responses. Here is the TOP ANWERS:
“That we watch TV all day”
“Sit around all day in arm chairs sleeping”
“Play Dominos”
“People don’t realize all the training we have to do to keep up
with the times. We not only train on the fire side of things but also on the EMS
side now because most departments provide both services.”
Lets take
the 24 on/48 off schedule of a firefighter for example. From the time they
get to work their job does not stop. They have to do their daily checks of
equipment and apparatuses, maintenance checks, station duties, training to keep
them on top of the game….the list can go on and on.
I have not even begun to mention what the
firefighter main job priority: TO
PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY. The
numerous non-emergency and emergency calls that one station can get in a day
along with the crazy hours they will come in changes constantly, they are on-call from
the moment they arrive until they leave which may or may not be in that 24 hour
period depending on the types of emergencies.
Here are a few more:
“They don’t understand why it takes three firefighters to
go shopping in an engine.”
“Rescue Cats in trees”
“Pose for Calendars”
“People think the firehouse should be open 24/7 to the public
and we should not lock it up.”
And the #1
response to the question was:
“That we are all PAID for the job we do!”
I believe this is note worthy as 71% of all fire departments in the
United States are Volunteer Fire Departments according to the FEMA 2012 National Fire Department Censes: http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/census/summary.cfm
The definition of a volunteer is someone who does work without being
paid for it, because they want to do it. In the
fire service, there are career (paid) firefighters and volunteers. Both are
typically trained equally and perform the same job. A volunteer may be more
community minded. They have a vested interest in the community because they
perform the job as a sense of duty to their friends, neighbors and family.
Whether private,
volunteer or municipal firefighters, they are all professionals and ARE MUCH NEEDED IN OUR WORLD. They do
the jobs that most of us do not or could not imagine doing with enthusiasm, zeal, and
passion without regard to the weather, time of day, location or type of call.
Could you
imagine if we had no one to protect our communities from fires, medical
emergencies and catastrophes? Firefighters are our first community’s first
defense in emergency and non-emergency situations.
So, next time you wonder what a firefighter does, go visit your
community fire house or go to the next fundraiser they have, shake their hand
and ask questions. Support your
firefighters by being involved and helping those who help others. Never assume you know what the day and life
of a firefighter consists of, because it is constantly changing and new
challenges arise with out warning.
-Michele
-Michele
I hope you will keep on submitting new articles or blog posts & thank you for sharing your great experience with us.
ReplyDeleteNice post, things explained in details. Thank You.
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