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Pet Peeves...
Okay, so maybe I'm being extra bitchy today or something but I've just got this need to vent all my pet peeves.
First, I think it should be a $1000.00 fine if you don't have your house numbers CLEARLY visible from the street(facing both directions) in reflective numbers at least 4" in size.
And I know this second one is not very sensitive(politically correct), but I have a problem with rolling on medical calls to people(especially diabetics) who refuse to take care of their health problems and call us to bail them out when things go bad. I am a T2 diabetic and I control my diabetes entirely with diet and excercise, so I tend to have a diminished amount of sympathy for a 500lb diabetic patient with hypertension who calls 911 with a neglected foot wound and proceeds to blow cigarette smoke in my face and complain about being tired all the time while I'm trying to dress an ulcer that is going septic because they refuse transport. Knowing that we will be back in a week or so to help EMS carry them out of the living room to the ambulance to go to the Med Center to have the wound treated and try and save the foot.
Okay, I've vented and feel MUCH better now. Thanks for listening!!
Reg
First, I think it should be a $1000.00 fine if you don't have your house numbers CLEARLY visible from the street(facing both directions) in reflective numbers at least 4" in size.
And I know this second one is not very sensitive(politically correct), but I have a problem with rolling on medical calls to people(especially diabetics) who refuse to take care of their health problems and call us to bail them out when things go bad. I am a T2 diabetic and I control my diabetes entirely with diet and excercise, so I tend to have a diminished amount of sympathy for a 500lb diabetic patient with hypertension who calls 911 with a neglected foot wound and proceeds to blow cigarette smoke in my face and complain about being tired all the time while I'm trying to dress an ulcer that is going septic because they refuse transport. Knowing that we will be back in a week or so to help EMS carry them out of the living room to the ambulance to go to the Med Center to have the wound treated and try and save the foot.
Okay, I've vented and feel MUCH better now. Thanks for listening!!
Reg
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by firechief911 on
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ok my pet peeve
i been vol for 17.5 years, been chief of dept 13 years .
if you want to vol why not show up to the meeting or fire instead of drive by with your boat or 4 wheller in tow . if your ask where were you. you state you already had plans .
hum maybe we can start planning fires and accidents . hey theres an idea
thats my pet peeve if you vol do it all time . not when its conveniant for you .
i want get in to showing up for classes you have to have when you already commeted
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Permalink Reply by SMOKEnPipesJim on
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I know that a buddy from a differant job from Mine who, when he rode the bus, they found a stick on sign that advertised "We Clean Gutters" it was mounted to the outboard side of the rig and through some artful driving stayed on the bus for a couple weeks..before being "caught" by one of the BC's , Who Laughed but told em to remove and destroy the sign before the chief saw it , cuz he wouldn't findit humerous at all, even though he never rode the bus in his day...
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Permalink Reply by Grant Bennett on
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Along with the volunteer aspect: did or do u have firefighters that drop their kids off at the station to run a call? that really upsets me because we are supposed to be pillars in the community but because someone wants to go on a call they feel that they are O.K. to abandon a child and go? i understand when it is a working fire of an MVA with extrication but not because granny down the street was having pain in her pinky toe.
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Permalink Reply by Medicine Man on
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Wow you were made chief after 4.5 years?! Now thats some serious "room for advancement" at your dept! Did you even have to take a test for the position? Please tell me that this is a typo or I am I missing something here?
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I give you one better. On the dept that I used to run volley at, we had a gentleman (and I use that term loosely) that responded on several occations L&S in his POV with his kids in the vehicle. When he got to the station, he threw his keys to one of the guys there and said "here watch my kids for me I will be back after this call." Sad part this guys was a deputy sheriff. Some people are so gung ho that they put their own lives and their families lives in jeopardy just to make a call. Its hard enough to be safe once you are on scene at any incident. Lets not kill us getting there!
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Permalink Reply by Jack Booth on
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I agree... I hate it whenever people do not have at least 4" to 6" letters and/or numbers on their house so that emergency services personnel can see what house that they are at. If people do not have the right size letters and/or numbers... and they are clearly marked on the house from the roadway... then they aught to have to pay a hefty fine from the local government that they live in (e.g. - County, City, or Town). Also, I hate it whenever your patient "whines" or "belly-aches" because you took such a long time to respond to their so called "emergency" because you were riding around their neighborhood, looking for their residence because you didn't see their numbers or they didn't even have numbers. We responded to an EMS call the other day, SOB, and the guy didn't even have numbers on his house. He "whined" about how long it took us to respond to his house and I told him that he didn't have any address numbers on the front of his house. My patient preceeded to tell me that the U.S. Postal Service could find his house... why couldn't we. I told my patient that it was not in my job description to deliver his mail and whenever it became my job... then I would remember where every single resident lived in town. I even added that the Postal Service was not responding to an emergency... that they could take their time and investigate where his house was located... and that even the Postal Service sometimes put the wrong mail in the wrong mailbox. Whoooh... now I feel better. Thanks for listening, guys.
Jack
FTM - PTB
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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Where did I say that inappropriate doesn't exist? I didn't. What I did say is that there's a difference between our perceptions of our services as being oriented at acute (kids hiding in the closet with the fire downstairs) problems when we get called for the runny nose that is a symptom of a deeper chronic problem.
That means there's a mismatch between our perceptions and the public's perceptions, and between what our services are intended to provide as opposed to what we actually get called to provide. What it does NOT mean is that we're the best agency to call for every problem. What you percive as inappropriate catering I percieve as just being nice to people that generally don't know any better...and...take the opportunity to link the customers with the appropriate agency, non-profit, or whatever group that can provide the means to help with them with the underlying chronic problem. If all you do is try to force public perceptions to match ours, and bitch about it afterwards, you'll just get more and more frustrated about the problem and the increasing number of response you run where those perceptions are mismatched.
The fire service has spent hundreds of years being our own worst enemies. Lots of us spend our entire careers putting bandaids on situations that need major surgery because we think that's all we can do at the company level. Sometimes that is all we can do. Sometimes it's not - we just need to be creative and more proactive in finding longer-term solutions instead of running back for the umpteenth runny nose-wiping at the same address.
Long-range thinking is why Phoenix FD is so successful at doing so many things...they stopped thinking at the company level and realized that while they specialize in acute problems, that they are also an entry-level link to some providers of chronic problem solutions. Lots of east coast firefighters make fun of the Phoenix system, but they're probably the best-funded-per-capita fire department in any major U.S. city. They have excellent response times, their fires go out, they have an excellent community relations track record, and they are successful by just about any standard you can name in either fire or EMS. Their mission statement consists of five - count 'em, five - words.
"Prevent harm, survive, be nice"
40% of their mission statement is being nice to people. I noticed that "Don't cater" and "Bitch a lot" are not in the mission statement anywhere. Is that going to fix poverty, less access to health care for the poor, and runny noses? Nope, not even close. Does that mean that we can't be nice to people who need help, even if they call us for things that we percieve as inappropriate? Also a big "Nope". Does bitching about it accomplish anything? Let's see, I'm reaching for a word here...how about "Nope".
If you want to compare notes about how long this has been going on, re-read "Report from Engine Company 82" and see Dennis Smith's discussion of exactly what we're talking about. Then call Dennis and ask him how long he's been retired. Then find out if complaining about it has made the slightest iota of difference in, say, Engine 82's first-due. I'm betting it hasn't.
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Permalink Reply by Reg Mathis on
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Wow, now I don't feel so bad about having to vent! But one thing I want to make clear(although I'm sure I don't really have to), my personal feelings will never affect the level of care I give my patients. They will never know how many (self-inflicted)holes are in my tongue after we have them packaged up and enroute to hospital. And will my venting change anything? Of course not. But I don't think any of us believe that venting here will change anything, we've been doing this too long to fall for that nonsense. I started this thread because I'm tired of going out to the training tower and screaming...because it makes my throat sore.
Maybe I should call the paramedics!
Train hard, stay safe and come here to vent which will help you keep from "accidently" dropping the O2 bottle on Mrs. Magillicuddy's terrier as it yaps about nipping at your turnouts!!
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Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on
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What is even worse than this is when people have their address clearly marked, but it's the wrong address. Some years ago our county re-numbered some areas where the addresses didn't fit the county-wide numbering scheme, however not everyone has changed their street signs - if they in fact have one.
Within the past year we went to a location with an address on the mailbox, and a person out front plowing his driveway. Who, by the way, never even glanced in our direction. After about 2 or 3 round trips up and down this stretch of road (I was driving the bus) we FINALLY guessed that the house where plow-boy was working was the place. He started right in with his complaining as soon as we got to the door: "I'm not changing my address, blah blah..." I pointed out to him that the county, and therefore the 911 Center and telephone company, thought his address was x instead of y. He didn't appreciate the enlightenment.
One of these days he's going to be the proud owner of a new reflective number sign with the right number on it.
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We've had a couple of incidents where the homeowner moved from somewhere else and brought their mailbox with them, but didn't think it was important to remove the OLD numbers off of the box!!!
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Brunicini's service book is required reading for all new recruits when they start company school. The book is kinda dry, but has many excellent points in every chapter. It is also required re-read for the Lt. Test. Interestingly enough their mission statement is the same as my dept. Which we obviously pilfered from them.
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