By CHIEF BILLY GOLDFEDER
Courtesy FirefighterCloseCalls.com

Hey...

Here are some details related to 2 Moms and their Daughters who are Firefighters. One Daughter (along with her partner) "Fire Captain" was killed in the Line of Duty-after falling into a burning basement. More details in a sec...just below.

But the 1st one is a daughter "Firefighter" who was seriously injured in a dwelling fire -- who now feels that the FD she works for is treating her less than fairly.

Naturally upset after watching her daughter go through 2.5 years of surgeries and rehab due to burns in that house fire, Marolyn Schuenke slammed the Community Fire Protection District board of directors last night ... because they fired her daughter.

"You guys all had your arms around me in the hospital saying you'd take care of her," Mom Schuenke charged as the directors, eyes cast downward, walked to their cars following a closed board meeting called to address the termination of firefighter-paramedic Cindy Schuenke. Terminate? Seriously burned so in appreciation we will TERMINATE you?! WTF! Don't be shocked-it happens more than we realize.

You can read the entire article below but again, we see how some in our business are treated and it REMINDS ALL OF US to look NOW-and find out-EXACTLY what coverage's, protections and related security YOU would have for you-and your family-if you are seriously injured on the job. For career Firefighters: what is the written plan to insure you and your family are taken care of? For volunteer, call and part-time Firefighters: same questions ...PLUS what about your normal income? What happens there?

About 12 years ago I approached my then boss, a City Manager at the time (now former city manager), to discuss what coverage's and protections we would provide for our on-call, part-time and volunteer Firefighters if they were hurt seriously-with long term medical and related implications. I knew we had the backs of our career members, but was concerned about the balance of all our members. His response (not shocking if you knew this clueless city hall dweller) was that since they are part-time, we can terminate them at anytime. WTF!? And that was his response. Period.

Of course we fought it (we lost the battle but overall won the war over time) but man oh man, not only was I (at the time) amazed at his "I couldn't care less" attitude-but the fact that there was NO coverage except for whatever workers comp provides. And if you have been on this job longer than 15 minutes, you know that root canal is more fun than dealing with workers comp.

So what SHOULD a FD do? Plan ahead and prepare for this kind of situation so there is little subjectivity and it is clear to everyone exactly "what will and what will not" happen if "that" happens. We also must TAKE TIME to check out what our personal coverage's are RIGHT NOW if you were injured in the line of duty-and couldn't return to work for a few weeks, months or years. Better to ask now than from a hospital bed.

By the way-the IAFC Safety, Health and Survival Section (www.IAFCSafety.org) has a task force working on this specific issue, to help Chiefs understand how to prevent the incident-but also how to plan ahead and prevent poor coverage and care issues "after the fact" when a member is critically injured.

HERE IS THE LINK to the story about a Firefighting Daughter and her Mom...and the Firefighters Termination:
http://preview.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscityco...

A FALLEN FIREFIGHTING DAUGHTER AND HER SURVIVING MOM:

Last Spring, Fallen Colerain Township Capt. Robin Broxterman was Killed in the Line of Duty along with her partner, Firefighter Brian Schira. Preliminary LODD Report here: http://www.coleraintwp.org/fire.cfm

Captain Broxterman was a college student and a fire service instructor...and overall, a "set the example" fan of fire service education and training. Last month, on July 6, 2008, Arlene (and EMS Instructor and former FF) and Don Zang (a Former Firefighter) came to the University of Cincinnati and received their daughter's diploma posthumously. Robin's Mom, Arlene spoke some words in a wonderful tribute to her daughter. Below is the link well worth 3 minutes of your time....please check it out...
Another example of a Firefighting daughter and her Mom: http://www.uc.edu/cas/firescience/bennett/2008ArleneZangtributeCapt...

Take Care-BE CAREFUL-CHECK YOUR COVERAGES.
BillyG
The Secret List 8-27-08 / 1010 hours
www.FireFighterCloseCalls.com