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Think before dissing firefighters!!
Think before dissing firefighters!!1
When the fire trucks are delayed 40 seconds in traffic, People say:
“It took them 20 minutes to get here.”
When the truck races at 40 m.p.h., it’s:
“Look at those reckless fools.”
When four men struggle with an eight-man ladder:
“They don’t even know how to raise a ladder.”
When firemen open windows for ventilation to reduce heat in fighting a fire:
“Look at the wrecking crew.”
When they open the floor to get at a blaze:
“There goes the axe squad.”
If the chief stands back where he can see and direct his men, people say:
“He’s afraid to go where he sends his men.”
If they lose a building:
“It’s a lousy department.”
If they make a good “stop” folks say:
“The fire didn’t amount to much.”
If lots of water is necessary:
“They are doing more damage with water than the flames.”
If a fireman gets hurt:
“He was a careless guy.”
It a citizen gets hurt:
“It’s a crazy department.”
If a fireman inspects a citizen’s property:
“He’s meddling in somebody ’s business.”
If he wants a fire hazard correct:
“I’ll see the mayor.”
If he/she gets killed and leaves a family destitute:
“That’s the chance he/SHE took when they joined the fire department.”
Author unknown
When the fire trucks are delayed 40 seconds in traffic, People say:
“It took them 20 minutes to get here.”
When the truck races at 40 m.p.h., it’s:
“Look at those reckless fools.”
When four men struggle with an eight-man ladder:
“They don’t even know how to raise a ladder.”
When firemen open windows for ventilation to reduce heat in fighting a fire:
“Look at the wrecking crew.”
When they open the floor to get at a blaze:
“There goes the axe squad.”
If the chief stands back where he can see and direct his men, people say:
“He’s afraid to go where he sends his men.”
If they lose a building:
“It’s a lousy department.”
If they make a good “stop” folks say:
“The fire didn’t amount to much.”
If lots of water is necessary:
“They are doing more damage with water than the flames.”
If a fireman gets hurt:
“He was a careless guy.”
It a citizen gets hurt:
“It’s a crazy department.”
If a fireman inspects a citizen’s property:
“He’s meddling in somebody ’s business.”
If he wants a fire hazard correct:
“I’ll see the mayor.”
If he/she gets killed and leaves a family destitute:
“That’s the chance he/SHE took when they joined the fire department.”
Author unknown
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by O'Kitty on
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Fortunately, here in our area I have not experienced any such negativity. I think our public is generally appreciative of what we do.
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer on
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Thats awesome Kitty...I try to show as much support as I can as well. I think we have our good places and bad places it's all about being like being pennies flipped in the air...it's different where ya land ..Stay safe!
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Permalink Reply by ILDisasterEMT on
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I think there has been a lot of good said about how we have to view it from the public's point of view. My primary role in the fire service is and will be EMS. One of the first calls I ever ran was a man who had just come home from vacation with his wife. They had been home less than two hours and for an unknown reason, he began to seize sitting in his recliner. Our time on scene was less than 2 minutes and he was still actively seizing. He was burning up, his skin was dry as a bone and his eyes were rolled back in his head. Time from tone out to established line in the left a/c space, 5.5 minutes. Time from tone out to 4mg of ativan on board 6.5 minutes. Time to complete post-ictaly: 8.0 minutes. But can you imagine how that felt for that woman standing their watching her elderly husband go through that. Its a horrible and helpless feeling and when you call for help, you want them there yesterday. Imagine a time when you have needed 911 for fire, rescue or medical. You go outside your house to wait. You can hear those sirens coming forever and it never seems like they are getting any closer. But if you have been on the other side of the siren, trying to get through traffic, driving up on curbs, trying to "coach" foolish drivers out of your way on the loud hailer...it can be a pretty desperate feeling for us too. So maybe we just have to always be mindful that our frustration is the same that they feel but added to it is that its their loved one, or even themselves with pains in their chest or that bone sticking out at a sickening angle after a fall down some steps. The department I am training with has no ambulances of its own, so we get there sometimes before, sometimes with and sometimes after the private service that we work with. And if its before, its could be another five or six minutes before the ambulance shows up. Often, as an EMT-B, Im the most medically trained person on scene for those 5 or 6 minutes. There have been times where I have done CPR on a patient in the back seat of a squad car because the ambulance was caught in traffic and it was a grab and go situation. All of these things play into any given call, but we are the ones in control. Imagine having no control over that situation. And do we sometimes bark orders or angry words at civilians? Sure we do. But whenever I can, I try to find them later and say Im sorry and let them know why things got heated. There isnt always time to ask someone nicely to move out of your way. We're looking at the same emergency but they dont have the elements that we have to help us deal. We can be very committed to the job and horrified if someone doesnt get out of a house as it burns to the ground. But its not our mother or father or children so no matter how bad we hurt when it happens, we still have to remember to compound that pain so that we can try to empathize with those who are standing there. Helpless as we smash out windows or cut a car apart. As an EMT, I often the one inside the car holding the hand and trying to be comforting. Ive been inside there as the sparks and metal and glass fly...as the crash victim. Ive also gone unconscious in that same crash and woke up to find myself looking into the strong and determined faced of that firefighter who may be all that stands between me and snuffing it. As for the flack we take from EMS...Im usually on both sides of that on every call. My department runs 85% medical/rescue calls. So we get alot from out ambulance crews of why didnt you do this or why did you do that? Its all part of the game. Whether we are EMS or fire, we have the same primary goal: to cheat death. Saving property is third on the list of things to do. Save life. Mitigate emergency. Salvage property. And alot of what we do looks haphazard and scary to the public. Look at the tools we use: theyre intended to smash and break and cut. To us and to the extrication teams, its a finely tuned art. To civilians, it looks like we are just playing around.
To be able to see it from both sides...thats when you will be the best at what you do. Thats why on medical calls, I never run from the rig to the scene. I spend that time, that 5 or 10 seconds thinking "what if this was me? what if that was my mother or my girlfriend?" I dont serve as my departments chaplain, but as an ordained chaplain, i often end up being the comforter. If you find yourself in that postition, remember that its ok to be human. We've all seen our brothers and sisters with tears running down their cheeks making streaks in the soot and mud and blood. We may have to suck it in to be strong for those we are helping, but inside its ok to be scared. Like my Chief says: "If you roll up on a fully involved structure and you arent scared, youre either blind or sh** stupid."
So stay safe, keep your helmet on and remember what its like to both be the rescuer and the rescued.
GBTFS.
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Permalink Reply by Aaron Jones on
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Thats the way life goes...You have to love the job
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Permalink Reply by Clark Hummel on
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Spanner I do work in the real world on both sides of the service. Dont take this as a arrogant or irritated response. Perhaps my world isnt the same as yours. I do work in a volunteer environment. We had a very bad reputation when I joined the department. Through a lot of PR work we have improved it. Its not perfect but better. As far as the Drug pushers Bus drivers whatever you want to call the medical side of our world there is a lot of annimosity. My town has a private ambulance service that treats the fire dept like second class citizens until they need us. We are slowly improving that through humility. They only have one rig so when a second call comes in, the neighboring combination dept, called for mutual aid asks for us to respond with our first responder rig to begin care. So i guess your 3 D world is reality. But reality is what you make it.
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Permalink Reply by Donnie Bathje on
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Chris, just a word of advice. The people we serve don't usually care anything about us until they need us. And then we are their heros. But to say they couldn't do it, more like they have no desire to do it. That is fine leaves more for us. However after reading your post I had to look at your profile to be sure it was you. I have seen other people give you some advice on your language. I am too warning you that a mouth like that will only get you in trouble. I notice you are a Jr. Firefighter, so I assume you are under 18. I would shut my kid down if I ever see him write anything like that. You can say what you want and even express your exact sentiments without all cursing. There is a time and a place, but this isn't it. Grow strong, grow smart and become a professional. You are part of the greatest profession in the world, don't drag it down.
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Permalink Reply by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on
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Captain Gonzo has a description for these types.
He calls them 3/20s.
It means that they have been to THREE calls and talk like they've been in for 20 YEARS.
Or something like that.
Anyway; I have noticed a certain "bravado" coming from the "kids".
To their credit, at least most of them have a grasp for the terminology. Now; if they can just hold on for a little longer, they'll be grown up and can go to fires and squirt water.
Until then, they will have to be content with dreaming as they sleep in their fire truck bed.
Art
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Permalink Reply by Spanner 122 on
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I call the Paramedic service, the Paramedic service. I refuse to call them anything but. They do a great job and a job that I would not want to do. We have a private service here as well, but they do not have a 911 contract so we never see them. Our issue is with the other unionized fulltime emergency service providers, which makes it that much harder to hear. For the most part, which I'm sure I've said at some point, they are great. I have had very good experiences, but there are just enough who have nothing good to say to us, or about us. They throw us comments and jabs in front of patients, there are other things, but going into it would give away some privacy issues (such as where I am and whom I am complaining about... lol). We have had some really big issues here, mostly started by management and it works it's way down. Our 911 system also leaves us at each others throats because we are dispatched late to many calls when our assistance could have been useful (and in one case in particular, there is possible litigation because we were dispatched so late). I have friends who were paramedics or went through the two year course and they said it's amazing that it starts during the course. They are taught that we are hose monkeys meant to do their compressions and get thier stretchers ready. I kid you not.
I for one, will smile, will be polite, will be positive. I have no desire to engage in negative banter or petty trash talk (even when I've been snapped at, talked down to and my Capt has been yelled at for wanting to clear when there were 6 of them). I just feel that if we had a greater public image problem, being called out and called down by other emergency services certainly wouldn't help it. Know what I mean? And it's a two way street. The guys who slag on the Paramedics should also realize that they aren't doing themselves any good.
There's an overall tension between the departments, it's not my perception of the reality. You defintiely would have to experience it to know. As for the 3D comment, you had mentioned you felt there was none of that on this site... just wanted to clarify that I didn't either, I hadn't said there was. Just out in the ole real world. :)
All of that being said, I have run some calls, regardless of outcome, with EMS that have been almost a pleasure. I was able to learn a few things and even shared a laugh with the medics. Those calls are great, but that's the difference between the truly professional and those with a chip on their shoulders (and like I said, it goes both ways).
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Permalink Reply by Chris Hayden on
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Sounds like a lot of people are doing this job for the wrong reasons. If you expect a thank you after every call maybe you should be a food server instead.
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Permalink Reply by Clint M. Nelsen on
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AMEN! I get it twice, I'm also a full time soldier with the Army National Guard.
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Permalink Reply by Brian Dumser on
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They say these things because they don't understand. That's where Fire Prevention & Public Education comes in. If we want the public to understand us, then we have to educate them. This can be done at open house during fire safety week, or the editorial page of the local paper, your Department website if you have one, or simply assigning someone at a scene to talk to the bystanders (or at least the homeowner) and explain what's happening, (manpower permitting). Just my 2 cents. Stay safe!
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Permalink Reply by josh pibbles on
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its a thankless job, but damn it someone has to do it. i would not trade it for the world. keep up the good work and be safe out there
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