Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Wolfy Lang on March 14, 2008 at 3:17am

After reading and re-reading a lot of this discussion, I have a MAJOR observation.

It seems to me there are some arrogant folks who want this to be a MINE MINE MINE MINE site....

Do you allow the PUBLIC into your Fire House? Or do you say "Sorry, you are not on any department so we can't let you in?" (if this is the case, please tell me where you are so I can make sure I dont come near that disaster in the making, or let any of my ff-ems and non-ff/ems friends either). If ANYONE comes in to our House, and wants to see a left handed smoke shifter, we oblige them as best as we can. I am embarrassed by some of the comments on here about this discussion. What do you think the general public thinks of this? Look at the comments from their point of view.

This is the World Wide Web. It has PLANET WIDE access. From the North Pole to the South, From any point on the planet with internet access can access this site. Probably from the ISS as well.

Some of the comments are SO arrogant it SCARES me. MODERATE it yes. RESTRICT IT??? NO. If this is the only place for some to vent the frustrations they have, then make a restriction like Yahoo does and designate material as Adult or some such thing, or just make sure you have enough mods to clean up stuff.

As I mentioned before, Pandora's box has been opened (for those of you who dont understand that, Pandora's box, According to the myth, Pandora opened a jar (pithos) in modern accounts referred to as "Pandora's box", releasing all the evils of mankind— greed, vanity, slander, envy, pining— leaving only hope inside once she had closed it again. Search Wikipedia.com) and I feel the only way to restrict this, would be to shut it down, send invitations to every fire department in the world, and allow only those who have invites in through a secure log in and give the rest a 403 error.

Remember, we serve the PUBLIC. And we should show them RESPECT in ALL that we do. We dont have bickering and fights on the fire ground or in the House where ANYONE can see it.

Peace and Fair Journeys

Wolfy
17 years off and on in Fire
17 years a NC EMT-Basic
15 plus years in Information Technology

Isler and Monroe, Rest In Peace Brothers 03-07-08

Permalink Reply by lutan1 on March 14, 2008 at 6:52am

But it's a public website my friend- there's no sucj thing as a private discussion on the forums. If you want truly members only, then maybe you need to do what FH have done and look at subscriptions...

Permalink Reply by Becky on March 14, 2008 at 8:30am

Chief,
I have to agree with jojo, I do not feel as if we are being selfish by wanting a place to turn to find individuals that understand the things we see, do , or just plain have to deal with. As firefighters, everyone of us have a healthy respect for the public, we have a loving and caring nature or we would not be placing ourselves in such danger to help and protect (and most with no pay or compensation). It is just nice to be able to have a site to turn to and lean on others that understand what you may have seen, done or had to deal with and when they say "I understand" you know that they really do. In our field we have experiences the general public cannot deal with and each of us has our own way of dealing with these experiences and quiet frankly the public could get offended by how some need to cope. I am not against the public being able to see what we do, that is why we dedicate so much time to fire safety week.
I am all for some of the suggestions that have been stated above about finding a away to still have the public see what we do, yet perserve some areas on the site that designed for those who serve. Maybe this could be accomplished by having people sealed as real not nessessarily that they have met but after chatting with someone you can get a pretty good feel if they are real or not (example: is it jaws of life or extrication equip.)
As far as videos, blogs, and pics, i guess personal should be allowed on personal pages leaving ff/ems post to main page.
I am sure there has been issues that are coming up with a site that has grown to this size or chief would not have brought up this issue and having us argue back and forth trying to make the other feeling ashamed for having our own thoughts on the subject is not helping.
this is just my thoughts,
Becky

Permalink Reply by Joe Campbell aka Cutty on March 14, 2008 at 10:11am

Hey Chief
I think we need to remove the nons from this site
Cutty

Permalink Reply by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on March 14, 2008 at 11:42am

Wolfy:
I respectfully disagree with your assertions.
I invite people to my home, but they leave at some point. I don't let them live there.
People come to our fire station all the time. However; we don't let them go on runs. We don't let them participate in debriefings. We don't allow them to "borrow" any of the stuff. They VISIT and then leave.
You think it's some sort of censorship? This website is privately owned and operated. Dave can do whatever he wants here as far as terms of service. He sets the rules. We may or may not influence that. It's all in what his mission is and if his mission is to create a website for public safety people where they can go to unwind on a wide range of topics, unfettered by the public eye, then I am all for it. And if that makes me arrogant, then giddy up go. I can handle it. Doesn't bother me. I have earned my stripes and I won't apologize for that.
I have stated publicly why I am here. My profile is factual and very open. I have no reason to "hide". But many here want to remain anonymous both in user name and no photo because it's easy to sit at home and punch out lies, half-truths, personal attacks if they disagree with you, and be anything they want to be.
And if I wanted to deal with more of the same crap, I would have stayed at Firehouse.com. But I came here because I know the owner and I know he wanted something different.
Some of us have a vested interest here and if that is arrogant, then guilty as charged.
Art

Permalink Reply by Trish Girard on March 14, 2008 at 1:55pm

granted that some non service members need to go, but there are some non service members who are on here trying to learn b/c they are waiting for their turn to join up. i'm a non service member but i am starting classes this coming winter for EMS. i enjoy everyone here, and i am learning quite a bit, not only from people in here but my cousin here at home. if i am wrong in saying how i feel, then let me know and be honest about it.

Permalink Reply by angie the fire/resqmom on March 14, 2008 at 2:03pm

This is a site for ff/ems people. If they aren't in the service shouldn't or couldn't they just go back to myspace? I'm not knocking them or myspace. I just think that most of us are here to talk about our field, not to play the dating game. Maybe it's just me though.

Permalink Reply by Mick Mayers on March 14, 2008 at 2:17pm

Sorry, I've been out with the flu all week (as have the other four residents of my home), so haven't had much time to plug in. I think westphilly says it well, in that the public gets to visit, but not run the show. That being said, do we really get the impression that there are a wealth of non-FD/EMS types on here subverting the network? I'd rather keep some of the public who is interested in learning about emergency services (and maybe even recruiting those individuals) and getting rid of some of the FD/EMS types who make our business a laughingstock.

Unfortunately, like beauty, unprofessionalism is in the eye of the beholder. Chief, I think you've done a great job with the site. Everyone else, you keep it interesting. All you lurkers, stalkers, etc., hope you are getting an eye-ful. Remember when you post on here, everyone gets to read it (unless you mark it otherwise) and when you make unprofessional comments, you get the opportunity to paint all of emergency services with a big, broad brush. It is much easier to do that, you see, and gets much more attention (if the headline "Firefighter Sets Fires" didn't get the attention of the public, the media wouldn't use it).

There are probably areas on the site that should be locked off to emergency services personnel only just so we can talk candidly and areas where we can be free to speak but understand we have a broader audience.

Permalink Reply by D.MAN on March 14, 2008 at 2:59pm

i think it should only be ff/ems.we all need a place were we can go & talk with other members.if we have had a bad shift we can talk to someone who knows what we are going through.

Permalink Reply by Megan on March 14, 2008 at 3:54pm

Might be hard to figure out who is fake and who is real chief, but if u can somehow pull it off go ahead. This is just for ems and fire people. So I'd say thats affirmative chief. Weed them out and get rid of them. :-P have a good day!

Permalink Reply by Joey Carrow on March 14, 2008 at 4:13pm

Well this is supposed to be a fire and ems web site. so, I would take it you need to be part of a dept or at least was.
I'll support your decision either way chief it's your call

Permalink Reply by O'Kitty on March 14, 2008 at 7:42pm

Or maybe you were old to start with! HA!

*Kitty scampers away now*

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