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We are all sitting around the table eating a meal and the pager goes off. What do we all do? We jump up from the table and leave. Not just our meal, but our families sitting there alone. So does the fire side of ourselves take over and forget about the family side of ourselves? Or is the family just supposed to accept that the pager takes priority? Is this right or just the way things are? Thoughts and comments are sure welcome.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Chris Sciarrotta on
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Hello....Well first of all this is my first post on here, it feels like such an honor....lol..Anyways, I guess my family just eccepts the fact that when the tones go off, it's time for us to run......and when I say us I mean me dad and my brother. We have been a firefighter family since day 1 for me. I grew up following dad's foot steps and of course the very second I turned 18 I turned my pager on.....I had actually showed up to the meeting but didn't turn 18 until midnight that night, so I was issued my gear and pager and sop book that night but wasn't able to start responding to calls until midnight, but the very second it hit 12 oclock the pager came on and I went in service for the first time, and as luck would have it, the next morning we had a run during my b-day party so that was pretty cool....But I guess back to the topic at hand, beings mom has put up with us coming and going all hours of the night on calls, she just get's used to it.....there were times, and I don't know what you would call this but about a split second before the pagers alerted mom would say well, here you guys go....be safe....we'd look at her like she was crazy then sure enough.............................. Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep.......................so that was kind of wiered but she lived with it......
Chris
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Permalink Reply by Terry Lambert on
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Mine feels that the pager takes priority. We are volunteers, and the fire or accident is not going to wait for us to finish our meal. I am lucky that my family accepts and supports what I do, and they strongly incourage me in this.
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Permalink Reply by LadyChaplain on
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My parents and I have reached a pretty happy medium with when I am free to go, no questions asked, and when I am going to sit a call out.
Generally speaking, as long as there aren't guests over and it's not a celebration of some sort (birthdays, etc.) I'm free to go.
Then when it comes to overnight calls as long as I don't have a morning class the following day I'm allowed to have my pager on. If I have a morning class I have to turn off my pager at midnight which doesn't bother me as I do know how important school is. With the amount I'm paying in tuition I can't afford to go to class half asleep because someone couldn't that night.
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Permalink Reply by Bruce Carrico on
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WELL I HAVE BEEN THERE DONE THAT. EVEN WORSE 4 HRS BEFORE MY WEDDING I LEFT IN A HURRY FOR A BAD MVC NEAR MY HOUSE. YES I MADE IT BACK ONTIME. I LOOK AT IT THIS WAY IF WE DID NOT JUMP UP OR HAVE THE ONES THAT JUMPED UP WHAT WOULD PEOPLE THINK ABOUT US? WHEN EVER YOU FIND THE WOMAN YOU GET TO BE WITH OR MAN IF YA A WOMAN. THEY HAVE TO ACCEPT THE FACT THAT WE ARE FIREFIGHTERS DAY OR NIGHT. I HAVE LEFT ALOT OF GREAT MEALS AN HAD TO REHEAT THEM TO HELP SOMEONE. WE ARE HERE TO PROTECT AND SERVE. IF THE TABLES WERE FLIPPED YOU WOULD HOPE THAT HELP WAS COMING TO YOU EVEN IF IT WAS DINNER TIME, NIGHT TIME , BAD STORM OUT SIDE JUST SO YOU WERE SAFE. ALOT OF PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE WHAT A VOL. FIREFIGHTER OR PAID FIREFIGHTER GIVES UP TO DO THEIR JOB. I COMMEND EVERYONE WHO IS APART OF THE SERVICE THAT DOES THIS JOB. WE SELDOM HEAR WOW THEY WERE GREAT , OR WOW THEY SAVED HIM. WE KNOW THE FEELINGS BY THE LOOKS ON THEIR FACES WE DON'T NEED THE WORDS. WE ARE THERE WHEN PEOPLE ARE AT THE BOTTOM NEEDING A LIFE LINE. WE SEE THEM AT THE WORST TIME AND TRY TO HELP AND SAVE THEIR MEMORIES,OR PROPERTY. SO WHEN THE PAGE GOES OFF JUST THINK WHAT WOULD I WANT IF I NEEDED HELP. IF THERE ARE FAMILY MEMBERS WHO HAVE A HARD TIME UNDERSTANDING HAVE THEM READ THIS. OR BETTER YET EMAIL ME. AT THE AGE OF 17 I ALMOST LOST MY DAD TO CARDIAC ARREST. BUT THANKS TO HIM TEACHING ME CPR I WAS ABLE TO SAVE HIM AND CALL FOR THE HELP I NEEDED. AND YES THEM MEN LEFT THE DINNER TABLE TO HELP ME SAVE HIM. TWENTY YEARS LATER MY DAD IS STILL HER TO SEE ME RAISE HIS GRAND CHILDREN. O BE SAFE RESPOND CAREFULLY AND GOD BLESS YOU ALL
BRUCE
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Permalink Reply by dcltsc2 on
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My wife has accepted the fact that the pager does take priorty at the time.. A good example of this was when i was a new rookie It was 1999 dec 31st 7m minutes to midnight had the wine poured waiting for the new millium and the tones dropped. My wife said you are not going but she was talking to my back as I walked out got in my truck and left...It turned out to be a false alarm was home at 1210 said lets toast the new year.. She told me where to go then we kissed and made up...I explained that if every one of us that has a pager said Im not going to this call I'll go on the next one then there would be noone on the call...if not me then who....
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Permalink Reply by Engineco913 on
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Good topic Mike! I think we all have a good story about how we pissed someone off by responding to a call. I have a long list of folks I have pissed off. My Fiance gets upset when the pager keeps going off everytime I go home, to the tune of spending no time at home. With 3 kids It gets hard on her, and she has been amazing at not limiting me with the firehouse. I have pissed friends off when I have blown off outings to run fire calls, even have walked off the 3rd hole of a golf course (which I got screwed $40 on) to attend a good size brush fire. When your dedicated it is far too easy to walk away and attend the calls!. Again it takes a major amount of patience and sacrifice on behalf of the wife and kids for me to remain so active.
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Something I forgot to add...
While responding isn't much of an issue in my house, I would just like to add that my neighbor had the audacity to come over the other day and tell me that she doesn't want me to respond to night calls anymore!!
She said that my headlights are "distracting" so she would appreciate it if I didn't respond to night calls anymore.
A prime example of how people don't appreciate what we do...
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Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on
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LOL! It takes all kinds of people to make up this world...
My first wife could never really understand why I did what I did. At first she thought it was kind of exciting but eventually I think she resented it every time I went on a call. It was kind of lonely, going on fire and EMS calls and not really being able to talk about it or even mention anything about it. It may have been a factor in our breakup, I don't really know.
I met my real mate through the fire department, and needless to say she supports my involvement 100%. As I support hers. And our children are or have been members so they are pretty much in tune with night calls, interrupted meals, etc.
I do however make sure that birthdays, school functions and other important things take first priority. If the bell goes off during one of them, that's just too bad I'm not going. It's like "I was available and ready for the past 200 hours and nothing happened, now we are doing this and there's a call? Too bad."
While I am dedicated (73% of the fire calls for the year so far) my opinion is that notable events particularly with children are once in a lifetime deals, while fire/EMS calls will continue to happen.
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Sorry for the multiple posts... dunno what happened (red in the face)
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Permalink Reply by Kevin King on
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Good topic. When I accepted my first set of gear and swore an oath to protect life and property,I took the responsibility to respond to every call I was physically able to respond to.(This is not a pick and choose thing that we do) Being a FIREFIGHTER or MEDIC is not a hobby, peoples lives and property depend on us.I would rather have hurt someones feelings than have to live with someone dieing or getting injured because of being short handed.I look at the fire service as a way of life and a very time honored and proud tradition,if missing a game or having to leave a function is a problem maybe you're in the wrong business.This is about saving lives and property. I dont think I'd be able to face myself in the mirror if I failed the people that count on me, saving a life is a one chance thing there will be another game or dinner.Knowing that family is going to have a table to sit at and have dinner together because people like us dropped what we were doing and answered the call is what matters. I was busy or I didn't feel like it is not acceptable, There is no I in TEAM, be part of the team and take responsibility or turn in your gear and find another hobby.
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Correction, your neighbor is an idiot. I would not only respond to night calls, I would go shopping for some newer brighter more insane flash pattern LED's to show how I feel about their opinion. Some people have ZERO common sense
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lites and siren on every call here no 2 ways about it,its the law here
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