Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by lutan1 on July 19, 2008 at 11:38pm

Now that's a different type of incentive Chief...

Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on July 19, 2008 at 11:46pm

Well lets see....if you have a roster of about 25 and 10-15 show up then you are paying for insurance for an additional 10 people that don't show up....as well as the gear to outfit those who don't show up.......Hmmm sort of a no brainer ....Good luck.....stay safe.....Keep the faith....Paul

Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on July 19, 2008 at 11:49pm

Hey Chief can I transfer to your Company...?? I made 83% of our calls last year...!!!!!! Stay safe....remember always keep the faith.......Paul

Permalink Reply by Chief Thomas Maahs on July 20, 2008 at 7:03am

Sure, come on down. The program kicks off July 30th. Recruitment is rough nowadays, so we thought we would get creative and see if it helps. Will let you know as I am just rolling it out. Stay Safe and remember why you joined the Emergency Services.

Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on July 20, 2008 at 8:41am

You don't need to remind me why I joined....I have been doing this for almost 30 years....and have never received anything but a rare "thank-you" which I passed along to my family and friends for the missed meals,missed functions,and the late nighters(or all nighters) pulled. I think maybe it is the families that should receive the incentives...they put up with an awful lot so that we may do what we love to do....serve the public....Stay safe and always remember to keep the faith............Paul

Permalink Reply by Chief Thomas Maahs on July 20, 2008 at 10:06am

Paul I could not agree more. I am 47 and started doing this at age 16. The breed is not the same nowadays. I have missed more meals and family events over the years. It is us old timers who are still involved that keep it going or looking for ways to keep it going.

Stay Safe and Keep Responding!! Tom

Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on July 20, 2008 at 10:14am

With you there Chief....Got my first EMT certificate when I was 17...and attended the very first First Respeonder course offered by New York State (it was DOT based with no specified renewal timeframe) Damn, I am getting old..!!! Last year was honored by my department as EMS provider of the year.....someone asked me what I got for that.....I told them the Chief told me he would double my salary for the upcoming year.....when asked how much money that would come to....I asked what twice of nothing added up to....they couldn't believe that we do this for the sake of doing it....I guess everyone is out for the buck now-a-says....Don't worry when the alarm sounds I'm either there, or I am on my way.....Stay sfae and keep the faith Brother............Paul

Permalink Reply by Rob Young on July 20, 2008 at 11:40am

Chief,

In your department it might be the "old timers" who keep it going, but in my department its the new, enthusiastic young guys who keep it going. We are the ones who look to keep up with the changing times, who participate in trainings, and who are eager to do so. Maybe it's not the same at your department, but here I see the new guys as the ones who are "keeping it going", missing family events to be at the fire station, or on calls, and not complaining about it at all, unlike some of the older guys who seem to complain about everything. And I agree, my wife deserves the thankyous and money more than I do for sitting at home alone many evenings because I am out with the fire department.

Permalink Reply by anne potter on July 20, 2008 at 12:04pm

What our dept does is give chip s to the member.A t the end of the year he can buy what ever he wantS of firefighter or ems equipment .. The dept pays for his half according to the amt of chips he has earned thru the year.Very active membes nice stuff... Each event is decided how many chips it is worth.. It has worked.. the ones who don't show up started to show up...

Permalink Reply by Tim Meckler # 575 on July 20, 2008 at 12:16pm

that is a lot of cash, if you are a busy vollie company who pays.... the town, county or state. or does it come out of you fire tax? i'm a carreer guy and a vollie in my town. so i see both sides of the fence. if the person wants to do the job they will, if they are just there to be a social member then you cant change them. its up to THE CHIEF to make sure his/her town is safe and protected. if the person isnt holding up their end of the job then its time for them to go. in this buisness friendship doesnt save lives or property. the boss is the boss no and, ifs or but what the chief says must be followed. set rules and make the members live by them, period. if they have to make 60% and they don't give them extra duties, if they dont like it then you just found out what they are their for. i want someone behind me that is willing to rescue me if things go bad not a social member that just want to tell people they are a "firefighter". this is a buisness just like anything else, if you dont do your job then "YOU'RE FIRED"

Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on July 20, 2008 at 1:14pm

We receive no money for any of our activities. For a short time we gave out gift certificates for the top 10 or 15 responders at the annual banquet. After a few years, it became painfully obvious that the same 10 or 15 were becoming embarrassed for being recognized, while the 15 or 20 who never made it to the top 15 were embarrassed for not being more active. We have since quit this practice.

We have been kicking around the idea of a gas allowance for the chief officers, and possibly the other line officers, but that's about it. For me, I don't care one way or the other - except that I don't want to see the money become the main attraction for others in the future. As a chief officer I clock about 1500 miles a year, so this goes on the income tax return as a deduction.

Other departments in the area have been giving gas money to its line officers for the past year and is considering opening up this program to all active members. Seems like the "high price of gas" is used as a reason for not showing up for calls, drills or meetings.

Hey, why not? It's a new one, better than "my pager didn't go off" or "I slept right through it" or "it didn't sound like much" or some of the other equally lame excuses I have heard.

Let's face it, we need to take care of ourselves and our families first; so there are a lot of valid reasons for missing calls. Life happens, and sometimes we just can't participate. But for the others who just won't come around because their heart isn't in it, they are probably the types that you would prefer not to be on scene anyways. If they are behind in training, they should stay home.

Permalink Reply by roy yoder on July 20, 2008 at 3:26pm

we are a combo dept. one man on duty and the rest vollies. we pay 15.00 per call and training. this comes out of the budget earmarked as vol. pay. clothing reimbersment. when i joined 18 years ago it was 5.00 and went to 10.00 about 3 years later. it has been 15.00 since the last chief who was a vol. retired and the asst. who is paid took over as chief about 8 years ago. this has been paid to the vol. only since the paid have to fill out a missed punch card and turn in which gives a min. of two hours and pay by the hour after that. the vol. get 15.00 no matter how long it last. we were down to about 12 members and about 5-6 showing up for anything when we got an ISO letter in the mail. i was in the middle of a ff1 class and the chief wanted to know of 10 good ones to put on. we now have 30 but still show only about 12 at a structure fire. we show the same for any other call. the pay is paid out once a year at christmas and yes when i was a vol. i give the ckeck to my wife. that would last about a month and then the boo hoo would start. the chief is looking to not pay if you are not certified for the call. ie first responder vehicle ext. ect. because the bill is a little over 40,000 for the year. yea as mentioned before cheap paid dept. the city also pays for the pension fund for the vol. that is 15.00 per month but they have to make 50%of the structure fires and 50% of the fire drills. we put a twist to this serveral years back when the vol. agreed to pay 1.00 if your late and 2.00 if you are not there and the only excuse is that your dead and you can use it only once and that with a Dr. note. it really hasn't boosted the attendence but we have bought some nice things and did christmas serveral times for poor children with the money. the vollie dept. i belong to don't even get paid attention to. the attendence is better but still some dead beats. it still is ATTITUDE that brings us to train. the young ones have to much to do to stand around an shoot the bull, if they want steak they go to longhorns steak house and get it. they can't get training elsewheres so be a fire dept. or lose your good firefighters. yea you still will have some blue crabs around that don't want to let anyone train and get to know more than they do so thy try to pull everyone to thier level so they feel worthwhile. learn every where and every time then share it. otherwise climb itno your casket. the pay is nice but that is not why i fight fire and it shows as to the amount of calls at the vol. dept., the grants written, the repair time and training i go to with no pay. IT STILL COMES DOWN TO WHAT TOOL IN YOUR TOOL BOX WORKS FOR YOUR DEPT. fill up the tool box (ideas from all around) and use the tool that fits your nut, screw, ect.

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