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Do volunteer firefighters respnd to every call?
I am thinking about becoming a volunteer firefighter / emt, but I need a couple questions answered. What is a volunteer firefighter/emt schedule like? Do volunteer firefighters/emt respond to calls when there not at the firehouse?
I heard that volunteer firefighters/emt get pagers and when they go off you respond to the call. If the pager goes off do you have to respond to the call?
for example-- I'm sitting at home with my girl watching a movie and the pager goes off, do I have to get up and respond to the call?
I want to respond to calls but my fire department responds to like 10 - 15 calls a day. And I cant imagine going and driving into town 15 times a day,especially if its a false alarm call.( I would be volunteer so I don't really have the gas money to do that much driving).
I would be volunteering for Sweet home Oregon or Brownsville Oregon fire departments. If that makes a difference
I heard that volunteer firefighters/emt get pagers and when they go off you respond to the call. If the pager goes off do you have to respond to the call?
for example-- I'm sitting at home with my girl watching a movie and the pager goes off, do I have to get up and respond to the call?
I want to respond to calls but my fire department responds to like 10 - 15 calls a day. And I cant imagine going and driving into town 15 times a day,especially if its a false alarm call.( I would be volunteer so I don't really have the gas money to do that much driving).
I would be volunteering for Sweet home Oregon or Brownsville Oregon fire departments. If that makes a difference
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rob on
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Brian, this is a legitimate question, not a smart or rude one, but why does staying in church mean more to you than helping someone who has an emergency? I am not religious in any way at all, so I don't understand how you could ignore helping someone that is relying on your skills and training to help them. Again, I don't want to sound insulting and I apologize if I do, but doesn't sitting there doing essentially nothing make you feel like your letting the public and your brother firefighters down?
My family is generally my number one priority in life, but there often comes times when even the very important family times just have to take second place to the greater needs of a fellow citizen or the community.
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Permalink Reply by Moose on
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I didnt want to bore everyone with specifics, but I only wait for the sermon to be over and never leave while the father is talking. If its during a song or other person talking than I get up quietly and leave. The other issue I have is that we all go in same car, and I cant leave my family at church for hours while on a call, and taking 2 cars in todays economy is just not feasible. Church is only 45 minutes long, and all of my brothers understand that family time at church sunday mornings is sacred to me. If its bad I go, trust me, and the father says a prayer to me on the way out the door, but if its s cat in the tree type call, I stay put. Hope that helps some.
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Permalink Reply by Al Bronakowski on
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The name volunteer is what it says. Respond when available, some of which is controlled
by work schedule and will your employer allow you to leave to respond to an emergency. In Pennsylvania, they cannot penalize you for going to a major incident, but you donot have to be payed for the time missed. Best to check out your employer's policy regarding fire response. Our company requires members to make 10% of all calls over the year to keep our individual pagers.
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Permalink Reply by Michael David White on
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Your job as a volunteer is to respond to your pager. That's the whole point of being a volunteer. Very few are able to respond to EVERY call, but, if you are able to... Get your butt in gear and put your 4-ways on and head to the firehall! No point in volunteering if you don't want to help out. Remember... what if it was you? Wouldn't you want as much help as possible to an emergency in your home? I work 2 blocks from my fire hall and my boss lets me respond to calls. He was a fireman so he knows it's my duty. I don't get paid to go but, some places still pay you while you are on a call.
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Permalink Reply by joemac on
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The number and type of calls you personally respond to depends on your level of commitment.
Your availability will be based on your lifestyle and your decision to answer or not will define your level of devotion to the calling.
Those pesky smells and bells get old...
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Permalink Reply by Bill Brierton on
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I would recommend finding out what the department you are interested in has for a standard operating proceedure. That should give you the information you need as far as responding to/for a call.
While most members may have a pager, it's not always easy to respond. You do need to sleep, go to work, spend time with the family. It's kind of hard to dismiss doing things with the family on the chance the pager will go off.
The station I am with has duty nights in which volunteers staff the apparatus for 24 hours then the career staff comes back on duty. I try to be there when I can but it's not always easy when I have other things to do.
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Copy. That makes sense and I do agree with the taking the car thing. I have done that once, but I got pay back because I left my wife at the mall.... say no more.
I think your explaination is worthwhile in the contaxt of the original question too. It will help the OP understand how most volunteers deal with that kind of response pressure.
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Permalink Reply by Richard Dawson on
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I joined my department in February of last year. I am a disabled veteran that has a lot of free time. My department has weekly meetings for maintenance and/or training. We also have a monthly business meeting. We are required to attend as many of the meetings as possible to maintain membership. My station also hosts training for certification every month. This is provided free to all firefighters in NC by the local community college. My department has lots of wild lands and a US highway in our district. We respond to many vehicle crashes every year. Since joining, I have responded to about 85% of calls. My station is 2 miles from my house and there are other vollies that live near me. Sometimes we carpool to the station for training. It all depends on the type and location of the call as to whether I respond.
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We get 100-200 + per year.
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