I was interviewed by the local newspaper for a series they are doing on local firefighters. There was a photo that went with this, but I can't put it here. I posted it in my photos.

Joe Totero: From EMT to firefighter

October 02, 2007

Name: Joe Totero.

Age: 39.

Lives in: East Stroudsburg.

Family: wife Stacy, cats Tom and Geri, pug Ashton Cole and cockapoo Sadie Joy.

How long with the East Stroudsburg Fire Department: 13 years; was in the Perth Amboy, N.J., Fire Department for five years before that.

Job: Between jobs right now; he's a computer technician and is looking for work.

Job in the fire department: Firefighter.

Why he joined: First became an EMT, having gotten interested in the medical field when exposed to a lot of illness in his family. When his father went into cardiac arrest, he was able to revive him and it allowed family members to say goodbye to him. He decided to join the fire department and has dedicated his life to risking his own life to protecting others.

Totero said he would be upfront with a prospective member, telling them right away that being a firefighter is a big commitment.

"I would say, 'Would you be dedicated and willing to make sacrifices and be willing to do the training that's necessary?'" Totero said.

"You have to keep training," he said. "Not just to stay on top of the technology and techniques, but to keep the basic skills fresh. You can't just take essentials (of firefighting, the basic 166-hour class required of all firefighters) and figure you're done learning. You have to stick with it. You have to get in shape and stay in shape. Safety is so important. You have to have the ability to do the job and stay fit so that you can help a brother if he's in trouble."

"Right now," he added, "the company desperately needs pump operators and drivers."

And neither of them is an easy job, according to Totero. Fire trucks are a lot bigger than they look and manning the pump is essential to the job at hand and can cause serious injury, or worse, if not done properly.

The worst experience he has had in his career is a fire in which East Stroudsburg was called for mutual aid to Stroud Township at a structure fire seven or eight years ago. A young boy died in the blaze. "A firefighter was trapped and we couldn't find the boy," he said. "It was really bad."

Totero has taken numerous courses to increase his skills. He has had essentials, Firefighter I and II, EMT, the hazardous materials technician classes, and is a rescue technician, along with having numerous other certifications.

"You also have to have the support of your family," he said. "That is so, so important."

Like every organization, there are times when things are rough, he said. "But when that pager goes off, all the cogs mesh and we operate as a single unit, looking out for one another."