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Time to Get Out-Discuss!
What would cause you to quit?
In some cases, it is the politics of a fire department.
In others, it might have been a particularly gruesome call.
And still, it might be the demand on your free time.
So again; what would cause you to quit the job that you love so much?
I have a blog on it. Go here: http://www.firefighternation.com/profiles/blogs/time-to-get-out
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Just Plain Craig Moyer on
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After 30 years I left my department. I was tired of all the stupidity. Making a motion one month, voting on it and then resinding it the next month. Having officer that only show up at the end of the year. A board that can't tell you the kind of equipment let alone the makes and models. Selling 2 of 4 pieces of equipment and leaving us with one engine and rescue. The last 4 months at least one piece as been out of service for 2 of those months.
I could on but the number issue I have. Most think the fire company started when they joined. They don't realize what the orginal members had to go through to start a Black fire company in 1949.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on
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I didn't want to quit... or in my case, be forced to retire but over 30 years of doing this gig left my body in not the best condition. Luckily for me, at age 56, I had a bodyscan that revealed hidden cardiac problems that hopefully will be resolved through medication. The bottom line was that it was my time to get out due to medical reasons and I am glad that I did. The other option could have been a LODD. Just like Clint Eastwood said in the 1973 movie, Magnum Force, "Man's got to know his limitations".
CBz
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Permalink Reply by Wayne Peterson on
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First off, I love volunteering with the fire dept. but on one I couldn't take the "what we won't do aditude" you know to many reasons to not save someone. Officers throwing tempertrantums at the scene and back at the Station house, I couldn't belive it. The dept. that I am on now has the aditude of "lets save all we can" sure is a lot more fun.
I must say for my fellow firefighters from last dept. most were great people and I am still friends. Hard to leave a dept.
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Permalink Reply by FF Nick on
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Politics play a big role in ending a lot of fire service careers. There's the "family owned and operated" departments, departments that have the cliques, clashes of leadership (Chief vs Mayor/Board/Trustees), "social club" departments, (one of Jack's favorites...) the "popularity contest", the list could go on. I'm sure at one point in time 98% of the people that read this have encountered one of the above situations. Sometimes things smooth out for the better, sometimes people stay out of it, most of the time they hold it in and let it fester until it comes to the point of them quitting. Some hate politics and some feed on them. Quitting and going to another department just brings the same politics only with a different name on the buildings and rigs, so some just tend to opt out of the fire service completely.
Gruesome calls makes up a small percentage. Some people learn the hard way that "Hey, it's just not for me" or "I just can't deal with it anymore." A death of a colleague or a call involving a family member/friend triggers this aspect of leaving the fire service. A lot of the time it's a call involving infants or children which makes the kill shot for leaving. Art your blog pretty much summed this up so there wasn't much reason to elaborate. A lot of the guys just can't overcome the guilt of what they shoulda coulda woulda did differently.
CB touched base on the medical side. Typically it's not by choice this occurs but is probably the biggest reason most have to bow out. Heart problems, blown backs/knees, self-inflicted (dippers - mouth and throat, smokers - lungs, & drinkers - livers), physical condition, & age concerns. Our line of work requires us to be in top-notch shape at all times, not part of it. Dirty Harry said it pretty good, "You've got to know your limitations". <--- Thanks for the reference Mike! Sooner or later though you reach all the limits... We had a neighboring department that had a chief as big around as he was tall, nicknamed 5x5 for short. There were times I'd see him on a run and swear we were gonna have to divert manpower to hook him up to a set of paddles and O2 many times. I've seen bottle frosters come out after 10-15 minutes with a 45 minute SCBA on and the bottle is less that 1000 psi. Yet rather than try to better themselves by trying to shape up, they just keep up with the same habits. Then we all know the genetics side of medical reasons is beyond anybody's control but the good Lord's. A lot of us have seen great guys come and go because of problems beyond control. Sadly, this is life.
I've never been one to conclude well, but I'll end with saying that I hope my career has to end when they make me retire because the body's just not as good as she used to be. I love every bit of my job with the exception of the sh**y insurance we have, but hey, it's better than nothing. I'll be here for as long as they'll let me stay. Hopefully I'll be in the training/instruction sector of the fire service by then as that is my ultimate goal in my career.
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Permalink Reply by Olivia Jones on
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Bump, follow link to blog its worth it
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Permalink Reply by Trainer on
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Politics, I've had my share of run-ins, got busted in rank once and why, cause someone was bitchin I was not doing my job. At that time in my life it was probably right and after a little soul searching regained my rank, you got to be thick skinned in this profession. I still get annoyed at the ones that never see what I do and bitch about it, I always offer them to walk a mile in my shoes. Quitting because of "politics" well you probably not meant for this job to begin with.
Free time, if I don't have it I make it, and sometimes it cost me a ton of money. This one is becoming more prevalent, maybe it's the attitude of todays generation, hell I like my free time but in this job...you have to make time.
Gruesome calls, this has come close for me...just once, years ago but still carry that feeling today, it's something that's tough to forget, I don't think I ever will, you just work through it. Sometimes I think I'm cursed, in 23 years, and I can remember only one I didn't make, have made every "bad" call we've had. This is one you won't know till it happens, and have seen it claim a fair share.
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Permalink Reply by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on
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Sometimes I wonder if the same attribute that gives us the ability to make split-second decisions is the same one that moves us quickly to a decision to "get out".
Why is so much time lost on the "one" reason instead of finding gratification in the many, many ones- be it incidents or people-that have been the hallmark of our careers?
It's just sad to see people quit over issues that can be resolved.
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Have any of you talked to other members of your department about quitting, only to be ostracized and shamed into staying on?
Would weighing what others might think cause you to reconsider your decision to quit?
And on the other side of the coin, are there some of you that are being harassed into quitting?
Come on; inquiring minds or at least mine want to know.
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I my case of leaving my prior Dept.( Not the one I am on now) I struggled with the decision for over a year. I talked with Chaplin of Dept. many times and he offered great insite however decision was in my court. It was a tuff decision but had to be made basied upon many events within the Dept. I hope that most really try and work out issues, but when it time to go its time to go.
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I came up in a department where guys stayed past their prime. They didn't know when it was time, even though their contributions had greatly diminished. They stopped going to meetings, training, fundraisers, but if we had a party, they were there in their best suit.
For many years, members wouldn't get off the department unless they got mad about something.
That has changed. People still get mad, but they don't get off when they are mad.
But, we are naive to think that politics won't have an effect.
It does.
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Permalink Reply by Shanna Davis on
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I'm close to leaving my combo dept.
I love doing this work but I've had enough of the political crap. The volunteers and some paid staff don't like the district board or the Chief and its mostly for good reasons but the bickering is endless. I'm tired of all the plotting and scheming that goes on. Members that don't want to get involved in it are being shunned from much participation in calls. Most of the paid staff feel caught in the middle and are all tired of dealing with it as well.
It makes for a really negative environment. Many people on the dept. don't care if they do a good job and many refuse to follow through with duties. Its a mess.
I hate to leave and I'm holding out to see what happens with the outcome of elections of new board members in May.
Politics is about the only reason I really have for leaving. One can endure for so long and then enough is enough.
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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Whether you're paid or volunteer, you signed up for a reason. You don't have to be involved in the politics. I know paid guys that are gung ho union members and involved in union politics, others that sign their papers and forget about it. Same with volunteers, some are there just to be a firefighter others want to be on their board and run everything.
I guess it depends on just how personal you take issues. If you see things as always being personal then it's going to be a long ride no matter what side of the fence you're on. On the other hand if you live to ride the rig and do your best to help others then really...who gives a crap what goes on above your pay grade. It is what it is.
On the other hand bitching about something and doing something about it are two very different things. If getting involved in the politics of a board or union is your thing then go for it.
There's an expression, "a prophet is not without honor except in his own country."
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