The Social Network & Community JUST for Firefighters
"VOLUNTEER"
The term volunteer bothers me. We are actually "paid on call". Mostly it bothers me cause ppl seem to think we are not "real" firefighters. Like somehow we dont attend "real" fires, MVC's, medical aids, etc. Like somehow our fires are not as hot or we dont have any training. In my opinion being a "volunteer" is actually more difficult! we have other jobs too! Emergency's can happen anytime. We are on call 24-7. Our "waiting for calls" never comes to an end. We are expected to save life, property, and environment with speed and efficiency. We never know how many members will show up (which means we often work twice as hard) or who those members will be. we must be jacks of all trades. one day im entry team, the next pump op, the next tanker shuttle, the next rescue team, the next medical team, and on and on... my hall training is very specific and tough. we are working through 1001's....i do my best to enlighten ppl... anyone else have this frustration?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Julien Bourgeois on
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Well said!
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Permalink Reply by kara-lee allen on
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hey-a captain.. you enjoying this site??
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Permalink Reply by Josh Gray on
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Exactly right. Where is the next part of that arguement gonna go well I have more certs than you, oh yeah well I can hold my breath longer. I mean it just gets to the point to where all it is...is arguing for the sake of arguement. We don't benefit anyone from these petty squabbles, especially ourselves. We need to just move on and accept that some people think that way towards us. Getting into that arguement with them usually doesn't change their perspective. It just makes a lot of people that more certain that their belief is correct if you get that bent out of shape over it. There are for more important issues to argue for...i.e. better training, better equipment, etc. Why waste your time and energy over the small stuff that in the end really doesn't matter. Yet don't think that doesn't mean that I'm not proud of what I do or my dept. It all comes back to the old question of in the grand scheme of things does it really matter. Most of the time if you just keep your mouth shut and go on they're the one who ends up looking like the ass, instead of you opening your mouth and affirming that no in fact your the ass.
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Permalink Reply by Norm Tindell on
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I am saddened by your apparent frustration. (Sorry, I see the original posting was a couple of months ago.) Anyway, I am not the least bit stressed out about being a "volunteer." We are fortunate to be led by very professional chief officers and have a wonderful base of community support. Life is good at our department. We dress, train and work as if we are paid professionals. A paid department we work mutual aid with treats us as equals. We just happen to be unpaid professionals (monitarily anyway). So I believe that's the key. Have confidence in yourself and do everything you can to do the very best job possible. Train hard and stay safe while you're at it.
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Permalink Reply by Bekks on
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I am an actual "volunteer"... we are not paid when the call goes out (unless you call $5 in gas money (barely 2 Gallons) being paid).
I am proud of being a firefighter. And a professional.
Sure it's not my career.
Sure some dorks from the city make "basement saver" cracks (if nobody in a city saw a house fire until it had been burning for an hour or two already, I'd call them a basement saver also. Just a fact of rural/cottage country life).
Yah, I try to educate people but it doesn't bother me. -
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Permalink Reply by Barry Copley on
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Yeah I can definately relate to the fact that half the time not enough members show up when we have a fire,MVC,Etc.Sometimes the ones that show up don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.lol and we have this one guy that hollers "SHOTGUN" every time we have a call like he's big crap for riding up front or something.I just look over him and go on bout my business.The guy I'm talking to is about to be kicked off if he doesn't straighten his act up.Any way drop a line sometime I just joined this site and would like to make some new friends.
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Permalink Reply by Patti Walz on
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I like this Bill. Everyone is a volunteer. You made the choice. You volunteered to put your life on the line to help others, you volunteer to help someone during the worst part of their day. You volunteered to get up each and every morning to go to work. It does not matter if you get a paycheck or not. You made the choice to do this. Do it with pride, do it dignity, do it with respect.
I am a volunteer (I don't just volunteer for the FD, I volunteer for three other agencies) and I am proud to be a volunteer. I am also proud to get up each and every day and go to my day job. Why because I like and respect the company that I work for.
Quite frankly I am tired of the vollie vs paid debate. No matter where you go there will be people out there who don't like vollies because they feel they are a bunch of troglodytes, and that they take away positions from trained professional paid staff. -
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Permalink Reply by courtney creighton on
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yeah, i agree alot of ppl think that because they don't know the facts.
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Permalink Reply by dano martinez on
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I too hear people say, "... just a volunteer...blah, blah, blah". They are either ignorant or misinformed & most of them probably couldn't hack it doing what we do anyway, so I usually ignore it. Sometimes though I inform them about how much time & effort we put into training and calls (at all hours of the day or night). Mostly I hear it from people who have paid depts in thier area & they think all VFDs are just flunkies for the paid depts. I have nothing against paid FFs, they're just lucky enough to make a living doing what we do for free. Many of the paid peeps in our area are on VFDs too. Probably 90% or more of the patrons in our rural fire district know what a great job we do for them and we receive donations all year long from them, above & beyond our regular fund rasing efforts. We also get letters of thanks after we respond to thier needs, usually w/ a donation check enclosed. There are those too that are volunteer volunteers. These people show up & get a T-shirt, hat & plate for thier vehicle, but rarely to calls or training. These are the type you want to get rid of asap, because they give those of us that do the right stuff a bad name with JQP (John Q. Public). I guess what I'm getting at is to be proud of what you do & don't let JQP push your buttons / get you down. Its cool you get paid for on call duty. I'm stricktly a VFF (& a lil envious :7)), but oh well.
The real payment comes in knowing I did something for someone that they couldn't do for themselves. That & getting to go through red lights w/o getting a ticket (hehe)! TTYL - dano -
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Permalink Reply by Frank A Thallas Jr on
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Mitchell Donovan
I do not know you, but I already like the way you think. The truth is no matter how we are responding to the call paid full time or volunteer we are formost FIREFIGHTERS, men , women, good and not so good. We all have the same desire to serve our respective communities. We all are part of one TEAM, and we all accept the same risks each time we respond. God Bless all those who respect the Brotherhood and may you all go home safe.
Respectfully
Newbie Lt Thallas -
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Permalink Reply by Spider Kramer on
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we are also a 100% Volunteer fire department. We do mutual aid calls with 2 union fire houses. I see that just most of this is a "Union" thing especially the dirt talk. But we do have a great working relationship wit both cities and we aquired this through our performace of duties while working along side these houses. In both cities we are first in Engine on a General, one city if the struture fire is in city limits we are their RIT team. So the only way to stop the trash talking is to prove yourself as "worthy" as they are. And on a last note , the new kids on the blocks don't know where this all stemmed from...(Volunteers) which by the way there are more of them in the US then the Union Houses.
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Permalink Reply by Greg Jeppson on
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Do not spend you time worrying about this. people will say anything. Plus you will not win this fight. I have been trying for 25 years. As I moved on I made a promise to myself I will study and set the example. I currently hold many IFSAC and NC State Certifications. When you set the example and you preform that way people will soon lose the volunteer term and you will most likely out preform the professionals! Keep your head up and Thank You for what you do!
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