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ATTN: Vol. FFs, do you do this to your friends?
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| Doug (MD) Moderator  Joined: 28 Aug 2005 Posts: 2047 Location: ** THE MD IS FOR MARYLAND ** Columbia, Maryland (USA) |
RF, you make several very valid points. Depending on the employer and the employee, being late (or not being able to call/show due to a working incident) could possibly cost you your job (however, there may be local laws prohibiting this; I'm not sure). As for the \"real calls\" comment, you are right. To me, a \"real call\" is heavy fire showing, or a working rescue. Other than that, I usually write them off as BS calls. But, as you point out, just because it's a BS call to me doesn't mean that the person isn't experiencing a true emergency (such as a medical condition), or otherwise require assistance, even something as minor as assisting them back into bed, or investigating their fire alarm to determine why, exactly, their burnt totast set off the fire alarm, or any other reason that they (or someone else) called 9-1-1 (or whatever your local emergency number is; Maryland is 100% 9-1-1, though). |
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Frequent Poster
Joined: 20 Dec 2005
Posts: 1996
Location: Columbus, Ohio area
 Posted: Tue 17-Jan-2006 08:26 Post subject: Re: |
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[quote:d4452243c2=\"Hugh A.\"] You could always curl up on the couch in your jammies with a tub of Ben & Jerry's, and watch Dr. Phil too.  |
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You wont find Ben & Jerry's in this place or anywhere near it or me. They are cop killer supporters.
Regular
Joined: 29 Aug 2005
Posts: 134
Location: pennsylvania
| Posted: Tue 17-Jan-2006 17:00 Post subject: |
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| I know around here from my experiences any time the tones drop for anything other then EMS or for trees and wires which is all the time, they are usually serious. All our fire calls are usually huge not just room and contents and we have multiple agencies. By the time we get dispatched and get a crew they are usually fully involved or 50% involved. Nobody around here seems to make the call untill it gets really out of hand. Also we run maybe 3 fires a year and maybe 10 mutual aids. Not many, but on the other hand MVA's are in abundance. We make a lot of rescues right off the highway. as for family first by all means that is the most important thing in your life, and they should never be left hanging in times such as b days and funerals. there is always mutual aid. Making plans has never been my deal either never did before the service, which was stated by another member as well. I have calmed down alot since I first joined. I think the big deal was when I joined I wanted to prove i was a good firefighter and now that Im captain I guess im more layed back and let everyone else get experience so one day they can move up and have the position. | |
Regular
Joined: 21 Aug 2005
Posts: 350
Location: Chesterfield, VA
| Posted: Tue 17-Jan-2006 22:39 Post subject: |
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| If your friend abandons plans with you regularly, then one of two things are true:
- He's sleeping with your wife, and dragging you across town is a way to get you out of the house. - He's a dick with delusions of grandeur. Mind you, both could be true.... Seriously, if his take is that he's got to respond to every call then he has a very inflated sense of responsibility (and thereby, worth) that needs alignment. The option to never make plans feeds this beast. The person saying that effectively says \"The station needs me. It cannot function without me.\" The graveyard is full of indispensable people. Enjoy life. Enjoy your family. Enjoy your friends. Enjoy your volunteering. Don't let any one get too crazy. And thanks for volunteering. It's 2006, and the population has gotten fat and lazy about giving of their time, especially to the physical tasks we do every day. So, thanks. |
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Administrator
Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Posts: 3344
Location: Houston, TX
| Posted: Wed 18-Jan-2006 08:11 Post subject: |
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AMEN to that Dana !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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Frequent Poster
Joined: 20 Aug 2005
Posts: 1898
Location: Metro Milwaukee, WI
| Posted: Wed 18-Jan-2006 08:46 Post subject: Re: |
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| [quote:2d8e8713b1=\"Doug (MD)\"][quote:2d8e8713b1=\"RFJammed\"]As for the \"real calls\". Whos to decide whats a \"real\" call | |
As for the \"real calls\" comment, you are right. To me, a \"real call\" is heavy fire showing, or a working rescue.
And then there is what the dispatcher is told, what the dispatcher tells you, and then what you find
I normally don't do EMS calls after 6am because of my day job. But I did. Yes the patient did go to the hospital. But that was after a crane came in and removed a 20x5 foot concrete sewer pipe from over him, and he needed to be removed with the stokes basket on the same crane.
Regular
Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Posts: 240
Location: Barre MA
| Posted: Sat 21-Jan-2006 01:04 Post subject: |
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| Good point on the dispatching!
Been dispatched to building fires that are nothing and to cars that just slid off the road that turned into to serious MVCs.(New legal thing they are teaching us. Its a motor vehical collision. You can not assume its an accident.  Lawyers!)
You never know, but it does sound like this is more then just the calls! Stan |
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Member
Joined: 28 Aug 2005
Posts: 38
Location: Sullivan, OH
| Posted: Sun 22-Jan-2006 12:10 Post subject: |
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| Hello all. It's been awhile since I last posted. It's nice to see some good topics and discussions going on!
I started with the VFD 9 years ago. I too just HAD to answer each and every call when I first started. I don't think it was the duty thing, I think, for me anyway, that it was the thrill of the chase. The good feeling I got when I helped that old lady back into her bed at 3 in the morning. See, the way I always looked at it, every call is an emergency. And this is especially true when you work in a small community and you know most of the residents! My family have lived here for more than 100 years, and most of the other residents have lived here for at least that long, so we have all \"grown up together\". So, when we would get called for a smoke investigation or a lift assist, I was going to help a family friend, not just some stranger.... ....Now things have changed. We have a lot of new faces moving into the area that are coming from the big city. They have certain expectations as far as what emergency services should be. They are used to having 6 or 10 statoins near their house that are staffed 24/7 with highly trained, very experienced people. We just don't have that luxory. In the 9 years I have been on, our call volume has almost doubled, and or staff has been almost cut an half! Yeah! The age of the volunteer is dying. Now, I am the EMS Chief for our department and have a certain responsibility. I usually end up going on almost all calls, as long as I'm not at work. See, I am also the 2nd most experienced EMT on the department. We have 12 EMTs and 10 of those have just got their card less than a year ago! Most haven't been on a \"bad call\" yet. So, I can't sit back in bed at night and say \"oh, it's a BS call, they can handle it\". Because around here, things are usually worse than they sound. More than once we have been called to a building where we get a lot of \"alarms\" and the one night it was the big one. 9 hours and 8 departments later the fire was put out. So, I look at EVERY CALL as an emergency. Some of us feel we need to go, I feel as though I HAVE to go. Okay, who wants the soapbox next, I'm done with it... |
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