jedirye
Forum Lieutenant
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So I joined my neighborhood's local volunteer fire department to get "experience". In this area, we are the first on the scene. There is a medic on the beach as well but it takes a while for an ambulance to show up, so we are fairly important. I've lived my whole life here and loved the idea of giving back to this community and also fine tuning my skills, as I am a new EMT-B but will be attending medic school in Aug. Most people that join do not live in the immediate area, so I am a little set apart since I live in the area and am expected to attend those middle of the night calls. I have no objections, I love it!
My problem: It is a fire department. Despite 85% of the calls being medical, most of our training is fire or fire related, etc. I realize I have to take the "bad" with the "good" so I participate as much as I can although there's only so much to do when 1. I really have no interest in fire and 2. I don't want to take away from other people's training time who have a desire for this. The chief is pretty cool with it and just doesn't want me standing around doing nothing, which I frequently do because I have no idea what I'm doing most of the time. The assistant chief doesn't like it and another lieutenant doesn't either. My lieutenant and close friend had to "talk" with me tonight after training about it because the others pressured him. He knows my reasons for joining and he realizes I could really be an asset because I live on the beach, etc. so it was hard for him to tell me this. He said how the assistant chief said something about learning it ALL or turning in my shirt and pager. I did my best at participating beforehand, but that statement made me want to throw in the towel. You want to know why most kids my age join this department? They pay for your fire school. I did it because I could help my community and help with my basic skills. I feel like I've been slapped in the face... I really do...
-rye
My problem: It is a fire department. Despite 85% of the calls being medical, most of our training is fire or fire related, etc. I realize I have to take the "bad" with the "good" so I participate as much as I can although there's only so much to do when 1. I really have no interest in fire and 2. I don't want to take away from other people's training time who have a desire for this. The chief is pretty cool with it and just doesn't want me standing around doing nothing, which I frequently do because I have no idea what I'm doing most of the time. The assistant chief doesn't like it and another lieutenant doesn't either. My lieutenant and close friend had to "talk" with me tonight after training about it because the others pressured him. He knows my reasons for joining and he realizes I could really be an asset because I live on the beach, etc. so it was hard for him to tell me this. He said how the assistant chief said something about learning it ALL or turning in my shirt and pager. I did my best at participating beforehand, but that statement made me want to throw in the towel. You want to know why most kids my age join this department? They pay for your fire school. I did it because I could help my community and help with my basic skills. I feel like I've been slapped in the face... I really do...
-rye