Connecting with other first responders while traveling

[limavictor]

So I haven't done this yet, but every time my wife and I visit a new place, I think about stopping in at the local fire station or grabbing a cup of coffee for the crew on the closest truck and asking them for their recommendations on where to go, what to do, must see type stuff in their area.

I don't know what's stopped me in the past, but it's gotten me thinking about first responders as local resources when in an unfamiliar area. It seems like a no brainer, most crews know their areas well and many of us share common interests, but unless you're friends with someone on facebook or some other social media, that initial introduction always seems like some invisible barrier...

So I'm curious, does anyone here make it a point to connect with other first responders in a new area when visiting or traveling? Other than the usual way of finding people on facebook, twitter, whatever, are there any resources you use to try and connect?

I even thought it would make for a good app idea to have a tinder type app that would allow people to connect with locals, but instead of just for hooking up, for finding local info based on shared interests...

Would appreciate any input,

Thanks in advance,

-Ryan

 

[luke_31]

A lot of places have a forum somewhere that a quick google search would lead you to. From there you could search for recommendations or make a new post asking for some. What you're asking about has been done time and again. There are a variety of sites and probably Facebook groups that could give the information you seek.

 

[medichopeful]

I've met up with a person from this site when I travelled to Delaware, but other than that the only real "connecting" I do is maybe stopping to talk to a crew when I see them on the street and just get to know their system a little bit.

I'm sure if you were to contact the agencies in the area you were traveling to they would be happy to meet you.

 

[johnrsemt]

Take a box of donuts or Danish when you go visit. They will usually be more willing to talk and maybe show you around then.

My old department (When we were all volunteer) used to allow people to come ride along with us while in town, had a couple of guys from Baltimore that would come in about 3 days a month (their wives were flight attendants and they could fly for $5.00 each), bring their gear and ride out with fire and EMS. Learned a lot from them on the fire side, and they learned EMS from us, (They didn't do EMS).
When the department went combination (FT and PT) they cut back on most of that.

 

[johnrsemt]

Stop by, bring treats, and visit; and ask if you can do a tour or even part of a shift.

I rode EMS shifts in Detroit (when I was a volunteer and working retail and had a Regional managers meeting there) everyone else would go to strip clubs, I would ride night shift on ambulances. City in KY (don't remember which one), county dept in Idaho.