What is a whacker?

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BenthaEMT

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I see it all the time, and have never really heard a good explanation as to what a whacker is.
I know I don't want to be one but that's about it.

So, what is a whacker?
 
I think this goes for any line of work, but have a life and interests outside of work/job. Have hobbies, other interests, other friends.. don't let your work be your entire life. A well-rounded person is a more interesting person, and also a more marketable person should something happen where you can't work in that field anymore. It's great to love your job, take the time to learn and everything don't get me wrong. BUT have other interests too.
 
This is a whacker.
image.jpeg
 
lol at the driverside flashers - Turn those on and see what happens.
 
I knew a guy who got banned from scenes for responding in his minivan... he even had a folding backboard.
 
So much facepalm in this thread...

Please tell me the second picture is from some kind of parody.
 
"He said they they've never been confused with emergency personnel"
A sanitation worker and a Jehovah's witness arrive on scene...
Wait...is that a CPR mask? Correction. Emergency Personnel have arrived on scene.

A wacker eats, sleeps, and breathes Fire/EMS/Law enforcement.
It is their being. It is their identity. They are over-the-top with it and usually unjustifiably so...like those two dudes running around in a Durango with copier paper Scotch taped to the windshield identifying their 'command structure'.

There's a fine line between loving your job and being committed to what you do and being a wacker. However, if you're a wacker, it is usually very noticeable.
 
Wow an 18 year old "commander" who:
I picked up a few tricks from there,” he said.

He has a level C in first aid and CPR training. He said he’s watched several training sessions with firefighters on how to properly move someone with a neck or spinal injury, though he’s never actually participated in the training.

“I was watching closely and if you watch something enough you pick up on it,” he said.

Other crew members are required to have Level C first aid and CPR training, he said, and he shares his knowledge and training with the rest of the group.

“We go overboard on training,” he said.
Click to expand...
if it sounds scary, relax! They go overboard watching other trained professionals and with their advanced level C it'll be perfectly fine when Ricky R. shows up un dispatched, uninvited and decides to just yank you out of your car using his advanced techniques gleaned through osmosis because surely it's too dangerous to leave you in there, it's about to explode (look at that radiator steam!) and besides his Commander has given him the go ahead to listen to the scanner unilaterally to go do something, not just stand around and watch right? Right? </sarcasm>

I was just gonna post this classic pic (maybe its what the front of their Durango looks like?):

10409650_829812013744812_6637473506464000270_n.jpg
 
chaz90 said:
So much facepalm in this thread...

Please tell me the second picture is from some kind of parody.
Click to expand...
If by parody you mean a picture of the boys and I after we're done for the day with school, then yes.
 
Jim37F said:
Wow an 18 year old "commander" who:if it sounds scary, relax! They go overboard watching other trained professionals and with their advanced level C it'll be perfectly fine when Ricky R. shows up un dispatched, uninvited and decides to just yank you out of your car using his advanced techniques gleaned through osmosis because surely it's too dangerous to leave you in there, it's about to explode (look at that radiator steam!) and besides his Commander has given him the go ahead to listen to the scanner unilaterally to go do something, not just stand around and watch right? Right? </sarcasm>

I was just gonna post this classic pic (maybe its what the front of their Durango looks like?):

10409650_829812013744812_6637473506464000270_n.jpg
Click to expand...

That's a lot of radios. I don't think all the agencies in the 5-county area use that many different technologies.
 
I found this on the internet and it seems pretty accurate. I added a few of my own.
You made it a point to buy a red truck.
Your POV has more LED lights than all the apparatus combined.
Your POV has so many antennas it kills overflying birds with RF radiation.
Your POV is plastered with stickers, memorial plates, and anything else you can put on it to identify you as a firefighter/EMT.
You have FDNY/Sept 11 stickers on your POV but don't live NY
You have multiple pagers on your belt because you're on multiple depts so you never miss a call.
You're always the first on every seen because you spend all day next to a scanner so you don't miss a thing.
You put a $2,000 light bar on a $500 car.
You don't own a t shirt that does not say something about the wearer being a firefighter.
You do all your clothes shopping at Galls.
You spend more time at the station than the full time guys.
Your wife fake dialed 911 just to spend time with you.
You bought you're own hydrant/spanner wrench/s
You bought your own badge because your dept does not issue them to POC firefighters.
While highly devoted the Whacker is often the most useless person on scene and their behavior is embarrassing to everybody on their dept.
You like to use cool sounding phrases like, "Paramedics save lives, EMTs save paramedics," "Doing the same thing as the ER but at 250mph," and "BLS before ALS."

And then this:


 
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thank God we don't have them in my department. Seems to be a private and volunteer only type deal.
 
ERDoc said:
While highly devoted the Whacker is often the most useless person on scene and their behavior is embarrassing to everybody on their dept.
Click to expand...

This is great stuff.
A succinct yet thorough definition.
 
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