Emergency Services
PART I
I spent many years as a volunteer fire fighter. When I first joined the department we had a very old International Harvester pumper and a not so old Dodge brush truck. We were very basic and very cash poor. So cash poor that we only had 2 sets of SCBA's. These were reserved for the officers who would proudly don their equipment and lead a team of very brave and/or very dumb, un protected firemen into the smoke filled building.
As our community grew so did the Fire Department. It now has 2 stations, 4 state of the art pumpers, a ladder truck (squirt) various rescue trucks and a couple of ambulances.
The volunteer has changed also. From of bunch of dedicated men and women doing their best to fight fire in blue jeans and hard hats to fully protected, well trained FIRE/RESCUE responders. One thing that hasn't changed. Fire Fighters the world over are 100% dedicated to helping People in need. As the world grows more populated there are so many more ways to get hurt. Fires involving Multiple structures or 1,000's of acres, traffic accidents involving dozens of cars and victims and more hazardous materials than you can shake a stick at.
Fire departments all over the world regularly train for these incidents. Thousand of lives have been saved over the years by these dedicated people. Often a store clerk or farmer who stepped up and volunteered. Or a highly trained professional who shares the same dedication to helping people in need. In the immortal words of the world famous Cable Guy...They "Get ER Done"
PART II
How did the Katrina disaster get so screwed up? Because the Department of Homeland Security has handling it. The Department of Homeland Security is a great idea as a security service. Homeland Security should not be used as a disaster team. FEMA should be completely separated from Homeland Security. FEMA has the knowledge and resources to mitigate any disaster. Using the fire services "INCIDENT COMMAND STRUCTURE" they can respond and systematically and methodically take an out of control situation and bring it under control saving lives and reducing property damage or loss. Then incident command structure has worked for years. Why? Because it is simple. The only thing that changes is the size of the incident. As the incident grows resources are simply added. The one thing that should never ever be added to this tried and true system............POLITICIANS.
Where do we get these resources you ask?...Go back and read PART I
I spent many years as a volunteer fire fighter. When I first joined the department we had a very old International Harvester pumper and a not so old Dodge brush truck. We were very basic and very cash poor. So cash poor that we only had 2 sets of SCBA's. These were reserved for the officers who would proudly don their equipment and lead a team of very brave and/or very dumb, un protected firemen into the smoke filled building.
As our community grew so did the Fire Department. It now has 2 stations, 4 state of the art pumpers, a ladder truck (squirt) various rescue trucks and a couple of ambulances.
The volunteer has changed also. From of bunch of dedicated men and women doing their best to fight fire in blue jeans and hard hats to fully protected, well trained FIRE/RESCUE responders. One thing that hasn't changed. Fire Fighters the world over are 100% dedicated to helping People in need. As the world grows more populated there are so many more ways to get hurt. Fires involving Multiple structures or 1,000's of acres, traffic accidents involving dozens of cars and victims and more hazardous materials than you can shake a stick at.
Fire departments all over the world regularly train for these incidents. Thousand of lives have been saved over the years by these dedicated people. Often a store clerk or farmer who stepped up and volunteered. Or a highly trained professional who shares the same dedication to helping people in need. In the immortal words of the world famous Cable Guy...They "Get ER Done"
PART II
How did the Katrina disaster get so screwed up? Because the Department of Homeland Security has handling it. The Department of Homeland Security is a great idea as a security service. Homeland Security should not be used as a disaster team. FEMA should be completely separated from Homeland Security. FEMA has the knowledge and resources to mitigate any disaster. Using the fire services "INCIDENT COMMAND STRUCTURE" they can respond and systematically and methodically take an out of control situation and bring it under control saving lives and reducing property damage or loss. Then incident command structure has worked for years. Why? Because it is simple. The only thing that changes is the size of the incident. As the incident grows resources are simply added. The one thing that should never ever be added to this tried and true system............POLITICIANS.
Where do we get these resources you ask?...Go back and read PART I
posted by Rob | 6:27 AM
6 Comments:
I know it's "Memorial Day" weekend, but this post seems very fitting. These guys are heroes, too. Great post! xoxoxo
You were one of the best firefighters/EMT's that I have ever known and I knew a whole crew of them as I was growing up. I personally think you have to be crazy to go into a burning building but I really admire and respect the people that do it, selflessly, on a daily basis. Good post, Dad.
so where have you been? I'm waiting to see what your take is on the next thing thats bugging you. cute photo!
of course 'where youve been' is trying to share a computer with three nutty women. dumb question on my part...
Bev...I'm working on one now but as you observed...it's not my turn for the computer. Stay tuned
Dad, I still remember standing on the curly slide in the park watching you go into a burning building with an axe. That was the day you became my hero forever...
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