I've been extremely busy in the past few months, so
Greg here helped me out by writing a guest article
for my topic. I promise the EMT article is coming,
but here's come candy for the squash.
Becoming a volunteer firefighter is something to be
taken seriously. Anyone who ventures into the world
of volunteer emergency response halfheartedly will
soon find that it’s either all or nothing at all.
You can’t go to a fire scene and attack a raging
house fire if your heart isn’t into it, and you
can’t go to a vehicle accident and expect to save
someone’s life if you don’t feel it 100% in your
bones. You need the ability to concentrate solely on
the task at hand in order to help preserve life and
property
Becoming a firefighter isn’t easy. It’s a tough,
grueling process that requires dedication and
devotion that does not fade or “get old” with time.
The training is endless, the courses required become
more and more detailed and cumbersome with each
passing year, requiring even seasoned firefighters
to update and keep their own training current. New
tools, rules, codes, and means of fighting fires,
rescuing victims from vehicle accidents, and
performing hazardous materials response are printed
all the time. Volunteers need to be vigilant in
keeping up to date. They need to know that when the
time comes, they’ll be able to perform the tasks
required of them by people in need.
I had no idea what I was in for when I decided to
volunteer. But now, after having gone through the
first phase of my training criteria (I am now a
certified firefighter in NYS), I’m glad I did. I can
honestly say that I took my local fire and EMS
departments for granted.
Fire Fighters In action!
I didn’t think about the massive number of hours of
training most of them have in their dossiers. A
bunch of guys in big yellow coats and oversized
hats, that’s what I saw. Now I see professional men
and women who dedicate their spare time to helping
better other peoples lives by saving property of
preventing certain death in other cases. I see
people who throw their lives and hearts into their
“work” when they take a call. I’ve seen jovial
jokers who take NOTHING seriously become a photo
negative of themselves and do the most outstanding
job as prescribed by whatever situation occurred.
I’ve been surprised at how readily I will rush to a
fire scene or accident scene, not knowing what will
be there waiting for me, or my fellow volunteers.
But I never stop feeling amazed at watching these
guys work. Since I am new, I prefer to work in the
background, running tools and helping with the
“grunt work” associated with every scene. This way,
I can learn without being in the way. Watching my
fellow firefighters work together on the drop of a
dime is truly something I feel privileged to have
witnessed. Everyone seems to know what everyone else
will do with hardly a word spoken. Personal issues
take a back seat to professional actions. Every time
I attend a call, I leave the scene feeling as though
I can’t wait for the next round of classes to start,
so that some day I might be on the same level as
some of the guys I now call “brothers”. I know in my
heart that attending 180 hours of class (that’s only
ONE class, mind you) is well worth the time spent if
I can help to save just one life, just one home, or
assist in averting one disaster.
I never used to feel the need to become one, but now
I am one. I never used to spend time thinking about
them, but now I am one, and I think about them all
of the time. I never used to feel concern when I
watched them work a fire scene, but now I am one,
and I feel concern for every single one of them.
It’s funny how one decision in your life can change
your entire outlook on things
