Stand up for adequate resources
Ralph L. Lloyd
Assistant Chief
Carrollton Village (OH) Fire Department
Anyone who condones understaffed engine and truck companies does a disservice to the fire service, as in “Matching Your Apparatus with Minimal Staffing” (Training Notebook, January 1997), about how to make do with less when what we really should be doing is pushing for more to do more with. Let`s face it, firefighting and rescue are labor-intensive jobs. In this day of minimum staffing of engine and truck companies because of budget cutting, I think several things need to be seriously considered. These considerations may not sit well with some people in the fire service, but the crunch occurs when John Q. Citizen sues your fire department for delaying the rescue of his five-year-old from a burning structure or when Sam/Susie Firefighter becomes a victim and the surviving other half sues the fire department for unsafe practices.
Consider the following: NFPA Handbook (17th edition) recommends four people per engine or truck. This means one is the pump operator and three can attack the fire. But wait. NFPA 1500, Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program–1992, states that of those three, only two can attack the fire; one has to be a safety/incident command officer.
Today we gear everything toward making do with two- and three-man suppression crews. What about rescue in the one-family dwelling that has the upstairs fully involved and three people trapped? Why don`t we stand up to the bureaucrats who vote themselves a nice hunk of taxpayer money and say, “We do more for the community than you do”? Take it public; the news media love stories like this. Don`t be afraid to tell it like it is. Your fire department needs the money, not the bureaucrat.
Hey, Chief, did you know that not having enough staffing is no excuse when you are sued? Why don`t you make the vocal outcry in front of the public, when it is really for the benefit of the public?
Hey, firefighters, when you go after that pay raise, will it cause your ranks to be depleted by retirement, with no replacements? This can tax you more physically and shorten your lifespan. More firefighters retire on early disability, further depleting the firefighter`s retirement and disability fund. You pay for it one way or the other. Like the FramT oil filter man says, “You can pay me less now or more later.” Take your concerns to the public; explain to them why it is more difficult to protect them when the city does not provide the money.
Let`s get some pride back in ourselves to do our job safely and effectively. Anyone who thought they could get rich serving the public had better become a bureaucrat–public safety services won`t do it.
