The fire
chief of my old department has ventured forward with a new mission for the fire
service. He is trying out a notion of using fire stations and firefighters as
neighborhood health clinics.
The idea is
that in some neighborhoods during specific and limited hours citizens can come
by their local firehouse and have some simple health checks preformed by a
combination of firefighters and volunteer health providers.
So if you
live in one of these neighborhoods and suffer from perhaps a chronic health
problem like diabetes, high blood pressure or maybe a heart condition, you can
drop by the ole FD and get checked out.
These firefighters
are already trained to the minimum standard of EMT basic and go all the way up
the EMS food chain to the level of paramedic. They have all the latest technology
in emergency medical care that is available to man. Fire trucks anymore are
virtual mobile emergency rooms.
So this
idea I think is very progressive and admirable. My experience with citizens
with persistent chronic medical conditions tend use our services regularly
anyway. When they are having difficulties with their health they call 911. So
why not give them and us the opportunity to intervene early?
Well for me
it would take away the excitement of riding around on the BRT with all the
bells and whistles blaring and who wants to do that? Boring. Secondly it’s a
firehouse, our house it’s where we live and we don’t care for visitors most of
the time. If you need us let us know and we will come to you, it is what we do.
It is an
inconvenience and that I believe is one of the problems with acceptance of the
concept.
The idea
isn’t without controversy. As far as I know it has never been tried before and
anything unknown can cause anxiety and apprehension. The detractors I have
heard are in two camps it seems.
The first
is the firefighters themselves. Many in my former department have a feeling
that they are already doing one hell of a job and that this additional service
will increase their burden. I agree they are doing one hell of a job, just look
at the apartment fire they fought this weekend, great job. http://www.gazette.com/articles/fire-138120-three-alarm.html
They also
feel underappreciated; there hasn’t been a raise in their pay for many years
now, with a steady increase in their out of pocket expenses for health care and
retirement costs. In essence they are not only not gaining in salary they are losing
real net income. They are doing more than ever and getting paid less than ever
and now comes this.
The new
chief wants to add even more work and responsibility to their daily existence.
It feels unfair and I can see their point. Firefighters aren’t nine to five
employees banging it out in a factory or entombed in an office cubicle. They live
in a dynamic and very stressful environment.
I have
never been a fire chief, all I ever was, was just a fireman, and that is what I
know. My experience was that a chief can get so involved in being an executive
they forget their roots. What I also learned over the years was that a simple “good
job guys” can get a lot of firefighters to the other side of an issue.
Nobody likes
having their routine changed. I think as firefighters we see on a daily basis
the worst possible outcomes of poor decisions by others, it becomes the norm.
For me I think it eventually lead me to a place where all I ever saw was the
worst possible outcome of any situation in life.
My thoughts
became corrupted and I lost my ability to envision a best case scenario. So change
for me was viewed through this prism, and maybe it is how other firefighters
view it as well.
The second
group of naysayers are concerned citizens that see a risk or an exposure to the
taxpayer with this project. They see another type of worst case scenario. They are
the “What-iffers”, what if someone stops by the firehouse and gets bad
information or bad advice? What if they then leave the fire station, suffer
some catastrophic event and the family then sues the department and in fact sue
the taxpayer?
Who will be
responsible, who will be blamed and who will ultimately pay? Good question. I will
leave answers to those questions in the hands of people far better qualified
than me.
Since my
retirement from the service aside from writing I have looked for employment. I
teach at the University of Colorado but not every semester. I am a staff writer
for a fantastic magazine http://coloradospringsstyle.com/feature_story.cfm
and have refused work as a paramedic.
Finding a
job is no simple task for anyone these days and when your resume pretty much
says you were good at tearing stuff up and putting out fires many employers don’t
seem to feel that qualifies you for their kind of work.
I understand
the urge to complain about a change in work assignment. It is one of the most
universal skill sets you’ll find in a fire station. All I would suggest is take
a moment to be grateful for a job, a really cool job that very few people get
to do.
It is honorable
work, important work, and rewarding work. I haven’t found many fellow travelers
that can say that about their source of income. I know I have no right to tell
anyone how to feel about anything in their lives. But I can’t help myself it is
in my nature.
Good luck
Chief, I will be a curious observer of your grand experiment. Just remember
your decisions today will be the legacy by which you will be judged in the
future. Right now that opinion is being formed right in front of your eyes.
