There must be thousands across North America. I tip my dirty seed corn cap to all of you.

Son Jake just went on a call for a local woman that fell. Tuesday night he had a combine fire call, Wednesday night a meeting, and the call today. No small amount of time, and effort spent.

Yes people are often surprised on the amount of time involved with being a volunteer firefighter or EMT. Been involved in the fire service for 23 years and 18 of those also certified as an EMT. Prior departments i ran with were extremely busy, running over 700-1000 fire calls a year with a few actual working fires weekly. Also had rigorous training programs that were very time consuming. Not to mention the voluntary training and certifications i chose to do. Been a state certified fire service and ems instructor for around 15 years now. Department I am deputy chief of now is more rural and averages around 350 calls a year, but still run a good number of actual fires.

yes, a labor of love i'm pretty certain.

it can get dangerous too.

and always needing equipment upgrades.

That felt a little back handed there Gus.....

Your son has a front seat to the best show on earth. Won’t be long and he’ll be telling stories the kids shouldn’t be hearing.

putting a little witch hazel on a burn don't always help as much as needed.

during deer season here in the southland, a lot of volunteers at the crossroads.

they have a boot offered for a fund raising opportunity (there are other opportunities too).

i've never been a vol. member, but i do believe that having funding for equipment is essential.

Here after twenty years service they get a blanket.

There is a ton of truth there. 1st responders see a part of life that few others even know exist and many would be traumatized by what becomes fascinating to some. Then there is the RUSH, it can become addictive or result in stress that is difficult to cope with for some.

Paid professionals are well compensated and if they don't live for the next "high stress" situation should seek another job. Too many are attracted by what they initially perceive as the hero status and not by the challenges of the career yet are allowed to remain due to Unions and diversity. Over a more than 30 year career encompassing most facets of emergency response I consistently observed that the top performers were willing to pay the dues to have access to the challenges and not to gain accolades or wealth or to serve mankind.

Volunteers are a totally different story and many pay dues because they feel a sense of duty to their community. Many of them are genuine heroes. Not all, I was a commissioned volunteer for my counties SAR team for 8 years. It required a lot of time and effort which I was willing to invest because I loved the action and the challenge, no altruism involved, just another way to chase the Rush.

Humans respond to different motivators and badges and titles often fail to tell the whole story.


mike r

my boys have been vols for almost 5 years. i never really realized the amount of training it took to be a "real" firefighter and not a hose roller. lot of time at the local community college, certs, etc involved if you want to do rescue, operate the truck, go inside, etc. they have seen some serious bad schit for young men. i admire them and never let them forget it. i blame it on our Cub scout pack was chartered at the local vfd. boys been nuts about it ever since. good stuff

I'm just a retired mercenary that worked in several stations that ran 5000+ calls a year for half my career. I went to very active stations to hone my craft with each promotion.

I started as an EMT, then a volunteer, and after that 28 1/2 years as a professional firefighter. Son followed in my footsteps, is a firefighter/paramedic.

My hats off to all the first responders . There is a lot of work and time spent away from home .

a few more calls than we averaged when I was in TX. Close to 300 or a bit more for us.. When you run 95% of them its a lot of time. But time well spent for the local community.

No one wants a part time volunteer here in AK. I'm not in one place more than about 4 months max at a time and thats just not enough so I suppose I'll never have the pleasure of being volunteer fire/EMS again in my life.

I didn't like the heat of the fire, but other than that I did like helping folks.

I never did get all buggered up on the calls though, like some that just wait and love the fact they are paged..

Thanks to all that do the jobs. They are not easy jobs.

I know you aren't the case, but I've seen the ones that chase the rush be very dangerous to themselves and others. At least in the volunteer world. EVEN when well trained and I thought we did more than enough training.

4 years firefighter in USAF, took a couple years off after service. Been almost 38 years at the Indianapolis Airport. Two more years, God willing, then it's time to hang it up. I can't wait!!!!

I was a volunteer FF/EMT for almost 11 years and a career FF/EMT for 33 years, nearly 9 of which overlapped. The volunteer department ran about 325 calls a year when I started and was over 800 when I left. My first station as a career firefighter did 1800 calls a year, the one I retired from topped 4300 my last full year there. I rose to captain as a career firefighter and was assistant chief in the volunteer for a term and a half.

I lost the desire for major calls after a handful of years, being on the receiving end rather than the responding end gave me a good idea of how our callers felt. Being excited that someone else is having what may be the worst day of their life no longer felt right to me. I still felt the adrenaline rush but my perspective changed to telling the crew that the best day was one with no calls.

I am very proud of my time in the fire service but don't miss it much. Uninterrupted nights of sleep are much appreciated now as is being free of so many minor aches and pains. Spending 4 of my last 6 months out on injury convinced me it was time to go. About all I miss now is the amount of free time I had. Working a normal job schedule has me wondering how "normal" people get things done.

The only difference between a professional and an amateur is that one gets paid. Amateurs can be experts and professionals can be incompetent and vice versa.

Like any other endeavor, the only way to be a good "first responder" is to do a whole lot of it.

Experience is often the major difference between OK and excellent. A paid cop, firefighter or medic in a quiet, low incidence community will not achieve the level of an equally motivated counterpart in an intense urban environment. Training and motivation are huge factors but nothing replaces time in the trenches.


mike r

Thanks to all of you first responders!!!

As a LEO for nearly 30 years I gave hose whackers a lot of flak. Then in May of 2017 EMT’s and a fireman saved my life when I had a massive heart attack racing my bicycle . I go easier on them now. JK.

I thank them every time I see them. I also make a point to give them credit when and where I can.

That is very true but sadly, my old department is going the way of ticket punchers. Guys work harder at that than working hot stations. Early in my career your appraisal of promotability was heavily based on where you worked and documented major incidents you were on, experience when the [bleep] hits the fan. Now being on the skateboard rescue committee counts the same as being at a top 10 in responses house, strike team assignments, 2nd or 3rd alarm fires.

Same here. Add the political promotion process and I realize that I am not what they want. As I am old I understand. Even championship teams must rebuild for the future. But I worry since the ones promoting early are not always the best in a crisis.

I take consolation that even though I am in what is considered a "retirement" position, almost out to pasture, I am still very productive compared to a lot of younger cops. Sadly in the current political climate, the ones that would move to the sound of the guns are labelled as potential liabilities and are often passed over for key positions.

I always enjoy reading these words of wisdom, wry wit, and a worlds of experience.

I conducted some training on bowstring truss roof construction last night.


It was well received.

Spent 5 years volunteer FF, and 15 years in EMS, a combination of volunteer, part-time, and full-time paid positions. As stated at the top of the thread, most "normal" folks do not have a clue what first responders deal with on a day-in, day-out basis.

A tip of my hat to all first responders, especially those who have the demeanor and fortitude to make a career of it.