cozmosis

Any time a politician asks us why we can't get by with less, it should be reiterated how much more difficult -- and dangerous -- our job becomes with fewer people. Also, we can't always use the fire argument. Fires are down in a lot of places. When we tell folks that we need four people on an engine so we can have an IC, an engineer and a hose team... They remind us how many fires we run. When fighting for personnel, we must also argue for the other tasks we're responsible for -- EMS runs, Haz-Mat, extrications, etc. Your friend should have asked the commissioner what will happen when you reduce the shift staffing to five people instead of seven and those folks use their sick leave and vacation time. Now you're either below five (unacceptable) or you have to fill the positions with employees from other shifts on overtime (which is a word that makes politicians dry heave even though it is sometimes cheaper than hiring extra employees). I'd be curious to see the commissioner's response.