RESCUERABBITS

Recently I attended a Fire related seminar. Like many seminars and training courses there was a delay on the starting time. As a mater of fact it seems almost every training course or seminar I have recently attended is delayed due to "still waiting for a few more members to show up", "we will wait fior the late comers", "lets give them a few more minutes" etc. My question is WHY. Many of us make a concerted effort to leave early and be there before the start of these classes. The delayed starting time prolongs the courses, sets bad examples, disrupts the instructors and those of us trying to learn sometime. This seems to be the new trend and way of life in our country. Its unprofessional and should not be tolerated. We have been told in many ways we should be operating our Fire Departments like a business. Why can't we do so? I was recently waiting at 0830hrs for a store to open and again it was delayed. A gentleman also waiting with me told me, in his business he hold weekly meeting and has had the similar problem with late employees. He addresses this problem but starting his meetings on time, first order of business is deligating the worst possible jobs to the members who are late. Then he addresses the most important issues next. After doing this several times all employees are now extra early at all his business meetings. A friend also addresses the late appointment issues with all of his Doctors, he give them 20 minutes after the scheduled appointment time and thens walks out of the offices. He advises everyone present, that his time is also worth money and please schedule me for a time when he can be taken on time. After doing this several times this has seemed to work. We lead by example, so lets set the example. Is being on time so hard to do?

Article worth viewing and sometime we all should be aware of. Selden_fire_officials_face_arrests_over_funds___Newsday_com.htm

Worth looking at.......................................some interesting videos including that of our Senator Hillary Clinton www.iaff.org click on 2008 Presidential Forum

Article you might be interested in................................. Clinton_goes_for_top_rung_of_firefighters___ladder___Los_Angeles_Times.htm

Maybe in the year 2007 we should do two important things 1. Be safe...teach safety.....lead the safety example by setting an example. 2. let us act as Professional Firefighters as if some is always looking over our shoulders with a camera and the next photo appearing on the front page is us. With the number of photos appearing on this site, the next one might be you.

You need to decide very simply if we are going to be PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS or not. We have heard non-stop comments about being PROFESSIONAL, act like it. Is being a PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTER only a matter convience when we pick and chose our times to be a PROFESSIONAL.................... IF you want to call yourselfs PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS act like it.

Serveral recent Attorney General's Opinions, I though members might be interested in. One affecting Emergency Personal and entering private property and the other Career Firefighters voting for a Volunteer Chief in a Combination Department. At times its difficult to keep up with changes in the Law. http://www.oag.state.ny.us/lawyers/opinion...ex_op.html#2006 OPINION 2006-4 RE: Emergency Personal entering private property OPINION 2006-10 RE: Whether career Firefighteres were eligible to cast ballots to nominate a Volunteer Fire Chief. Something worth reading.

The Voice is followed by beeping tone like the traditional smoke detectors.

I recently viewed a demonstration on the New Generation of Smoke Detectors called Vocal Smoke Alarms These detectors allow you to record a personalized wakeup command and verbal escape instructions. One of these detectors is designed for Adults as well as Seniors One designed for the safety of children. Information all members should look into, especially those with young children. They are made by Signalone www.kidsmartcorp.com Safety is everyones job!!!!!!!

Its Sad that the Fire Service has always been guilty of what I call the "Fatal Mentality Syndrome, Where, because of a lack of common sense they wait for someone to be seriously injured or die before any changes are initiated. Haven't we all seen enough death and serious injuries in our line of work! I heard it said a number of times, very simply put, ARRIVE ALIVE

Inches ahead for professionalish..............miles backward for being a YA...............................HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO and if you don't know the difference you should not be in the fire service Its not about anything more than knowing the difference between PROFESSIONISM and LACK OF IT.

Part of the problems is and have always been a lack of State mandated training on the part of Chief Officers. Liability issues need to be taught and addressed. The Officers with the mushroom syndromes need to be enlightened. The Fire Service seems to never learn until there is a lawsuit and even then its always going to happen to the other department. When common sense, maturity and professionalism are lacking the next step to address the issues with the Department's Insurance Company. Sometimes this is the best approach, money talks at times very loudly. Safety and setting the example starts with ourselves. Be Safe and act Professional.................not a hard concept.

Everyone wants be be seen and treated like PROFESSIONALS, maybe we shoild act like it even at parades.