What makes us so important?

[Dinosaur 844]

Why do we feel compelled to put firefighter above and in front of all else?

A tragic accident happens and we focus not on the victim and his family but the fact that he was a member of a fire department. While volunteer fire associations are important what makes them more important than the victims real job or membership in any other voluntary association like a library, rotarian, elk, VFW, etc.?

[sympathomedic 383]

When I took a journalism class, they pointed out that males in the news are nearly always referred to by their occupation,(fireman), plumber etc and females by their family status (mother etc. I never would have realized it, but pick up a paper and see. Just the way it is. Makes no sense shen the issue that brought the event into newsworthyness had nothing to do with the occupation.

[TAPSJ 30]

How About Brotherhood Or Doing What Some People Could Never Do??? We Are All Brothers And Sisters Doing The Same Job Out In The World. Weather We Are In It For 60 Years Or 6 Years, We Are Here For One Reason And Thats To Help Others In Need. Weather It Was A Firefighter Or A Firefighter's Mother We Come Together Because We Have A Heart And Love For What We Do And We Are Here To Help, Weather Its A Stranger Or One Of Our Own!!! Also We Are A Family Weather In Person We Hate Each Other Or Not We Have Each Others Back!!!

Thomas

[FFPCogs 863]

How About Brotherhood Or Doing What Some People Could Never Do??? We Are All Brothers And Sisters Doing The Same Job Out In The World. Weather We Are In It For 60 Years Or 6 Years, We Are Here For One Reason And Thats To Help Others In Need. Weather It Was A Firefighter Or A Firefighter's Mother We Come Together Because We Have A Heart And Love For What We Do And We Are Here To Help, Weather Its A Stranger Or One Of Our Own!!! Also We Are A Family Weather In Person We Hate Each Other Or Not We Have Each Others Back!!!

Thomas

EXACTLY!!!!

Firemen, all firemen paid and voluneer alike, are a special breed. Only firemen put out fires and we are some of the very few in this world that put ourselves at risk for others. As Lt McComack stated in his now infamous FDIC speech, it is a priviledge to be a firemen and because of that we are, despite our differences, a family..so the loss of one, no matter how, is a loss for all.

Cogs

Edited July 9, 2011 by FFPCogs

[FireMedic049 597]

Why do we feel compelled to put firefighter above and in front of all else?

A tragic accident happens and we focus not on the victim and his family but the fact that he was a member of a fire department. While volunteer fire associations are important what makes them more important than the victims real job or membership in any other voluntary association like a library, rotarian, elk, VFW, etc.?

Who is the "we" that you are referring to?

The fire service I'm familiar with does focus on the victim and their family when tragedy strikes one of our own.

[jack10562 414]

For some reason the general public has a fixation of sorts on the uniformed services, we're different somehow.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

Nothing makes us special. No one held a gun to our heads to do this. I laugh when I see those who every day wear FD t shirts. No one cares what we do. Just do it and do it well.

[ONEEYEDMIC 68]

Nothing makes us special. No one held a gun to our heads to do this. I laugh when I see those who every day wear FD t shirts. No one cares what we do. Just do it and do it well.

I couldn't of said it any better!

[INIT915 1,119]

Nothing makes us special. No one held a gun to our heads to do this. I laugh when I see those who every day wear FD t shirts. No one cares what we do. Just do it and do it well.

Exactly Tom. There's lots of good people out there that do hard and dangerous jobs, often with low pay, no benefits, and none of the protections we enjoy, both physical and legal. But, in the end, all the jobs need to be done. Most of those in Emergency Services who put themselves up on a pedestal can be identified a mile away!

The only one's who hold us in the highest regard is the media, and that's usually only when own of us screws up.

[NWFDMedic 58]

Why do we feel compelled to put firefighter above and in front of all else?

A tragic accident happens and we focus not on the victim and his family but the fact that he was a member of a fire department. While volunteer fire associations are important what makes them more important than the victims real job or membership in any other voluntary association like a library, rotarian, elk, VFW, etc.?

Just remember, the same (well due) respect that comes to those that put their lives on the line to save others comes with a microscope in the press too. It's never "Mayberry man indicted", it's "Mayberry Firefighter indicted".