Chaplains...

[chappy]

So, I am thinking about becoming a Chaplain and I have a few questions...

Does your service have one?

What would you expect from a Chaplain?

What would you ant from a Chaplain?

Thanks for your sincere answers!

[NYCEMS9115]

What is the process to be one? No, my service doesn't have a Chaplain. Good luck on your endeavors...

As for what I want? Not sure. I'm not religious nor do I have a religion. Thank you.

[firemedic37]

My Fire Department had two Chaplains, one was very active and went on calls and the other one I have never met. The one that was active has left due to moving away to service a congregation elsewhere.

We really never knew what to expect from one, until we had the young chaplain that wanted to be active and was given membership on our department as well as our lead chaplain. It was extremely helpful to have him on calls where there was a death, it made it much easier on the family and you could tell that peace was with them. Other times it was nice to have one to talk to someone that had just lost everything they had, again you could see the peace that the individuals got. We have tried to recruit another chaplain to be as active as our last one, however not many want to. We expect our chaplains now to be an active member and get to know everyone and understand our aspect of the job. It makes it much easier for any member to approach them and talk to them about life and spiritual issues.

I am an individual that is very spiritual, I once was a minister myself however I was called away to my to my new "calling". I help out on calls and talk with other members and families when problems arise, however it was nice to be able to go to church and see a man that you knew give a good sermon.

Be sure to invite all of the departments members to your congregation and any events that you are hosting, this makes them more likely to attend your services.

[HotelCo]

I'm an atheist, so I obviously see no need for one. I'm of the mind that if you need someone to talk to after a difficult call, you should goto a professional that's been trained in handling such things (therapist).

As for them going on calls, Id prefer not to have a chaplain on scene of my accident/death.

Just my .02

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[akflightmedic]

There is zero room for a chaplain within the emergency services. Stay in your lane...if people need you, they can seek you on their own time. There should be ZERO dollars allocated for any religious leader on a government payroll...and there should be no volunteer status either. It is presumptuous to assume your belief is what is needed on the department and to neglect all the other faiths or non believers (do not say your ears are open for them as well, as it is not the same thing).

In short, chaplains need to stay in the churches and allow people to seek them if they want them.

[FireMedic65]

I have to agree with ak on this one. I am not sure how I would feel if I called 911 and a chaplain shows up with the crew, but more than likely I would not be to happy about it.

As for having one available to speak with you can just go to a church or whatever place of worship you prefer. If there is a situation bad enough then the state has the CISD teams that can come in and talk with you. Remember, you are entitled to counseling whenever you need it. But bringing them along on calls is asking for trouble.

[Chief1C]

I don't believe our "Chaplain" has any religious experience or education at all. In fact, I think it's just a title that was filled for the hell of it. I prefer that religious people stay as far away from me as possible, in a stressful time.

If a scene is that bad, that someone thinks we need a priest, I'd say a lot of folks are gonna be pretty high strung. I tend to get a tad hypertensive, when I have what I would consider a "really bad call". Not a common death. People die, they die every day, we can't stop that. It happens. It's when they die extremely violently, young, not at their own hand; burn; or any of the prior and are well known, that I consider it a bad call. If someone say, pisses me off, while in said situation. I'll either 1. go into this little weird state which happens to me, but nobody can explain, where my BGL suddenly bottoms out when in extreme emotional stress... or B. verbally express my opinion of someone's butting into my chill process, which never ends well. I hate CISM's, and I hate people trying to pray for me, next to me. Do that somewhere else.

Just my opinion.

We usually try to avoid having a family come to the scene. If it's like a cardiac arrest, hell, call the funeral home... call a priest, b/c we're outta here. We'll even take the body for them, I can be respectful, kind and compassionate, which is how I was "raised" in EMS, without having a bit of religion involved. If someone local is killed in a wreck, we try to have a local priest, an actual one, not just ha ha, lets make "Fred" the chaplain; one of the line officers, and usually the coroner go to their home. Cops don't make those calls here, it's either a hospital, or a funeral director breaking the bad.

Edited May 15, 2011 by 2c4

[HERBIE1]

Obviously the role of the chaplain is different for each agency, but in most cases I know of, they are for the members, NOT the public. Do they show up at incidents? Yes, but for US, not the patients or their families. Do they occasionally help out when asked? Yes.

[hatelilpeepees]

I see no problem with a department having a volunteer chaplain, I would see it the same way I see pay-per-view channels on my TV -- I never use them, but they are not hurting anything by being there, and who knows, I might use it some day. But as others have stated, the EMS industry doesnt seem to attract religous people, just about everywhere I have worked, there has only been 1-2 devoutly religous folks. But if it's your calling, go for it.

[paramedicmike]

Obviously the role of the chaplain is different for each agency, but in most cases I know of, they are for the members, NOT the public. Do they show up at incidents? Yes, but for US, not the patients or their families. Do they occasionally help out when asked? Yes.

My experience has been similar, Herbie. However, the OP, in another thread, mentioned that he felt part of his role is to be there for families during the course of the call. I can only agree with AK in that this kind of approach is a bit presumptuous and potentially antagonistic.

In that same thread I just referenced the OP also mentioned that he'd like to be there for CISM purposes. To this I'd have to ask what formal psychological/therapy education and training he's had that he thinks would make him qualified to take on such a responsibility. There are enough questions about the benefit and/or potential harm of CISM (or CISM gone bad) that I'm not going to trust my mental well being to someone with no training.

If the OP were sincerely interested in a chaplain type position within his organization than he should be asking those who are members of his organization what they want. He says he's in South Carolina which would place him in the heart of the Bible Belt. So my guess is that he'd get a warmer reception there than here.

People have requested I call their pastor for them when I'm on scene somewhere. And I've done it. I've also offered if I got the sense that they were religious and wanted that kind of support present. But people have a comfort level with the preacher they know and see every Sunday. Some random person claiming to be a chaplain isn't always very well received.

With regards to the OP's questions:

Does your service have one?

No.

What would you expect from a Chaplain?

To be responsible. To not intrude unless asked. To recognize that his belief system is not the only belief system out there. To be respectful of all belief systems. To not abuse children. To stay out of the way.

What would you ant from a Chaplain?

I'm guessing that's supposed to be what I want from a chaplain. My answers to the previous question apply to this one as well.

To the OP, we're a tough crowd when it comes to religion. You may want to seriously consider making this a squad level discussion only.