Rural Fire department volunteer or paid

[brentoli]

Every department is different. Every one knows there are volunteer departments that are better trained/staffed/equipped then some paid departments. Everyone also knows there are some municipalities that CAN afford to make their departments paid, and some that can barely afford to sustain them as volunteers. This goes for EMS and fire both. The pissing match is useless. No one is going to change 75% of America.

I come from a volunteer Fire/EMS orginization that is very professional. We have newer equipment, younger members, and a good attitude with everyone. Most of our members are FF I/II and EMT's along with advanced certifications. The truth is, if our department went to full time staffing, we wouldn't be able to afford a lot of the things we have now. Which is more important; nice, dependable, safe equipment or 4 guys on a 1990 van converted into an ambulance by Mike's body shop. Truth of the matter is everyone has to decide that. And not everyone makes the right decision, but no one ever said politicians were the brightest either.

[EmergencyMedicalTigger]

Do we really want to start yet another volunteer v. paid thread? :?

[BushyFromOz]

Do we really want to start yet another volunteer v. paid thread? :?

Start? Its been going for six pages!

[GBFDEMS174]

Fire-EMS full 100% volunteer

Proud of it because it gives much more of a heartfelt meaning

[EmergencyMedicalTigger]

Start? Its been going for six pages!

Ok, ok, it was 6am, give me a break. What I meant to say is....Do you really need to continue this volunteer discussion?

[Asysin2leads]

Fire-EMS full 100% volunteer

Proud of it because it gives much more of a heartfelt meaning

More like a stomach felt feeling. Here's a t-shirt.

[Fireland]

We are a combination department now. after 100+ years of all volunteer our valley has changed with the normal people moving out and all the elite rich moving in and they don't volunteer. This fall we are putting on 9 more full time people. Our requirements for the Volunteers is the IFSAC FF I program before being allowed on a rig then it is 6 months probation after that.

[GBFDEMS174]

Fire-EMS 100% Volunteer and extremely proud of it wouldn't have it any other way.

[Rescue0ne]

Fire-EMS full 100% volunteer

Proud of it because it gives much more of a heartfelt meaning

Fire-EMS 100% Volunteer and extremely proud of it wouldn't have it any other way.

-100 for posting the same thing, in the same thread, more than 4 months later, for reasons that are suspect.

Pride is a sin. Didn't you pay attention in bible class? I didn't either, but that's beside the point.

Earlier in the thread, I stated "fighting to keep it volunteer". This wasn't due to some misplaced sense of pride in being a volunteer. Being proud is something you do, in the privacy of your home, at the end of the day, knowing you helped someone in need...if indeed, you did. Like dude said, would you like a T-shirt? Wear your pride on your sleeve?

It's like all those idiotic shirts they sell in the GALL'S catalog/website. "Redneck Firefighter", "Absolut EMT", "Tool of the Trade", etc etc. Can we be ANY more tacky?

I'm a career medic, but I volunteer on the side, for my hometown rescue squad, a couple of times a month. I do this because right now, they're a volunteer organization. When they eventually become a career or even part-paid agency, I'll more than likely cease these activities. The county I come from has all of two stoplights, but is over 500 square miles in size, with no economical base whatsoever. Yes, I'm sure some sort of career or contract EMS agency could be put in place. It has been brought up before, on multiple occasions. The rescue squad even leaned toward it. Fact is, the county didn't want it, and the citizens didn't want it. Yes, it was an uneducated decision on their parts. Still, at the end of the day, the volunteer rescue squad is all that county has. That's why I volunteer.

Can we lock this thread now?

[GBFDEMS174]

-100 for posting the same thing, in the same thread, more than 4 months later, for reasons that are suspect.

Pride is a sin. Didn't you pay attention in bible class? I didn't either, but that's beside the point.

Sorry I didn't read above and realize I posted in this already.

(Yes, I did pay attention in bible school)

Pride should not be a sin, it is simply a sence of emotion, a feeling of greatness after saving someones life/getting them off of their "death bed" and after that happnes you say to yourself this is why I do it, to see a smile on someones face. That is my defineition of pride and is why I do it