A CHANGE FOR THE WORST

I had hoped this blog would give peolpe a safe place to voice their opinions, whether it be secretly or up front, on whatever issue I post about, maybe even poke some fun at someone or myself, as if I don't receive my fare share of pokin'. I have a feeling this next topic will get a few folks talking or even vent a little.
The New Hampshire State Senate is on the verge of implementing some BIG changes to the retirement system and the end result will be the loss of seasoned leaders in the fire service in the CFD as well as many other fire departments across the state. Now let me just start out by saying that there are those out there who are more educated in the changes than I am and hopefully they will weigh in on the subject later.
For anyone retiring after July 1, a loss of round about $5,ooo or MORE a year (on the average) could be in the mix for them. If they will be living on a fixed income, that would be about $125 dollars a week loss from their income. OUCH!!!!! Factor into that inflation, rising cost of health care, and other unexpected expenses one could imagine, the decision to retire (as opposed to waiting a few more years because they "STILL LOVE THE JOB AND AREN"T READY TO LEAVE IT") is simple but tough. Go now and take advantage of the system that's in place or wait til later and take the hit financially. The state senate doesn't care about what happens to people after retirement and the residents of New Hampshire that depend on the fire service, as well as the Police dept's, probably don't know much about how it will affect them each and every day.
Here's how I see it playing out. Just in the Concord Fire Dept. there is atleast 8-10 guys who have the time and age to retire today. They range in rank from Battalion chief, to Captain's, to Lietenant's. Just in a rough estimate, that represents approx. 250 years of on the job experience, knowledge, and leadership. GONE!! Can they be replaced? Sure they can, but who is going to suffer because of their absence. EVERYBODY!!!! The guys still on the job will continue to get on the trucks and put their lives on the line, and maybe the next person in the officers seat will be able to look out for the saftey of his crew, and maybe the unlucky citizen who dialed 911 because their life is on the line will have a company responding with enough experience, knowledge, and training to rescue them from whatever IDLH atmosphere (immediately dangerous to life or health) they are in. Every department in the country is playing the financial warfare game with their city councils and every dept is trying to cut back and find ways to save money. One of the areas that suffers is training. With fewer guys taking classes to improve their skills coupled with the loss of guys who took those skills when they left makes for a bad reipe for disaster. Yet we are still going to get on the trucks and do what we have to do.
That's just my take on it. I hope I am wrong, which would be the first time by the way, (that's humor for those of you who didn't recognize it). I guess we'll find out in a couple of months.

2nd alarm building fire/ Beacon Street

On Friday March 16th Battalion 3 along
with members from Battalion 1 responded to a
building fire on Beacon Street. BC (battalion chief) arrived on scene and reported smoke and fire coming from the eaves. Engine 1 and ladder 1 along with BC were first to arrive.

I hope to have more info along with some pictures within the next couple of days.

Crews went into a defensive mode due to the extent of structural damage.

ICE RESCUE TRAINING

On Tuesday March 6th probationary

firefighters Boissonneault (boss-in-no)

and Odom got a chance to do a little

ice rescue training with the sled



They both will have completed

their probationary status on

Ryan, you had betted not lose that axe.

Keeler & Boissonneault enjoy a special

moment on the ice.

Travis, a chainsaw, & ice. Need I say more.

Ryan, are you sure you're going the right way?

A bad case of "Rileyism".

Well, the last couple of days, which were the first two days of our tour, have been fairly busy. It has been mostly EMS and master box alarms. The heights reposnded to an industrial accident involving a bull dozer and the outcome could have been a whole lot worst had it not been the quick response by one of the workers on the scene. Apparently a bull dozer rolled backwards (unattended) and was about to pin a guy between it and a pick em' up truck when at the last second the driver of the truck lurched forward. The guy did get squeezed but was thrown about 10 feet before the dozer could pin him. He suffered some minor injuries and we can't figure out why he didn't break any bones. The Lord was definitely looking out for him. Firefighter/Paramedic Mumford (Ambulance 7) took an officer and firefighter from Engine 7 to assist him in the back of the ambul. to the hospital. He doesn't do that very often, as in maybe once every four or five shifts. On Monday however, he took a third with him on 4 of the 6 Ems runs he had. Firefighter/Paramedic Riley (Manor station Ambulance 5) should be proud of him.

What will the next "call" be like

Hey there y'all. Other than having another snow storm since the last post, not much has been going on, which is the way we like it. That's not to say we wouldn't mind a fire here and there. It is always fun to write about a "good fire" or a trauma call that played out in text book style, but not every shift is like that. Yseterday's shift was no different. We had a couple of EMS runs with an occasional "box alarm" here and there. The more down time we have the greater the chance of getting into some kind of mischief (which is fun). There was one call that has stuck in my mind however, and it didn't involve anyone from the CFD. It was a call we hate to hear and count our blessings that we don't have to respond. While sittin' around the station shootin' the breeze with some of the guys from the on-coming shift (which is one of my favorite times of the day) a call went out to the Hooksett Fire (20 mins south of Concord) and the Tri-Town ambulance for a report of a 5 month old in cardiac arrest. I wish I could report to you that the child survived but I just don't know. It only took a few minutes for the EMS personnel to arrive and they wasted no time in transporting. I only write this post in hopes that as you read this you would take a moment and send a prayer out for the family and friends, as well as for the EMS responders. It takes a long time to recover from a call like this one, and for the family involved it will be a lifetime. Cherish every moment you have with your children, I know I will.

Just for fun I threw in a picture of my son Dj, who is now 16 months old. What a handsome fellow. Dj's pretty cute too. HA! HA! This picture was taken last summer at Yosemite Nat'l Park.