[cifnmedia] Re: Volunteer Firefighter Job Protection Act
- From: "MARCO" <MISOME@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <cifnmedia@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2004 16:21:13 -0400
maybe the problem is that illinois the governemnt needs better laws for the
job of fire fighter. i know what you guys are talking about. i was on a dept
near decatur for a few years, and was no ff1 class to send you to. you just
learned on the job which is not right. but that was not my fault it was the
govt. they should have a law if anything that all fire fighters must be ff1
then that would force the counties there to have day and night classes.
the only other thing i can say is that like before michigan does not mess
around on that. because before they even think about sending a new guy in on
a fire he has to hold a ff1 cert from the state fire fighters training
council so in a good way it forces the counties to offer classes in the
night and evening. i just don't see why you need a law so you can have time
off for class. we have a very good system in michigan and there is no need
for something like that in our state because everyone gets to class because
they want to and they make time for it.
i think ifsi needs to take a better role in the state to make sure all ff
get trained and they were not doing that when i lived there. it was always
up to the fire dept to make sure you have ff1 well if they made it a law
then that would push the counties to offer more classes.
in my county every fall they offer a ff1 and 2 academy and then in the
spring they will do a single class of ff1 or 2 depending on what is needed.
and it works all classes or open for day or evening and thats because the
chiefs in the county force the cnty fire assoc to put those classes on.
maybe the chiefs in your counties should push the county fire assoc there to
have more class time so everyone can make it.
sorry if i made anyone mad but it just seems like that in michigan we don't
have any problems with people getting to class. also here every year we get
a book from the state showing where the different classes will be held in
each county so if you miss one and can goto another county to take it. but
being from ill for 24 years i can say that the state has never pushed for
education for ff except for city depts. you guys should push them for a law
that everyone has ff1 that way everyone will be educated.
thanks again for a great converison i guess not everything works well for
each state just glad my state is proactive and gives us the training we need
and has a dept that is serious about and they stay on top of it. in two
weeks that state offered us to goto the fire academy in maryland only thing
my dept had to pay was 185 for bus and meals, and we have 5 guys going. i
had never seen il when i was on offered to send us to maryland.
thanks again marc
----- Original Message -----
From: <hollywoodfire822@xxxxxxxx>
To: <cifnmedia@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <cifnmedia@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2004 12:17 PM
Subject: [cifnmedia] Re: Volunteer Firefighter Job Protection Act
>
> Marc,
>
> I realized when some of us sat down and came up with this idea that it
would be an up hill battle, on all fronts. Yes, I can see your point about
employers. But...when something happens at your factory, it is that same
employeer that will look at you for help. And why, because you are a
firefighter. They will never ask what your training is or what
certification level you are. They will just expect you to know what to do
because you are a firefighter! Our whole point when we brougt this up was
not to figure out a way to get more time off, it was to keep up on the
overwhelming training that we a now required to do. Yes, I agree, if you
want to be a part of something you have to make a commitment, but what about
those thousands of people out there, thinking "I would like to help,I really
would, but I can't get the time". We have an untapped resource of people
that we as the emergency services need to reach out to or every small town
department will be out of business in
> the next ten years.
>
> But as far as the training, let me give you an example of why we started
looking at this. The state of Illinois is wanting to start requiring each
county to have a hazmat team. While we all know that we were suppose to
have this years ago, they are just now getting around to doing it. Back
then, departments were able to do an Operations, Tech A, and Tech B class
one night a week for a year and throw in a couple a Saturdays for hands-on.
Now, with all of this rush, Ops, Tech A and Tech B can ONLY (per OSFM and
IEMA) be taught either as a 5 day straight (daytime) class or two 3-day
weekends. Recently our county put 15 guys through Ops. We asked about a
night class, for those of us that work afternoons and weekends, and were
told no. Afterwards, when asked who would be available on a Monday at 0900
if we had an incident, four hands were raised! The same four guys that
asked about doing a night class. Of the 15 Ops, only one does not have a
M-F 8-4 job. The same can be
> said for firefighting and other skills. As far as the comparison of
nurses, doctors, and law clerks: nurses can get training through there
facility during normal business hours (I know, I have helped teach some of
those classes). And just how many doctors and law offices are open on the
weekends and after 6pm. I think that there is a big difference. Now do you
see why we think this is important
>
> Rod Stewart
> Taylor Springs Fire Department
> Taylor Springs IL
>
> 9-11-01:Never forget or fallen brother firefighters
>
> ________________________________________________________________
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