UPDATE: We've had an impact with this post. Leah M. Kosin changed the subhead. It no longer reads "Safety personnel". But despite our less than subtle editing suggestion, Ms. Kosin didn't bite. It now reads "Emergency personnel" and there still is never a mention anywhere in the article that firefighters put out the fire. Oh well.
A month ago I found myself in the middle of a discussion on Ray McCormack's Facebook page after Ray wrote the line "Only you can prevent first responder". I was and am in total agreement (but there were a few non-believers also commenting). I also felt more than just a little guilty for having occasionally given in to this form of government speak. A term the news media picked up on and ran with over the last decade.
I used to quietly fight against it and for a long time avoided using the term on TV and in the blog. Being the weak willed person I am, I eventually just gave up and gave in. But Ray's six words were like General George S. Patton slapping that soldier and they sent me back to the front lines on this issue.
Which brings me to the article above from the Leesburg Patch. Reading this story about a house fire on Ferriers Court in Loudoun County, Virginia last night resulted in screams of "No way!" and "Un#&^$%#?#believable" and "WTF" emanating from the World Headquarters of STATter911.com. The neighbors weren't shocked. They are used to hearing such exclamations. But usually it's from Mrs. STATter911.com. This time it was from me.
The outrage started when I read the subhead of the article, "Safety personnel continue to fight fire … ". So, now it is "safety personnel" who fight fires. Not even "first responders". When was someone out there going to tell me it has been changed again? I guess once I retired from the news business they stopped sending me the memos from Liberal News Media Central (as we all know, the place where every reporter, except those working for Fox News, gets their marching orders).
But wait, there was more to feed my growing disgust. In the entire11 paragraphs it never mentioned that firefighters were the ones extinguishing this house fire. Somehow in an article about a fire, the reporter avoided the word "firefighter". The writer used the word "personnel" and the term "fire teams" (more memos I failed to see), but not one mention of a firefighter being on the scene last night. How does this happen?
Does the word "firefighter" now carry such a negative connotation reporters try to avoid it (maybe that's what happens when idiotic political leaders claim prisoners can do your job)? Is "firefighter" somehow politically incorrect? Do young people not know this word or can't relate to it? Please someone, explain it all to me.
My outrage is not directed at the young reporter who wrote this and yours shouldn't be either (but Leah Kosin, if you happen to see this, please get something out of it other than I am an old, washed-up reporter with a bad attitude). This is just a symptom of the problem Ray McCormack so simply highlighted (and in a hell of a lot fewer words than I am doing). It's an epidemic.
To me, this is an issue about firefighters losing their identity and becoming generic. More important, it's allowing others to take the lead in defining who you are.
Yes, I am very aware firefighters now do so much more now than just fight fires. They respond to "all hazards". I get it.
But they always did things other than just spray water at flames. Even back in the day when they were called firemen.
Do you really think anyone has ever uttered these words: "Oh my dear, the cat is stuck up in the tree. Shall we ring up the first responders to get it down"? I didn't think so. But you may hear that someday soon, if you allow the word "firefighter" to die from disuse.
Firefighters are the can-do people the public relies on when it hits the fan. While it may not describe everything you do, and has certainly taken a beating in recent years (some of it self-inflicted), it's a word the public generally thinks of in a positive way. If you treat this word with respect by not doing the stupid things that will further tarnish its image and stand up and say something when reporters or politicians call you something else, I believe the word will continue to serve you well.
Also on STATter911 …
- Media relations video: EMS crew member tells reporter where to go at fire scene in Coudersport, Pennsylvania. – August 8, 2011
- A firefighter’s line-of-duty death that barely made the news. Five-years-ago Kyle Robert Wilson died in a Prince William County, Virginia house fire. – April 15, 2012
- DC Chief Kenneth Ellerbe on why safer cotton shirts for firefighters are sitting in warehouse: ‘Sometimes there’s trickery in terms of one administration to another’. – March 9, 2012
- Private jailhouse visit to fire chief charged in child sex case becomes very public for neighboring chief. Largo’s Mike Wallace explains his meeting with Jamie Geer. – January 4, 2011
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George Carlin sums it all up here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeGKuTZtkpg
Amen. It appears we need Viagra for what Carlin called “soft language”. Thanks.
Statter
I wonder if Leah M. Kosin was trying to be a trend setter and really wasn't sure who or what was fighting the fire. Or maybe, just maybe, she didn't have any Cold Fire and that's what threw her off.
Haha love the cold fire joke. But wouldn’t the reporter call it “not hot combustion suppression substance that may or may not be a liquid”?
Its just a symptom of what we have done to ourselves. We no longer put the public first it is our needs and protection before anyone, period. We also have just begun to blend in with every other government agency behind rules and regulations that are designed for our "safety". In reality these rules and regs are nothing more than bureaucratic red tape that prevent us from quickly handling a situation and are designed solely to limit an organizations liability.
Fireman,
Balance my friend. Balance. It isn’t one extreme or the other.
fireman, firegirl, firefighter, fireperson, combustion control technician…"FEMS", oh how much can we endure?….personally i like UCIS-"uncontrolled combustion intervention specialist" but i watch too much sify channel
Dave, thanks for bringing this up. Another one is "putting oneself in harms way." The school crossing gaurd puts themselves in harms way. It's a huge difference to actually putting your life on the line.
Thanks chief. Hope you are well and things are back to normal after those safety personnel who are under your employ put themselves in harm’s way to mitigate that issue where two customers found themselves in need of your services.
I think the word Firefighter is not suitable anymore. I just doesn't describe the job function accurately in my part of the country. Instead, the term 'False Fire Alarm Investigator' should be used, or perhaps 'EMS Assistant'. That covers 90% of what we do.
Aha, so there is a Liberal News Media Central!
I knew it.
Political correctness is going to be the death of our great country.
Mark,
I let that slip out. Please don’t tell anyone. I violated my oath not to release that information. I could go the way of Vince Foster if I am not careful.
Statter
Maybe she is on to something… In the kinder, gentler fire department of today, we worry more about not hurting peoples feelings and diversity than getting a job done. Under the guise of safety, departments are much more likely to be yard gnomes instead of growing a pair, going in and putting the fire out. Before calling responders firefighters, we should make sure they actually extinguish fires to save lives and property instead of making parking lots.
It happened the moment victims and patients became "customers". It happened the moment our safety became more paramount than the citizens we serve. It happened the moment we let our standards dilute so much just so everyone can be included or represented. It happened the moment when we had to focus so hard on EMS Technical Haz Mat Bomb disposal response that we lost our skills on the fireground. It happened the moment we tried turning this blue collar job into a white collar job. It happened the moment when names like Alan Brunicini and Billy Goldfeder became GOD and his son J.C. to the fire service. It happened the moment when self proclaimed leaders think FIRE DEPARTMENT is too harsh and not inclusive to our other missions. We let this happen by saying "yes" so dont blame anyone else…WE OWN THIS.
i believe you're alive right now because of another GOD called Brannigan who taught us about buildings and fire, espically in older cities (like DC), what about ISMAN? he was a haz mat god and i learned alot from him. there are more GODS in this business that have made it their mission to make it possible for you to slam a couple of guys that say what we need to hear about command and control and the other about training and delivery of service. and if we disagree, thats your right. you have a more line view of the job so when i read what you write, i say to you what my chief used to say to me, "dont bring me problems, bring me soultions", i have to agree with you about standard dilution but not your reason. social climate drove the changes that brought blacks and women into the business eliminating the "good old boy" system.
We have allowed this to happen to ourselves, one only needs to look at job titles and classifications in any jurisdiction across the country, "All Hazards Technician", "Public Safety Technician" etc;
If we can't get it right in our own house, how can we expect others too.
I was never part of the "I fight what you fear" crowd. However, I consider myself a firefighter not a fireman. With all the critisim that the Fire Service has received lately (across the compensation spectrum), being labeled "Safety Personnel" by an ignorant reporter is relatively inconsequential.
While this one article by one reporter may be “relatively inconsequential” in the bigger picture and the long run I think it’s important. I don’t believe it is a good business practice to be lumped in with everyone else. Protecting your image is important when fighting these other battles. Letting others define you will hurt you. I think a lot of it is linked together in more ways than may be immediately obvious.
I too have never been a fan of the “I fight what you fear” chest thumping. What I am saying is the word “firefighter” has had a good run and I believe still has a lot of positives with the public. While a firefighter today may do a lot of other things (the ones of yesterday did too) it is still the term most people use when they think of someone who can help them in times of trouble. Use it to your advantage. Protect that image by your actions and don’t let others tell you there is something bad about it and it shouldn’t be used.
Statter
Excellent point Dave.
We can't let hte public think of us as softies. They need to see as the ruffians, the tough, fearless people that they think we are. I can't pretend we are all heroes and able to handle every call without emotion or injury. But the truth is the public trusts us. They trust "firemen". We've been doing a lot of public educations lately, and guess what? The moms and dads and teachers don't say, "Hey look at the safety personnel!" They say look! Firemen. Even when it's a female. Even when it's a medic unit! They do this because it is a term that they have come to know and trust. If we fight for it, it will stay this way for generations further.
Great Post Dave.
I agree. We are losing our identities. We have been doing a lot of public education at schools lately. When we first approach, the moms, dads and teachers don't say "look at the safety personnel" They say "Look the Firemen are here." Even when we have a girl. "Look the Firemen are here." When the medic pulls up. "Look, the firemen are here" Sometimes it's "Firefighters" but never, ever safety personnel or something like that. Ive never heard that safety personnel were on scene and put out a fire.'
The public trusts firemen…period. Some of us are women, some are medics. Some are chiefs, captains and lieutenants. But in the eyes of the public we are fireman.
Good thing you're not part of that crowd SCFFEMT-P. I'm not sure how that "Safety Personnel" title is gonna make a good t-shirt.
Guess you won't be ordering a personalized SEMS t-shirt? (I'm still holding out for a tee from the Sanitation Hazardous Incident Team Squad.)
Wonder if Bill Shrumm is aware of the industry changes? Safetygeezer.com? Around the Safety Web?
Makes my head hurt.
Perhaps the reporter notice that while the firefighters may be the one that put out the fire there are a variety of other safety personel on the scene doing things like EMS, traffic control, controlling utilities, etc and wanting to recognize that a fire scene does require more than just fire fighters.
And no one is saying anyhting negative about the others who are important to an emergency scene. They too should fight for an individual identity. Be proud of who you are.
After reading this article I too felt the same anger as all of us did. As firefighters in this country we have slowly fell by the wayside since 9-11 once again and the general public and news media shed a light on us as if anyone can and will do our jobs. As a firefighter paid and volunteer for almost 12 years now I have watched the good, the bad, the young and the old come in and out of my depatement and there is one word that comes to mind that has been lost with the generations and that word is "RESPECT" I am in no way saying that everyone has lost it but even as firefighters some has lost that respect and what it means to be a fireman. That being said if todays firefighter has lost respect for his or her jobs then I am postive the average citizen has began to go down that same road as well. If the respect is lost then your left with very little. Just my two cent's as I step down off my soap box
FTM-PTB
Dave,
Does this mean that the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial is going to have to change it's name to the National Fallen Public Saftey Memorial?.
That”s safety personnel and no.
Well lets see, In the fire dept's hey dey of the 60's, 70's, and 80's when there were record numbers of fires one could truely be called a firefighter. Ive been on the job many years. the public these days is able to listen into our radios online and shocker (most calls are BS or EMS related). You dont think the public is smart enough to know DC hasnt had an extra alarm fire in 2 weeks??? 3weeks, maybe 4??? Even cities like Philly, Boston, Chicago honestly how may guys there catch consistently good fires on a daily basis??. Bottom line, they don't. Yet we still want the same pay, if not more, and more benefits. The public sees us at the store buying food then 15 minutes later they drive by the firehouse to see us lifting weights or out front smoking a cigar. (on the public's dime yet again!!) And of course it is true there is no other job where you can watch tv for 4 hours, run a breathing problem, work out, run to the store because the a.m. boys forgot butter, run a chest pain call, sleep the WHOLE night though, go home for your 2 days off, and then get paid more than the average citizen. Notice no fire anywhere in there?? So does the public.
get real adam, fire protection in the 60's 70's & 80's were not what it is today. We know more and are better trained and better equipped. You also forget that the fire department got into EMS because of 2 guys in los angles county FD TV show in the 70's…We had a commissioner who constantly complained about "the fire truck at the food store-everyday". We reminded him that it was a different crew EVERYDAY and oh by the way, why are you at the food store everyday instead of your office? We work out to stay in shape so we dont get hurt. Yes we're fighing less fires (thanks prevention) i enjoy the fight but hate seeing people loose their stuff. We gotta eat, we gotta sleep, some of us enjoy a cigar from time to time. You dont like the job? put in your paper and get out because we're in the screwup business, when people screw up, we go to work, do the best we can, learn from our mistakes and move on. it aint about how many fires we're fighting, its what the public perception is when we're not.
I was a "safety personnel" in 6th grade, had the orange belt and helped the little kids cross the road. No wait that was safety patrol, never mind.
It's laughable, but there are idiots in the media who have no clue who we are or what we do. Then we have PIO's who speak some kind of gobbledygook language that is meant to project the desired corporate image. Morons.
She has since ammended her script to say “emergency responders”, because cops and paramedics also reponded. She is truly a credit to writing personnel.
@Adam
Its sad to see that you have lost your way with the rest of the citizens. Sir you should try to Keep Fire In Your Life.
I have lived in Leesburg 45 of my 46 years and didn't even realize there WAS a Leesburg Patch. I think this was all a stunt to increase online circulation. With this article, they are probably now up to 50 people in the entire world that knows they exists.
Dave: do you ever wonder why more people en EMS dont have Heisman trophys? according to the papers they "rush" people to the hospital all the time and and the leading "rushers" are supposoed to get the trophy. Now as an EMT i've personally "rushed" more people to the hospital than the current champ. He only rushed for 266 yards, i've rushed patients to the hospital for 5 miles.
this comes back to my want to create a media day where we might promote better and more accurate reporting by our friends in the media.if it makes you feel better patch reporting aint really media reporting
"I have no ambition in this world but one, and that is to be a fireman. The position may, in the eyes of some, appear to be a lowly one; but we who know the work which the fireman has to do believe that his is a noble calling. Our proudest moment is to save lives. Under the impulse of such thoughts, the nobility of the occupation thrills us and stimulates us to deeds of daring, even of supreme sacrifice.”
"Firemen are going to get killed. When they join the department they face that fact. When a man becomes a fireman his greatest act of bravery has been accomplished. What he does after that is all in the line of work. They were not thinking of getting killed when they went where death lurked. They went there to put the fire out, and got killed. Firefighters do not regard themselves as heroes because they do what the business requires.”
Chief Edward F. Croker, Chief of Dept., FDNY 1899-1911
Not much more to say. At the end of the day, the job really hasn't changed all that much. Neither should the title. Someone make sure, that when the time comes, my obit says, Fireman.
Call 911, Please dispatch Safety Personnel. My squirrel is stuck up in a tree
I suggest we refer to 'Journalists' (present company excluded) as 'typists' and see how quiclky they snap to.
How about news personnel? Second responders?
Statter
The problem is when we stopped "hiring" firemen, and started "hiring" firefighters. Hiring in this case not only refers to hiring, but also membership in a volunteer FD. Men, women, monkeys, I dont really care. I want a fireman beside me. One that is true to the job, there for the right reasons, willing to continue learning, wanting to be at the firehouse. I dont want someone who is there for the government job, T-shirt, chest beating "I fight what you fear". Even in this day and age of safety personnel, there is still a difference between firefighters and firemen.
Dave
The whole point of my quote “Only you can prevent first responder” was to heighten awareness. Firemen, Firefighter that is what we are and what we do. You can debate how often we strictly attack fire however we are the only ones who can fight fire. The other services that respond to incidents along with us are not firefighters and the media has adopted this term because it is fact lazy. It is time for a change? It is up to each of us to decide how we wish to be represented. Occupy it!
Ray,
I really feel this is an issue where the next generation won’t realize what they’ve lost until it’s gone. Being generic and losing your uniqueness in the eyes of the public and the politicians opens you up to the possibility of more public safety models around the country.
While I respect tradition, that is not what is fueling my arguments on this topic. To me, it’s not about that’s the way we have always done it. The name works, it’s effective, and the image is generally a good one with the public. Don’t mess with what’s working. I don’t see any up side for generically calling firefighters (or cops, or EMTs or paramedics) first responders (except, as you point out, it is convenient for the news media). Fight it now. Let the reporters and the people who cover your department know how you feel.
Statter
40 comments, over 100 shares on Facebook and the headline is slightly corrected. What would make a bigger impact in fire service, media relations? Over 100 departments contacting their local news stations to teach reporters and create an understanding. Over 100 departments looking into the legal definitions of their titles and how they relate to more important matters than 'what's my name?'
In Delaware, the case of a young "Certified First Responder" (the department-specific term, I know, because I contacted the department) killed by a driver while she was working a accident scene was muddied by what she was called. In the sentencing phase, the problem was that the victim was not a "firefighter" nor an "EMT". This caused a problem that eventually required looking into specific training and duties as well as the existing laws benefiting fallen firefighters and their families.
Another part of this problem is us. In much of the coverage for the 11 September anniversary, I've seen plenty of comments on news articles and Facebook posts where readers were on a crusade to make sure volunteer fire companies; K9 handlers; private EMS; third-party EMS; and the soccer mom who passed out bottles of water were mentioned. EMS, I've found, is notorious with this, making sure that subjects are properly identified as 'EMT' or 'Paramedic' because, heaven forbid we forget they spent all that time in paramedic school to not be labeled as an EMT. And then, lets not forget the whole career and volunteer debate that always shows up.
In the end, does it really matter? I haven't heard about Lieutenant Glenn McGillivray whining because he's identified in headlines as the "firefighter" who caught the boy in Roxbury. He would certainly have cause, since anyone who has been in the books and on the list knows it's no small feat trying to get promoted.
Beat up the reporter (any of them) if you want – and especially if you live in the reporter's town, – but at least give just as much attention to finding out if there are legal issues to be aware of regarding your title and help your local reporters understand the various titles and duties. The non-bitchy approach can go a lot farther and do more good. If not don't be surprised then if the next headline reads "Certified, Trained Firefighters, Along with Experienced Fire Officer and Certified Fire Apparatus Operator Seen Shopping for Dinner While On Duty"
Bill Carey
p.s. -Don't mistake this as taking up for the reporter. I believe Dave can confirm that even I have issues with the local news here in D.C. using bad stock images for local fire stories. One news station here, for a long time, would use a photo of a Boston L.7 firefighter coming down an aerial for local DC, MD and Va fire stories. Let's also not forget the image of a yellow LA-style helmet with old DCFD logo on the front used by local stations here as well.
bc
Hmmm, I'm going top have to talk to my chief and find out when our next "Safety Personnel Academy" is going to be.
I e-mailed Leah and we went back and forth a few times. Her first response was:
""Firefighters, police officers and EMT's were on working together to help the family who lost their home"
When I asked why that exact sentence wasn't in the article her reply was:
"Why post information that is obvious?"
My reply was simple..Basic reporting
I read the comments. Amazing.