What’s it All About, Kentland? Are the Core Issues What Attracts Everyone to the Battle?
Love them or hate them, people sure seem to be interested in the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department. In a little more than 24 hours, there have been about 50 comments on this one topic (here and here). In our 3 months of operation that’s the most we have received in just one day.
It looks like thewatchdesk.com had close to the same number of postings about Kentland and nearly 4,000 views. At firehouse.com, the thread on Kentland was at about 70 entries over the same period.
When I wrote the first article about Kentland’s ambulance battle on May 13th, it sparked a thread on thewatchdesk.com that had something like 20,000 views in the first week or so (that thread now has more than 100,000 views). Whether it is out of respect or disdain, what happens on Landover Road draws the attention of those in fire and EMS.
Why is that the case? The obvious answer it is it has a lot to with the publicity Kentland has received as being one of the busiest fire companies in the United States. Its all-volunteer status, since 1995, likely adds to the interest.
I also think it is bigger than that. My colleague Gary Reals, who is much more of a police guy than a fire guy, was assigned to do the first TV story on the ambulance dispute. No matter the expertise, a good reporter is a good reporter. I mentioned this before, but Gary took this complicated story, with a lot of nuances the general public probably doesn’t get, and summed it up very neatly this way:
This is the convergence of not one, but two cultural clashes in the firefighting community: volunteer versus career and firefighting versus EMS.
When you look at all of the comments over the last three months, you will see these themes again and again. Two conflicts that firefighters and EMS providers all over the country can relate to.
Its seems clear, that for some, these two conflicts apparently translate into good versus evil, with little common ground.
Its a cliche, but I have learned from these type of stories that the truth may not be in the extremes, but somewhere in the middle. I can honestly say, from the very start of this until now, I have heard some very good arguments and some very bad arguments from each side. But it is not my role to judge, just to get the information out there for you to judge.
There are two facts in this battle not in dispute. The first is, there needs to be an ambulance assigned to the Kentland area. Maybe even two ambulances and a medic unit. The second fact is, after seven months of bickering, no ambulance is on the street.
I don’t think you can argue with these two facts, but looking at the passions that have been raised by all of this, its likely someone will try.
If you haven’t done so, you should read some of the comments on the various forums. I think I have read them all. Here are four sent to STATter 911 that caught my attention:
1st comment:
The Chief of the PGFD should have done what was right without bringing a degree of shame and an unprofessional spin on the PGFD.
As a fire chief, if a member of my staff conducts an EMS Response- Based Needs Assessment, which identified that there is an immediate need for an EMS Unit in a certain response area within Prince Georges County, then there should be no time wasted in placing it in service.
If the need was so urgent for a unit in that region, then place it in service by whatever means necesarry. The time to deal with the volunteer department, wheather they’re right or wrong, should have come after the fact or as a side-bar.
Having a power struggle that has proliferated throughout the fire service, both in the media on a national scale, is very sad. It brings unwanted attention to those who are still trying to do their jobs, whether they’re career or volunteer employees.
While many of us with any tenure in the fire service have probably witnessed how ridiculous fire department politics can be, there is simply no room for this type of conduct as a career fire chief in the 21st century.
2nd comment:
It sounds like it is time to let the PGFD chief run his department the way he sees fit. It is a joke that this is how the fire service is run in 2007. By reading these articles, it is not even clear who is in charge in PG county. Just like many other places in this country, no one wants to give up his little kingdom, even if it means having a more efficient and more effective fire department. It is places like Kentland, and there are many more, that are destroying the fire service by doing their own thing, regardless of what is the right thing.
3rd comment:
How do you explain to some citizen’s family that the closest special service was not aloud to run this call and if they were the outcome could have been different? Even worse yet a firefighter’s family. What about the liability placed on Public Safety Communications for not dispatching the closest unit? I guess its going to take a life to prove a point.
4th comment:
How do you explain to some citizen’s family that their father died of a heart attack because when they called 911 pleading for an ambulance, the Kentland VFD decided it was in their own best interest to send a fire truck instead? How do you explain to some citizen’s family that their father died of a heart attack because Kentland VFD refused to place an ambulance in service to protect their own community? An average of one citizen dies every sixty days from fire in Prince George’s County. Thats about SIX each year. About 15 prince george’s county residents die EACH DAY from medical emergencies…that’s almost SIX THOUSAND people…YOU do the math.
