Take your EMT re-cert on a cruise ship to Mexico & get the FD to pay for it
How about this idea to make your EMT re-certification less painful? Do it aboard a cruise ship to the Mexican Riviera and get your fire department to pay for it.
That’s the controversy today in Reno, Nevada according to reporter Anjeanette Damon at the Reno Gazette-Journal.
The firefighter received his training from EMS Training Center of Southern Nevada while on a cruise to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. Damon reports that four other firefighters traveled to Priest Lake, Idaho and received $1200 each from Reno, the city’s top limit for travel expenses.
Reno Finance Director Robert Chisel plans to intially deny the expense claim for the cruise, but since it was pre-approved by a battalion chief he thinks ultimately the city will have to pay.
Reno’s Fire Chief Michael Hernandez told Damon that currently he can’t limit where the firefighters get their training.
“It’s in their contract,” Hernandez said. “And it’s capped (at $1,200 per city policy). They don’t get the whole thing. It’s got to be directly related to their job and continuing education requirements. We typically approve it. There’s not a lot of latitude.”
Mike Pilcher, political director for Reno Fire Fighters Local 731, said he’s unaware of the circumstances regarding the Mexican cruise, but said it is unusual.
“That’s not typical of our membership,” he said. “In my 27 years, I’ve never heard of anything like that.”
