Good Work Ethics

[Robert Burkett]

by Capt168, 10/26/08
Re: Help! Jeff Fire Dept in trouble..... by Jaderyn, 10/26/08

So FireCaptain1, you feel firefighters don't have good work ethics? Wow, thats amazing coming from someone with your screen name. So lets discuss work ethics...what are yours? Are you actually a Fire Captain or just a wanna-be. Do you leave your home in the pre-dawn hours to report for duty and know that when you return home the next day (after a 24 hour shift) that your children and wife won't be there because they have gone off to school and work...and that you won't get to see them till later that evening, and that's a maybe if you get finished with your part time work before they go to bed. Or how about having to pack your family up to evacuate for a storm...and watch them drive off because you can't go with them. And then a few weeks later finally getting in touch with your wife you has stayed a friends house the whole time because you can't afford for her to stay in a hotel that long. Or finally finding your son after 4 weeks because both of you keep missing each other while he got moved from place to place with the National Guard and there was no way to stay updated as to where he was at. Oh, I got to see my daughter once or twice in a week as we passed each other on different fire trucks (she was an EMT with EJEMS at the time) and got to say a quick hello and goodbye..."talk to you later Daddy, stay safe" she yelled from the cab of one of the firetrucks as we passed each other on the way to different houses burning. Yea, work ethics...that was sure in question when the firefighters not only in Jefferson, but across the region left their families to protect the property and lives of citizens in their area. Oh yea, work ethics, that might have been the reason that when FEMA got my crew during the aftermath of Katrina a load of cases of bottled water and ice that we loaded up our Engine and Squad and went door to door to the families we had found that stayed and gave it all away to them. Just to make sure that everyone else was taken care of first. Or maybe it was work ethics that made my crew sick during the weeks after that storm because we could not eat properly...because we made sure everyone else was taken care of first. Could it have been work ethics that when we got blindsided with the news of this new schedule change that our firefighters still came to work instead of just finding another job.We train, we work and we became firefighters for other reasons besides the pay, but when the pay just won't allow you make ends meet, then there will be other options...like finding a new job. I hope this does not happen because my firefighters have had the good work ethics to become trained in Water Rescue, Confined Space Rescue, Rope Rescue, Urban Search and Rescue, Collapse Building Rescue, Vehicle Extrication, plus more and oh yea...FIREFIGHTING too! But I guess it's good work ethics when a politician that has a bunch of these certificates that did not attend the classes but was allowed to take the official certification test. And this is not hear-say, I was in one of the classes and questioned this and was told by the instructor that since he was the parish official that approved the training classes that we were taking he got to skip the classroom portion and just had to come out and WATCH the field work. And I questioned more on the subject, was told that it would be best to leave it alone...oh yea, great work ethics model to follow. Thank God my firefighters view work ethics a little differently that you or that politician do. Because if we followed that model, then we would have alot more to be worried about. So next time before you jump in a say something STUPID against firefighters, maybe you should ask yourself if you should be a firefighter...or maybe look for a different job.The proposed schedule change will destroy the Jefferson Parish Fire Department and we will lose many experienced firefighters, both new and old timers. This is not something that the citizens of East Jefferson can allow to happen. The information that the parish has put out simply is not the truth. Any one can make figures look any way they want. The overtime that the parish is saying several of the firefighters are making also comes from them working extra shifts not on the line, but at Fire Alarm Head Quarters because they are short on dispatchers and have not hired any in a very long time. (Hey, is that work ethics at play again). Also much of the extra overtime that the parish claims has been paid out comes from authorized OT to keep enough firefighters on the line when the administration sends many of our firefighters to training classes during the day, causing the Engine companies to run extremely short handed. There is also the overtime that firefighters have worked on fire watch duty that is paid back to the parish by the business that requires these services, so it is not costing the adminsitration anything for firefighters to work these extra duties. There is more, but why go on?

[firemanswife]

Capt168,
I love your letter to FireCaptain1! Great job! As you can tell by my name, my husband is a Jefferson Parish Firefighter. He loves his job with all of his heart. I think that the drama that goes on with this department is crap! I have asked my husband several times to get an attorney or even quit because of the things that go on in this system. However, he refuses, he loves his job and what he does. Our children are not of working age, and I feel they do not get the family time they need. I understand exactally how you feel with your children. When my husband does get home from work, we have already left for work and school, he calls me through out the day telling me how much he misses us. It is very hard, and for the last Hurricane I was faced to do one of the hardest things I have done in my life. I had to take my children and leave here leaving my Husband, Life Partner, behind knowing good and well that he and the other men with him would not be taken care of properly. I turned around three times to come back and get them. No one knows this. I also emptied all of the food from both of my freezers and pantries and brought it to the firehouses. I felt like I was not living up to my vows by not being there for my husband when he was in need. Luckily I do work at a hospital, and I had a pass to come back and I did, right away!
Because I do work at a hospital and know the HIPPA rights first hand, I also know that what they are asking you to do is wrong. If someone is taking VIAGRA for example, what business is it of alyone else. That doesn't affect a firemans work. Maybe a pornstar. I also know that if a DR. gives medication that you can not work on, they also tell you that you can not return to work for "x" amount of days. Then you have to report that to your employer.

My husband does not work two jobs, and I do not want him to. I figure our budget to what we make. However if there are paycuts we will both have to work two jobs. As it is now my husband spends alot of extra hours at fire alarm and working for people who need off and were refused. To me family is very important and that is a big thing you firemen give up to do your jobs. For most of you, like my husband, being a fireman is not just a job, its a way of life. I love you all for what you do, and I will be behind you guys everystep of the way!
God Bless you Boys!