Off Duty Network

On the Job 2008

Added 5-14-08

WORDS OF WISDOM FOR FIRE FIGHTERS:

• The only safe assumption is to assume the worst.
• One should not stand too close to the guys who are always bandaged up.
• In most cases, extinguishing the fire solves the majority of the problems.
• Effective analysis must always be mixed with water in order to put out the fire.
• You should never develop a plan that is so smart that you can't explain it to the people who have to carry it out.
• The fire department is not usually called because someone did something smart.
• The Incident Commander should be the first person who thinks a fire is burning and the last person to believe that it is out.
• Safety zones and escape routes work best when everyone knows where they are.
• If the fire isn't going out, you're not putting enough water on it.
• You should avoid situations that are so exciting that you don't survive.
• Instructions are most effective when they are understood.
• The very worst plan is no plan; the next worst plan is two plans.
• If you have a lot of ideas, you need a lot of equipment.
• Very little on the fire ground falls up.
• Safety prevents meetings.
• You can fool the spectators, but you can't fool the players.
• Retreats are far superior to funerals.
• If you aren't dressed to play, stay in the bleachers.
• Don't assume that you're communicating just because you're talking.
• The longer you take to make a decision, the fewer options you will have.
• When the wind picks up, something will happen.
• Never challenge a fire to a foot race.
• Never trust a smiling dog.
• When they say "Somebody do something!” you're “the somebody” they're talking about.
• Never eat more than your mask will hold

Added 3-5-08

Fireman vs. Policeman videos

To all my law enforcement brothers, this may sting a little.....

There are six (6) parts you really need to watch all of them.

www.policemanvsfireman.com

Adult Content and Strong Language  (not necessarily bad language but a lot of beeps)

Added 3-3-08

You can go to this website to make a payment www.mintwebs.com/fesma/join.htm. It will ask you to either make a paypal payment or send a check to the FESMA address.  This needs to be completed or you will be taken off the FESMA list and will have to sign up again. Please make your payments by May 15, 2007.  If you do not you will be taken off. We are trying to up our membership from 120 to 200+ so pass the word in your department.

Also when you sign up or make a payment please put your name in the slot that asks for your name, not just your email address. Doing this makes it easier to identify everyone for the moderators of the webpage.

Thank you for your Support!

Ben Wilson
678-414-1135
Membership Coordinator
Fire Emerald Society Metro Atlanta

Added 3-3-08

When Firefighters Retire...

When a firefighter leaves the "job" and retires to a better life, many are jealous, some are pleased and yet others, who may have already retired, wonder.

We wonder if he knows what they are leaving behind, because we already know.

We know, for example, that after a lifetime of camaraderie that few experience, it will remain as a longing for those past times.
 
We know in a firefighters life there is a fellowship which lasts long after the uniforms are hung up in the back of the closet.

We know even if he throws them away, they will be on him with every step and breath that remains in his life.

We also know how the very bearing of the man speaks of what he was and in his heart still is.

These are the burdens of the job. You will see what others do not see or choose to ignore and always will look at the rest of the fire service world with a respect for what they do; only grown in a lifetime of knowing. Never think for one moment you are escaping from that life. You are only escaping the "job" and merely being allowed to leave "active" duty.
 

So what I wish for you is that whenever you ease into retirement, in your heart you never forget for one moment that "Blessed are the firefighters for they shall be called children of God," and you are still a member of the greatest fraternity the world has ever known.

Added 3-3-08

Civilian Friends vs. Firefighter Friends:
 
CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Get upset if you're too busy to talk to them for a week. 

FIREFIGHTER FRIENDS: Are glad to see you after years, and will happily carry on the same conversation you were having the last time you met.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Have never seen you cry.
FIREFIGHTER FRIENDS: Have cried with you.
 
CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Borrow your stuff for a few days then give it back.
FIREFIGHTER FRIENDS: Keep your stuff so long they forget it's yours.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Know a few things about you.
FIREFIGHTER FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing.
FIREFIGHTER FRIENDS: Will kick the crowds' ass that left you behind.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Are for a while.
FIREFIGHTER FRIENDS: Are for life.
 
CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Have shared a few experiences...
FIREFIGHTER FRIENDS: Have shared a lifetime of experiences no citizen could ever dream of...

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will take your drink away when they think you've had enough.
FIREFIGHTER FRIENDS: Will look at you stumbling all over the place and say, “You better drink the rest of that before you spill it!!"  Then carry you home safely and put you to bed...

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will talk crap to the person who talks crap about you.
FIREFIGHTER FRIENDS: Will knock them the hell out for using your name in vain.

"Striking the Four Fives"

The fire service is rich with ceremony, custom, and tradition. Our custom of rendering final honors has its origins in the fire department of the city of New York, where many years ago, long before the advent of radios or pagers, fire alarms and daily announcements were dispatched from central headquarters to outlying firehouses by a system of bell commands and telegraph.  Each different type of alarm or announcement would have its own number and series of bell strikes. When a firefighter died in the line of duty or when some important official or personage died, headquarters would transmit five bell strikes, repeated in four series, with a slight pause between each series, followed by the announcement. This was done as long ago as 1865 in the New Your City Fire Department to inform the rank and file of the death of Abraham Lincoln.  The custom has continued down to the present day and this form of rendering final honors to departed comrades is known in the fire service as "STRIKING THE FOUR FIVES".