A city near where my children reside with their mother (don't get me started about "her") recently addressed the topic of PPE purchase at their city council meeting. While the majority of those present seem to get it, there were two in attendance who feel the firefighters should have to purchase their own turnout gear. Here's the link to this story over on The Fire Critic. Xenia, for those who aren't familiar, is a medium-sized city in central Ohio, about 20 miles west of Dayton.
This, just as the Oak Brook, IL fiasco recently posted, is a trend we need to be prepared for. Any chief officer, firefighter or purchasing agent who is faced with this sort of situation needs to be exceptionally well-informed and prepared to defend themselves. What we're missing is the comparisons made by the dissenting council members. "Die makers buy their own tools, carpenters buy their own tools..." Neither of those are safety equipment. Instead, why don't they propose the firefighters buy their own hoses, axes, nozzles, hell, even fire apparatus? That's what they just said!!! People who don't understand our profession are making decisions that directly affect our jobs, our safety, our lives. It's up to US to educate them, show them where they're wrong and why. No one else is going to do it, nor are they equipped for the task. I am not going to rely on some 'bean counter' to adequately justify my safety gear, just like I wouldn't try to justify their "Count-O-Matic 3000 Automatic Legume Processor System". Hell, I couldn't begin to explain what the damn thing does, just like they can't explain how turnout gear gets damaged by known carcinogens, or how hydraulic fluid is very bad for the fibers. Or how crawling through a run-down, vacant (is it REALLY vacant?) house searching for the squatter whose campfire spread to the structure, can cause some pretty significant wear-and-tear on bunker gear?
Let's face it. We are no longer the sacred, the untouchable. The "warm and fuzzy" of post-9/11 support has worn off, and municipal administrators are starting to see our budgets as over-inflated cash cows. How many firefighters have been laid off, how many houses closed or 'browned out'? Xenia's chief, at the meeting I mention, says the city has laid off six firefighters. That's two per shift, based on their website. So the department is running with 11 fire suppression personnel to cover 21 square miles, and 24,000+ people. Now, those 11 people have to cover 4,500+ calls annually, 75% being EMS-related. Do you think there's some increased wear-and-tear on the firefighters' turnout gear? Give them a few good fires, and where's that gear at now? Think it'll last the full ten years NFPA allows? How about the recommended five years for replacement? What are the chances several sets will need to be replaced inside that five-year window? At a cost of $1900 each, as quoted in this meeting? I, for one, don't have the liquid assets to just run out and buy new gear... and what about the three months required for delivery? Are the firefighters supposed to 'make due' with damaged gear for those three months while they wait for their new gear, putting themselves at an increased risk? Putting the City at an increased risk of liability? I applaud the Mayor of Xenia for pointing out that the police officers in her town don't pay for their own vests, and she seemed rather incensed at the suggestion her cops had to pay for their vests. The measure of purchasing firefighter's turnout gear passed, with only the two dissenters voting against, but what does it really tell us? This city is not unique. In fact, I hold that it is quite probably the norm in terms of administrative "get-it"ness. The people who make the choices about budget tend to look at the paper side, the numbers, and don't equate the human aspect of their decision. How much would it cost the city if one of their firefighters was burned because of old, shoddy gear? Or if the gear failed because the firefighter purchased cheaper stuff? I can assure you, if we have to pay for our own gear, someone is going to find the absolute cheapest stuff they can, and spend the extra money on something else... like bills, a mortgage payment, anything. There's guys out there who WILL do that. We all know one or two. But, that's a topic for another day.
I know we all get it. The issue here is how do we make the OTHER PEOPLE get it? Education, education, education. We have to be the advocate, we have to speak up loudly, clearly, and concisely in support of our profession. That's the only thing that's going to save our 'cash cow' hides from losing more positions, losing more houses, and putting the public and our Brothers and Sisters at an increased risk. WE have to be the educated ones, so that when we're approached in the supermarket and asked by Joe Citizen why his taxes are going up to pay for our budget, we can do more than just shrug. That's a teachable moment, folks, and we have got to start capitalizing on every one of them if we want our jobs to survive this economy.
Well, enough out of me for now. Thanks for reading, and until next time, don't forget to make the most of every public contact you have.
Stay safe, take care of each other, and take care of the job.
In that order.
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