Advancing the Line

One Month Later...

2010-03-26T20:08:00.000-04:00

I have not done anything Fire or EMS related for at least a month, and it has been a month since my last post.
I finally worked again at the fire station. It has been a long day though. I started at 0300 this morning. I made over 2,000 pounds of yogurt. When I got home at 1330 I changed into my uniform and went to the fire station. After about an hour I got a call from my relief asking if he could come late. I will get home around 2330.

It has been a slow night. We had a walk in report of unattended smoldering leaves. We responded at 1620 with E1. There was no smoke, just charred leaves in a pile. We were there, so we raked it and emptied the can into the pile. We were back in quarters by 1630. Not the most exciting fire...

The Update

2010-02-25T07:33:00.001-05:00

I have not written for a while. My idea of my role in the fire service has evolved and I couldn't write anything about it until now.

Here is the update on where I am going next. I will be a cheese maker but not at the farm I was applying to. That farm apparently had some tough times and was not able to make a move on the job. So I applied and got a job at another farm working under a very experienced cheese maker. I will also learn how to make yogurt. I am excited about this opportunity and it means some security for my family.

I originally started this blog as a way to track my progress as a career firefighter. It does not seem that this is the direction I am going in. I have wondered if I should get rid of the blog. I am realizing however, that life is not as linear or black and white as I would like for it to be. I tend to be all or nothing about my life. So was the case with my aspirations to being a firefighter. I am beginning to learn the value of being a small town firefighter.

For a long time I did not like some of the aspects of the small town fire department. Unfortunately there are firefighters that don't take the job as seriously as I think we all should. I mean lets be honest, if you rely on volunteerism, are you going to turn someone away? On a small department you have to take what you can get. On the other hand there are a lot of good things that come from becoming a volunteer. I can be a firefighter and have time to pursue other interests at the same time. I'm sure I'll philosophize more on this in the future, but for now I'm satisfied to be a part of what I already know and to find ways of becoming as professional as I can within the framework of any organization I join.

I have decided to continue to post to this blog. I am still ADVANCING THE LINE in my own little world of fire service and as long as I keep committed to the work I can create a life within fire rescue.

Awaiting the News in Uncomfortable Shoes

2010-02-08T22:22:00.000-05:00

I emailed the owner of the farm that I am waiting to hear back from about the cheese job. I'm sure it will elicit a response. It was a happy email about how my family and I are looking forward to potentially joining their crew. Now we wait (some more) for a reply.

Yesterday I went for a walk on the supposed frozen wetland behind my house. It is a beautiful walk up the serpentine path of ice through tall brown marsh grasses and reeds. And magically, the ice and the water beneath do what ever they like, because some areas are frozen and some are not. My EMT boots are the warmest thing I have for a winter walk and so when I fell through the ice, into the water, and under the mud, they were taken out of service. I'll clean them later but for now they are still a little wet. I am working tonight (right now actually) at the fire department. I had to wear something on my feet and sneakers are hardly appropriate, so I dug through my closet and pulled out my wild land boots. They are very good but they have not been worn in a while and are a wee bit stiff.

I'm just glad I am doing something other than waiting around for an email or a phone call. Instead I'm waiting around to take out the engine or the ambulance. Works for me.

Certification Run-Around

2010-02-04T13:02:00.000-05:00

In Mass, EMTs need to have 28 hours of con ed credits. I completed 28 hours of con ed credits by the Dec. 31 deadline. HOWEVER, the Mass OEMS (office of emergency services) did not recognize me for three of those credits. Long story short the person responsible for turing in the roster for some of the classes did not turn in three of the courses. She said she would work it out because I completed the material.

Now I'm just waiting to hear back from the state to see if I will be an EMT after April 14th, my EMT expiration. I sure hope so after completing the 28 credits, 24 hour refresher, $90 refresher fee, $150 rectification fee and two years of commitment to EMS.

Taking Leave

2010-02-01T08:06:00.000-05:00

Saturday night I handed in my letter to take leave from the ambulance company I work for. Since my wife works some Saturday nights and since we are changing things up I thought I'de take a break. I only work there as a volunteer every other Saturday night for a 12 hour shift. I have worked there for two years with some great people.

We had a slow night. There was only one call the whole shift and since there were three other EMT just hanging out they went out and I stayed at the garage. It might have been nice to run one more call.

Anyway I don't know when I'll see them again because if we move to the farm the leave of absence will probably just turn into a resignation because of the distance. I seem to be saying this a lot lately but, we'll see what happens.

So long for now.

Tic Toc Tic Toc

2010-01-22T08:10:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been a week since my interview at the farm. The owner has asked me to submit my resumé and some references so yesterday that is what I did. I told one of the guys at the fire department the last shift I worked and he seemed like he thought it was a cool idea. I still have to decide if I'll stay on per diem.

Meanwhile I'm still getting as much work with the fire department as I can. I have several shifts this month which is nice. It is the first time I've really felt comfortable working in EMS. I am doing better call ins and I'm not hesitating as much. I hope I can still pursue the fire thing even if my involvement isn't what I thought it would be. I don't think I'll know until I can stop wondering if I get this position. I'll keep ya posted.

Life Likes to Puke All Over My Plans

2010-01-15T10:54:00.001-05:00

OK so a little background...
... Almost a year ago I was a cheese maker. I worked on a small farm in Mass and I processed milk and made cheddar cheese. I managed the milk room that I worked in. I learned a lot about the dairy industry and the science behind milk. Six months ago after my family and I moved off the farm to see what was out there I actually considered going into cheese making. I met with a local farmer about his dairy but he already had plans and did not need another cheese maker. So I started down the path that led me to become a career firefighter, another passion of mine.

Well last week I got an email from a friend who told me of a posting for a cheese maker at a beautiful small farm. They would provide us with health insurance and a farm house to live in on the property. I had an interview yesterday and it seemed like it went well, we'll see.

SO what of the firefighting?

Short answer is I don't know. I haven't been offered the job yet so maybe nothing. I could still get my medic license so nothings over till its over.

Most of the time life offers the unexpected and you have to decide what feels right. I don't want to stubbornly refuse to accept an opportunity to do something I love.

Well, I'll keep ya posted. Wish us luck as we make some more big decisions!

One of the barns at the farm where I might make cheese

Full Code

2010-01-10T23:31:00.000-05:00

I just got off the second shift at the fire department. We only had one call, but it was a good one. I mean that of course with respect to the deceased and their family. I have not had too many opportunities to do CPR and tonight I did. It went well. The patient was gray when we found him and a few minutes after starting compressions he was pink. When the medics got on board they pushed epi and atropine. The drugs and my compressions jump started his heart and he had a good pulse (a good radial pulse too). I had to help him breath but we made his cardiopulmonary system function. Anyway it felt good to feel confident in this setting. One really has to be tested before knowing one's capabilities.

Does This Make Me a Bad Father?

2010-01-09T08:31:00.003-05:00

So the kids and I were playing at the table and then the boy created a little game with his firefighter toy. When in life do you get to hear this word combination said innocently?

Recouping

2010-01-06T22:39:00.000-05:00

Well, the Big Plan post did not turn out to go the way I had expected. I awoke at 0530 to my son's school district telling us there would be a two hour delay. I'm fine with a cancelation, but a delay just messes with routine. Anyway I didn't get home until 1020 but I still made some calls.

I called four city departments around Boston and I called Boston fire as well. I had some great conversations and most of the people I spoke with sounded interesting in meeting me if I stopped into headquarters. I think I'm narrowing it down some! Boston Fire is definitely out. They have canceled there last academy class and they may not hire until the next civil service test in two years. The guy told me this is because of budget setbacks. As a result firefighters are having to work serious overtime. They also have an age cap of thirty-two.

I'll write more on this as I narrow the options down.

So I worked the night of the fourth at my job as a one on one at a school for boys with behavioral issues. Then I finished at 2100 and went home. My fire department called and asked me to fill in for the night shift. Of course I didn't sleep the whole night. We did have an interesting head trauma. When I got home at 0715 I took my son to school and then hung out with my sister for some of the morning. By the time I got back my wife was working from home and so I hung out with my daughter until we had to pick up our son. Then of course we had a sleepover at my sister's house and I didn't go to bed until 0200 this morning... then I worked again tonight. It is now 2240 and I will be going to bed now or I'll never catch up!

The Big Plan

2010-01-03T23:16:00.002-05:00

Ok so its time to get serious now. I'm working out. Fine. But I've got to start advancing this thing. So here goes:

The Incident Action Plan for operational period 01-04-10 to 01-05-10.

Objective: stay awake, keep children happy, establish communications with fire dept. resources in Boston metro area.

Strategy: drink caffeinated beverages, provide children with scheduled schooling and play time (emergency episodes of Kipper may be implemented), use internet and telephone to contact department resources.

Tactics: refer to Unified Command (wife and myself) and IAP schedule.

0740 drop son off at bus stop.

0800 drink coffee.

0830 have a little more coffee.

0900 entertain daughter while placing phone calls to fire departments in boston metro area.

1000 go pee (too much coffee).

1005 call Honda dealer to ensure resource functionality (we need a new computer for our car).

1020 check blog to see if anyone is getting this ridiculous command briefing.

1040 call some more.

1100 do some stuff.

1215 contact support branch to set up supply unit for rehab. (I'll make some sandwiches in the kitchen for lunch)

1330 play with daughter.

1415 pick son up from bus stop.

1445 make dinner (support branch... yadah, yadah, yadah)

1500 go to work.

Fitness Plan

2010-01-02T12:37:00.001-05:00

So I said I would write more about the details of my workout, and here is what I'm doing so far. I have started a program called couch to 5k. I'm sure some of you have heard of it, I think its kind of popular. The nice part of the program is that it can be downloaded as a podcast. The guy tells you when to run and for how long. There is also music with it so you can get all fired up. I have been running for four weeks but I've been repeating week two because of interruptions and a cold I can't kick. Anyway I'm back in the swing of things and after Sunday I'll start week three!

Here is what the program looks like. I got this from the Cool Running website.

Week	Workout 1	Workout 2	Workout 3
1	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
2	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
3	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following: Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes) Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following: Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes) Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following: Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes) Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)
4	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes) Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes) Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes) Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
5	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes) Walk 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog two miles (or 20 minutes) with no walking.
6	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2-1/4 miles (or 25 minutes) with no walking.
7	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).
8	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).
9	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes).	The final workout! Congratulations! Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes).

The only other working out I've started is some real basic stuff just to start. I am trying to build strength in my shoulders, pecs., back, and abs. I am working with a trainer to learn how to work those areas.

So far everything feels great and I look forward to seeing some results in my strength an stamina. I am always open to advice so feel free to leave a comment.

NOT a Resolution

2010-01-01T22:55:00.000-05:00

I hope everybody had a good first day of 2010. As I said yesterday I don't usually make a big deal out of the new year thing. I fell asleep on my couch last night and woke up at about 12:15, looked at my wife and wished her a happy new year. Then I went to bed.

I went running today. This is my fourth week running and I wish I could tell the difference. I'm sure there is one. I mention that I've been running for four weeks because I would hate someone to confuse my efforts on the first day of the new year to be a resolution. Unlike a new year's resolution, I really plan on achieving my fitness goal. Not that other people don't find success, but I've never found resolutions to be enough. My motivation in this case is -yes you've guessed it- becoming a firefighter.

The physical abilities test is a part of the civil service exam in Mass. So, in order to do well overall, I need to be prepared physically as well as mentally. Thus the running and working out. I will post in more detail later on what I am doing exactly to prepare.

New Year

2009-12-31T23:12:00.001-05:00

Well here we are on the cusp of a new year. So much has happened in the last year and there is so much to look forward to in the coming one. To be honest I don't usually make a big deal of the passing of one year into the next, but this year feels different. This year there is a lot that coincides with the coming of the new year. I feel like I am really starting out on this journey right now in the very beginning of the year in the very beginning of a new decade.

I hope that ten years from now I will be blogging (or whatever we'll be doing with our implanted computer minds) about my career as a firefighter medic. But alas, we never know what the future will hold. Just a year ago I was an artisan cheese maker. Whatever happens I am excited about the possibilities and can't help feel, if even a little naïvely, that success is not as far away as I may think.

I wish all those in the field tonight a safe a happy new year. Unfortunately many folks out there ring in the new year with stupidity and cause more work for emergency services.

Take care and have a happy new year!

Naysayers

2009-12-30T22:39:00.000-05:00

As I've made my decision to become a career firefighter, I've talked with a lot of people in and out of industry. I have to say that everyone has said that it will be hard. I find this to be a bit frightening but not a deterrent. I think you have to understand each person's frame of reference to really grasp the reality of why they say something. I have heard that it is hard because it is so competitive, and in the same conversation the person will admit that they never went to the physical abilities test (nor trained for it I'm sure). People speak very doubtfully about my success. It's kind of annoying. I suppose this is why I'm not looking for work in western Mass. It will be far more likely to land something out east. There are only two or three full time career fire departments in my entire county! No wonder people are such naysayers. I think I have the determination to see this through though. I just have to figure out how to move to the Boston area with a family of four, get a job (preferably EMS), establish residency, find good schools, start a medic class, find good daycare, and wait to be hired or take the civil service again (which ever comes first). I don't see the big deal.

Waiting for the Payoff

2009-12-29T22:57:00.011-05:00

So here's the deal. I'm really hoping that this blog will payoff. It is sort of an experiment to see if some of the networking I have to do will work through this forum. If it does I think it will be a lot of fun. The other thing is this; I also want this blog to be a sort of a resource for others who are trying to get a fire job or, 'get the badge'.

I have had fun setting this thing up. I'm not sure on the purple. I just think some of the firefighting sites are a little over the top and campy, what with all the animated graphics and overuse of the color red. I think firefighting can be purple.

Why firefighting?

2009-12-29T09:21:00.001-05:00

I grew up in a small town with a volunteer fire department. My best friend and many of my other friends were all firefighters. I never joined because I went to school in Boston and I didn't stop moving around for six years.

Finally my wife and I settled down on a farm in western MA. I took the opportunity to sign up with a call fire department. I took a 180 hour class taught by the Mass. Fire Academy. I became a state certified firefighter. Meanwhile I had been on with the fire company for over a year and I discovered I wanted to do more on our medical calls so I became an EMT.

Over the last six months I have been trying to decide what I really want to do. While going to school to pursue a degree in social work I couldn't shake my desire to do more with the fire service. As I learned more about what it takes to become a career firefighter, I realized I would need to focus more of my time on it.

I love the excitement and immediacy of firefighting. It feels great to help someone in an emergency situation. To look at an injury or a set of symptoms and be able to help a person is very satisfying. There is always a challenge in firefighting and the job is never the same. I wont be able to say I'm bored.

This is class 14, my call/volunteer class that prepared me for the FF I/II certification

Here we Go...

2009-12-28T11:34:00.000-05:00

I am about to start a long journey toward becoming a firefighter. I live on the opposite side of the state from where I want to work so there are going to be a lot of complications. More on that later.

For now I am just going to start this blog. It will be a sort of measure of my progress from the beginning of my journey to the hopeful end, where I get a job.