A matter of priorities

In regard to “No One's Perfect” by Chief Gary Waters (Letters, February 2005) in response to the IAFC Executive Director Garry Briese's article (“Tell It Like It Is,” December 2004), … thousands of firefighters are trained every year and most don't get hurt or killed — no books cooked and no training eliminated. It's all about priorities from the top down. [But] none of the items that are listed in [Waters's] letter should be forgotten, even the ice cream guy — as long as the ice cream is low carb, low fat and no sugar. After all, times have changed.

Be it ice cream or fire training, some fire departments do have to change or they will continue to injure and kill firefighters in training and continue to get fat. Sadly some will not have any clue as to why both keep happening. No one, especially not Briese, is saying that there is a chief anywhere in this country who wants any of these injuries or deaths to occur; it's just that some chiefs are more focused on the issue of firefighter safety and survival than others.

Emotional slogans help, safer rules sometimes work, strict no-nonsense enforcement of standards works, but the most effective factor in firefighters returning home after each run or training is the “want” for that to happen by every member, from the newest probie to the oldest chief. It's just about how bad we want to fix a problem.

No one will totally eliminate the risk from what we do; we are in a risky business. However, we can do better to manage the risk … with a better focus on the understanding that we are responsible to someone's family or spouse to get their kid or loved one, whom we are training, home safely without excuse.

Some firefighters have died for very valid, very brave and incredibly heroic reasons, in most cases when attempting to directly or indirectly save the life of others. But sometimes firefighters die way too early and for reasons we have great difficulty justifying, either publicly or in our hearts.

I am a longtime member of the same club that Waters is a member of — the imperfect chiefs club. I even have a few awards due to my blatant imperfections! But we can change and reduce the injuries and deaths of firefighters, especially during training. It's just a matter of what our priorities are.
Bttn. Chief Billy Goldfeder, EFO
Loveland-Symmes Fire Dept.
Loveland, Ohio

Photo regulation

As an assistant chief with 17 years in the fire service, a Scott SCBA sales rep and an avid reader of Fire Chief Magazine, I couldn't help but notice that the captain on the cover of your February issue has his regulator in upside down. I can maybe understand this minor detail getting past your staff, but how does a person become a captain and not realize this?

Anyone familiar with the Scott SCBA would know that it's not optional which way you don the regulator. Without the positive-locking thumb release engaged, the regulator is able to twist free of the facepiece. I hope they realized this after the photo op and before they entered the window.
Asst. Chief Craig Delaney
Sturgeon (Wis.) Fire Department

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