"Brotherhood At Da' Shore"

FossilMedic reports: 

“BROTHERHOOD” AT DA’ SHORE:
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU WEAR TOO MANY HATS

Decades ago, I worked as a seasonal EMT/firefighter at the Town of Ocean City, Maryland. I have always thought about going back. I wrote about the resuscitation success of the Beach Patrol in August: http://firegeezer.com/2007/08/21/beach-patrol-first-responders/ 

[photopress:mike_oc_d.jpg,full,centered]

Last week the Ocean City Volunteer Fire Company and the town council were unable to resolve a year old issue around creating a single chief to oversee volunteer and career operations. The VFC announced its plan to move out of the city. Dave Statter has been keeping track, go here for the details: http://www.wusa9.com/news/columnist/blogs/2008/02/ocean-city-vfc-votes-to-move-out-of.html

The president of the Volunteer Fire Company seems to be stuck in the middle of this issue. A third generation OCVFC member, his regular job is as a career firefighter with the Salisbury, Maryland, Fire Department.

[photopress:Mike_oc_b.jpg,full,centered]

He is a dedicated practitioner of the firemantic trade. I met him at the Salisbury Training Center, where it seemed like he was doing the work of a company officer for the pay of a firefighter. He is always working to make a difference. His impressive accomplishments include Fire Officer III.

His background demonstrates the problem when “two-hatters” hold decision making authority within a combination fire department. The volunteer department is leaving because the town council would not appoint the volunteer chief, who is certified as a Firefighter II and is attending Fire Officer I, to be the overall commander of career and volunteer firefighters.

[photopress:Mike_oc_c.gif,full,centered]

WILLING TO WORK WITH LESS

One of the chronic problems of firefighters is that we will make every effort to make a silk purse out of a pig’s ear and rarely require that we be given the proper resources to accomplish the task. It is a commendable trait, but it is one reason cops get more when it comes to municipal resources.

Career firefighters were the only municipal employees on “continuous duty” 100 years ago. Firefighters lived in the fire station because they were on duty 20 hours a day, with just one or two days off a month. This staffing practice was a carry-over from the volunteer companies that were absorbed or abolished by the cities in the 1860s. It required the creation of a national labor organization in 1918 to provide the political power to compel New York, Philadelphia, Memphis and other cities to establish a two-platoon, 84 hour work week system in the early 1920s. Establishing the two platoon system was a founding goal of the IAFF.

[photopress:iaff_logo_1_2_3_4.jpg,full,centered]

Both Eastern Shore fire departments have IAFF locals: Local 4269, the Career Firefighter Paramedics Association of Ocean City http://www.iafflocal4269.org/ and Local 4246, Salisbury Career Firefighters Association http://www.iafflocal4246.com/. The OCVFC president is also a founding member of Local 4246.

APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION BASED ON MERIT

A second founding goal of the IAFF is to ensure that appointments and promotions are based on individual merit. Both the NFPA and the IAFC identify those who complete Fire Officer 1 training as ready to function as first-line unit supervisor, not the chief of a fire and rescue agency. Click here to review the IAFC Officer Development Handbook (61 page, 611 KB Adobe Acrobat document): http://www.iafc.org/associations/4685/files/pubs_OfficerDevHdbk.pdf

I am disappointed that the President of the OCVFC can support this scheme to allow a volunteer fire chief with just Firefighter II certification to supervise career staff. Maybe he thinks that the career Ocean City staff are less important that the career Salisbury staff. The Fraternal Order Of Leatherheads Society [F.O.O.L.S.] might consider a person making such an assumption a mutt. By the way … he established the Ocean City http://www.oceancityfools.com/ and Salisbury http://www.salisburyfools.com / chapters.

[photopress:Mike_oc_a.jpg,full,centered]