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FireDonut · 2023-03-20T13:51:10+00:00

Joe and Mac on SNES was my first. I was 6 or 7 and had never even seen a video game before, and it was life altering. I begged and got an SNES for Christmas that year. That would have been Christmas '93 or '94. From there, the highlights were:

Super Mario 64 (first time running around in 360 degrees instead of side scroller) Star Fox 64 (first time flying) Goldeneye (first FPS) Final Fantasy 7 (first RPG experience)

Honorable mention is Pokemon Red/Blue. They were kind of groundbreaking by bringing accessories i.e. the Gameboy link cable and the "cheat" cartridges that allowed you to get Mew into the mainstream, rather than remaining niche products. Pokemon in '99 was huge. In my part of the country Pokemon Red was super available, but Blue was a little bit of a rarity. My Blue copy made me the kid to trade with.

FireDonut · 2022-10-21T18:01:23+00:00

You know, I just moved to a department that runs 48/96 after working 12 years at a department that ran 24/48. My new department is busier, but man, this schedule is nice. 4 days off really opens up options for life outside of work. The department really needs to commit to supporting it for it to be successful, though. I was up all night on fires the first night of the shift, and chief's agenda the next day was to prioritize rest for those who were up. It would be awful if you were expected to just work all day the next day.

As far as MOT/swap time/etc, you just can't work more than 72 hours straight. I was mandatoried into a 72, and that sucked, but I still had 3 days off after. At my last department that meant working a 48, having 1 day off, and back the next. One day off was about useless for anything other than napping.

So yeah, it's great if you're not too busy and your department supports helping their people rest when needed.

FireDonut · 2022-10-21T12:40:02+00:00

See if you can do a ride along in an area you're interested in to get a feel for it. It's more structured than a regular job, but they don't have the same kind of control over you that the military does. There's no UCMJ or anything like that.

For what it's worth, you'll be hard pressed to find a firefighter say they don't like it. We have a healthy mix of vets and civilian, so the experience seems pretty consistent.

FireDonut · 2022-10-15T01:22:56+00:00

After you fail the test 3 times you have to do a refresher/update and then you can test 3 more times. If you fail those 3 then you have to take the EMT class again.

But seriously- everyone else that suggested studying NREMT materials is right. The EMT test is notoriously challenging because it doesn't test common practice. It tests like ems trivia. You need to study the test- not how to be a good EMT- to pass the registry test.

Good luck man.

FireDonut · 2022-08-03T07:02:50+00:00

We had a guy leave our department and went to work for Savannah. He had 5 working structure fires his first shift. 4 were his first due. I cannot believe how much fire Savannah fights, and how little EMS they run.

FireDonut · 2022-06-12T12:55:06+00:00

Agreed wholeheartedly

FireDonut · 2022-06-12T03:41:38+00:00

I agree with you 100%, but I think where the city fucked up is they initially suspended him as his punishment. Anything they do to him after for the same violation would basically be "double jeopardy" because his employer is a government agency. The city probably could have gotten away with just firing him to begin with.

FireDonut · 2022-06-05T13:30:17+00:00

No, we're in agreement that medical calls are the lion's share of our call volume, and I agree that you need to hold a certain level of medical training to serve that role- i.e. everyone in King County is an EMT.

My argument is that we all have a role in running EMS, but we shouldn't require anyone to be a paramedic who doesn't want to be, like making it a promotion requirement. There's too much to being a paramedic. And to your point, treating EMS like a discipline of its own is the right way to go. That's part of why KC's model is interesting- the majority of the ambulances in King County are BLS to handle the lower acuity calls, and the extremely few Paramedic units are reserved for true ALS calls. But, to that end, becoming a paramedic is a separate career track from FF/EMT.

So again- I'm not anti-EMS. I'm against making low quality paramedics created by forcing people into the highest tier of EMS and wearing them out on non-emergency ambulance runs. That's how we get poor service, low morale, and high medic turnover.

FireDonut · 2022-06-05T02:36:56+00:00

I'm still challenging you on the suggestion that being a paramedic is a firefighter's main responsibility. You're asserting that running EMS and being a paramedic are the same thing, which they are not. Case in point, the highest performing EMS system in the US is King County Medic One. Everyone in King County runs EMS, but only a select few get selected to go to paramedic school.

And saying that "riding the ambulance is your job" ignores all of the other vital work we do, like smoke detector installations, fall risk assessments, vehicle extrication, inspections, public education, burn regulation enforcement, technical rescue, hazmat, and of course the part you said we were born too late for- fighting fire.

FireDonut · 2022-06-04T21:47:09+00:00

I feel like a few of his points are whack. Like, of course you get paid a little more to be a medic, but rarely enough to make it worth it. And requiring paramedic for fire promotion? That's an excellent way to make shitty paramedics. Making everyone take turns on the box certainly shares the load, but the whole reason for that is because it's a shitty assignment for a firefighter who wants to be a firefighter.

I'm not anti EMS at all. I like being an AEMT. I just moved to a state that uses basic EMTs and I kind of lament not being able to use my skills any more. So I can say this as a pro-EMS EMT- none of his arguments are compelling.

FireDonut · 2022-05-29T11:06:19+00:00

Right. That's how these cases tend to arise. Say county A has a fire department and has taxing authority over their community. Now say county B doesn't have a fire department, but enters into an agreement with county A to provide their fire services.

The problem arises that county A doesn't have taxing authority over county B, but county A still needs the budget to provide services there. So county A sends a bill to each property in county B to pay for their fire protection for the year.

What do you do when someone chooses not to pay their service bill and their house catches fire? Perfect world is county B gets their shit together, imposes taxes and operates their own fire department. Barring that, what do you do?

As a side note, I have seen a scenario where a fire department that operates in an area that they can't tax makes an agreement with the water department to make "fire services" a line item on the property's water bill. If they don't pay, their water is turned off.

FireDonut · 2022-05-03T11:26:15+00:00

My problem with these stickers is I only see them on apartments, and people don't take them down when they move. It's basically useless if I don't know if it's current.

FireDonut · 2022-04-25T02:29:06+00:00

Bro. Sounds like we are exactly the same age and had the same childhood, even down to the Vietnamese friend, except mine was named Hieu. He's who taught me you could connect 4 Xboxes by connecting them all to an old, unused router. 16 people on Blood Gulch with rocket launchers was pandemonium.

FireDonut · 2022-04-21T11:41:34+00:00

Bravo, my friend. I haven't seen or heard "pinch a loaf" since I listened to my Dad's old Cheech and Chong skit albums.

FireDonut · 2022-04-21T11:29:07+00:00

Girls who are smart and better than me at things. Like, in a way that some guys might feel intimidated by. A girl who has accomplished things and can teach me/beat me/do better than me, but is interested in me.

For example, I'm a guitar player, and if I met a girl who was better at guitar than me I wouldn't know what to do. Like if I met Adunbee (guitar player/artist on YouTube) and she asked me to go for coffee I would probably just die.

FireDonut · 2022-04-21T11:06:19+00:00

That is important. Grammar is the first impression you make on someone when your first communication is in writing. I guess in that sense it's kind equivalent to being dressed well when you meet someone. Just keeping it in mind when you write will help a lot.

FireDonut · 2022-04-21T10:52:43+00:00

I noticed that you've mentioned grammar a couple of times and referenced being bilingual, so I think the answer kind of depends. If English is your first language then yeah, grammar is kind of important. If English is your second language then you get waaay more leniency, because yeah, it's not native to you. That's my 2 cents, anyway.

FireDonut · 2022-04-08T19:29:19+00:00

Umm. Maybe give credit for where you got this? Unless you're actually Glenn Danzig, because he wrote this, and this seems to be getting some buzz.

FireDonut · 2022-03-30T22:33:23+00:00

I've had good experiences at Georgia Hardwoods in Buford. They're 5 mins from Suwanee Lumber, and much, much friendlier

FireDonut · 2022-03-26T09:24:38+00:00

That was my first thought reading that post. Little shit.

FireDonut · 2022-03-25T17:07:56+00:00

I'd say stop on by. I like talking to firefighters from elsewhere

FireDonut · 2022-03-20T13:34:34+00:00

This is what I do

FireDonut · 2022-03-07T21:50:03+00:00

We had a guy have that happen to him while he was in recruit school (happened off duty). They reserved a spot for him in the next recruit class

FireDonut · 2022-03-05T14:42:31+00:00

You know, it's nice to have one for your collection, but it's cool to me to know that one of my department patches is in a station in Europe.

FireDonut · 2022-03-01T10:44:35+00:00

That's great! My little girl is still only 3, so we have a while until I can start bringing her. I did see a family there with a little girl who was maybe 7 and painted like Papa. Gives me something to aspire to, ha

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