An answer

A friend Emailed me about a comment they overheard. Thought I would answer the comment even if it wasn't directed at me.

Dear Mayor:
What do I get paid to do?



I get paid to be here late at night when your Son or Daughter gets hit by a drunk driver and needs to be cut out of their car and taken to the hospital for emergency surgery.

I get paid to be here on Christmas (and every other holiday) when your neighbor’s house catches on fire and they need us to be there within minutes.

I get paid to be here during a blizzard, when nobody else can get to work, and respond to emergency calls.

I get paid to treat a gunshot wound in the middle of the night, even if that person has hepatitis, AIDS, HIV, or bedbugs.

I get paid to be here when it’s 100 degrees outside to help a elderly person having a heart attack who needs immediate emergency medical care.

I get paid to be here in the event that we have a terrorist attack (bombings of doctors offices, clinics, and places of worship are terrorist attacks) to protect the citizens of this city and the men and women working here or just visiting.



I get paid to put up and take down the barriers that hold back flood waters, In the cold driving rain.

I get paid to open a car door when a mother accidentally locks her infant inside.

I get paid to rescue people from the Susquehanna River, no matter what its state is.

I get paid to go on rope rescues where the slightest mistake can end my life.

I get paid to enter a burning building even if it is a Meth lab, abandoned, or a high rise.



But bureaucrats have no clue about what it means to respond to fires and shootings and fumes that might kill you.

Like Marines, firefighters put themselves in harm's way. After the 9/11 attacks, the Public SAW that. Do you remember?



I do more with less, eat cold meals (or don't get to eat), miss important events with my family, and put the lives of people I have never met above mine.

I love my job and only ask that you become familiar with exactly what I do before you make decisions that will affect my chances of survival.

We call ourselves Firefighters. We have earned that right.

What do you get paid to do???
Lie?
Cheat?
Steal?
Lie again?
Blame others?
Risk lives to fund YOUR pet projects?
Ignore Public safety? and again, and again, and again. The Lloyds study is there IN YOUR OFFICE. READ IT.
Ignore needed repairs for YEARS.
Lie AGAIN to get federal money for the demolition of the Sterling
Lie AGAIN to get tax forgiveness for a campaign contributor
And that is just a few thing YOU DO.


Dan Emplit WBFD
AKA Don Quixote