Just want to say some things

[JeremyMiller]

Brothers and Sisters,

I notice alot of you folks get upset about some stuff that is rather little or you get concerned about stuff that isnt that big of a deal.
I say this. Be glad your a member of a fire department, be glad your given the chance to learn about the job and experince what its like. Learn all you can and put your heart into it. What makes a firefighter a good firefighter is if he/she LOVES the job and loves to help others out of love and compassion for other people. If your in it just to look good or make girls impressed or to be called a hero, than theres the door. But for those of you who want to make a difference and make a good impact in this dark world than I am behind you 100 percent. Dont let anything dicourage you.

Also are there any handicapt explorers or jouniors?. I am not a junior, I started as a Jounior firefighter in 2000 when I was 16 in a small town fire dept. I have cerebral palsy which affects my muscle tone and my coordination, which means I am short and dont have alot of
strength. I also have a disease called NF type 1 which is a neurological disease which creates tumors all through out my body, these tumors grow in the nerves of my body. They cause severe on going pain, and due to this I am on strong pain medications to provide relief from the pain. Now due to these conditions, my ability as a Im going on 19. And probie firefighter where I am at now in a city combo career/volunteer dept is rather limited like it was when I started in truxton. I am exterior and I perform duties outside and assist with operations there. But my question is, is there any other junior or explorer with limitations due to health reasons?. I just want to say, I may be 'handicapt' but it is not going to kill my love for what I love to do. Being a firefighter is a big part of my life, getting to help others in thier time of need is what makes me happy. Sometimes I do get discouraged because I would like to do more than I am able to do. example I would like to be a EMT-D, but the lifting requirements are beyond my capability. But I have to be happy I am a firefighter, I still help my dept make a difference in the community and I am an asset to the dept.

I guess what I am trying to say is DONT GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS. If you want to be a good firefighter, you must LOVE to do it. Not because it seems cool, not because its a tradition, yes its my family tradition, but for me its something I personally choose to do out of love for people. I think in order to do a good job, you need to love others and care enough to be by thier side in thier darkest hour and walk with them, even if it means walking by thier side through the fires of hell. If you truly have passion and love for what this buisness is for. Then my friend, dont let anyone hold you back. But for those of you who are in it to be cool or pick up girls, you will find out sooner or later this is a serious buisness not a thrill seeker hobby.

Also, do explorers have to have county issued accoutability ID tags to where on thier bunker gear at scenes, so the dept can keep track of who is on the scene and what dept and what level firefighter they are?. In my county we had tags that are issued to each dept. They say the dept name, have a picture of the firefighter, thier name, and on the side is either: INTERIOR(GREEN), EXTERIOR(RED), TRAINEE(RED). On the back is thier specialties ex: EMT-D,CFR-D,HAZMAT TECH, FIRE-POLICE. What do you guys for accoutability?.

Also just curious, what made you guys become fire explorers and juniors and how do your family and friends take it and do you get picked on?. I occasionally take rude remarks from people which is thier problem, because one day we will unfortunately may meet again and they will be needing our assistance. But it wouldnt change my willingness to care and help that person. Hate shouldnt be rewarded with hate. Reward hate with LOVE for it will be stronger than evil.

Guys let me know what your answers are...

Oh yeah btw forgot to ask...Can you guys carry pagers in school and leave for calls???? JOKING!...WE ALL KNOW THAT ANSWER. Just thought I would just be smart for a sec.

Take care my fellow brothers and sisters. My God keep you in all of your ways.

DFDEX I am proud to call you my brother. keep up the good work.

Jer

[MVFD81]

I became junior firefighter because it is my dream to be a paid firefighter one day in a big city. I do it because I have always wanted to do it. My family and friends encourage me. Yes I have gottn stupid and rude remarks from ppl. But I just ignore them.

[MFDExplorer51]

I am sorry that some people get bent up over simple stuff. Just ignore it. Its no big deal.

I am not handicapped, but another explorer post about 2 towns down do have handicapped Explorers.

As for accountability, we carry exterior tags, issued by the dept. We are working on actucally photo id's and such as you speak of. But right now we have Yellow and Blue tags. Like the ones you see on Cows. Blue are exterior, or not doing any type of fire suppression. And yellow means you are either fighting a fire in the interior, or doing an exterior attack. Once we can do exterior, we'll be issued blues. They have numbers on them, the dept. has our name and number recorded.

What got me into being a Fire Fighter, was grew up around it. A fourth generation Fire Fighter, My Great Grandfather, Grandfather, Father, 2 Uncles, 1 Great Uncle, 1 Cousin have been Fire Fighters. That and I just loved it before.

I dont really get any rude remarks now that I think of it. I get respect for what I do, and what I am training to do. I mean people kid with me about it, being all serious sometimes. Which this field of expertice requires. But its all good, nothing malicious about it

Anyways, Keep up the good work.

[Quigger]

Hi there Jeremy. nice post also. Im with you and your reasoning with being in a fire dept. all the way! What got me into fire fighting is family members being firefighters(grandpa,uncle,cousin) They told me to go to an explorer meeting some night and I did. I was there for about 10 minutes and was hooked into it and helping people when they need it the most when I pasted all the test the guys in chrage have to goto the fire ground and help there. We dont have any tags but I would like them and have bug the guys in chrage for them over and over again(I guess I gotta keep at them) For getting made fun of yes it has happened but most of the people I talk to want to know more about what I do. Also people can make fun of me all they want but it wont bug me one bit because of the respect I get from the fire fighters in West Webster for the job that I do and love so much! For the handicapped part we dont have any explorers with a real handicap. I myself have dislocated both of my knees(very painful) so I guess you can call it a handicap but I dont it just means I have to watch my self more then others.

Stay safe out there

Quigger

[BLSboy]

Hey jeremy, your Screen name wouldnt happer to be weatherman31 would it? I f it is its great to hear from you!! As for your question(s) no, we (all 1 of me) dont have tags(yet) but we aint supposed to be strayin too far from the engine anyways.
Anyhoo, imma hit the sack, hit me on AIM anytime Rustygrd2069