Jumpline magazine OCT 2022-pages - Flipbook - Page 4
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President’s Report
I can’t believe it’s been twenty
years. I just received a calendar
invite for Class 151’s orientation.
Two decades ago, and just after
the first anniversary of September
11th, Class 91 started. I had no
idea what the pathway ahead held
for me as I stood in the shadow of
the Blue Monster those first few
weeks, but I sure am glad I’ve traveled it. I’ve recently found
myself reflecting on a career responding to thousands of lifeand-death traumatic injuries and medical emergencies and
hundreds of fires, and I thought I’d share some perspective
gained.
Time flies so don’t waste it. For members just starting out,
you will never have as much time or energy as you do right
now. Make the most of it. Pursue your passion and whatever
interests you every day you spend in your firehouse. Seek out
advanced training, new certifications, and college degrees;
never stop learning. Some of those efforts may end up defining
your career, some of them may be a total waste of time, but
all these experiences will add up to the capacity to do this
job exceedingly well. You cannot always connect the dots
looking forward, but it sure is easy to trace your career’s arc
of experiences, opportunities and accomplishments looking
backward. Put forth a little effort to work on yourself just a
little bit every day. You won’t see the incremental changes
on any given day, but they certainly add up over time. Also
put aside a little bit of time to take care of yourself every day.
William McAllister IV
President
This is a marathon and the only way to make it to a happy &
health retirement is fixing little issues when they are still easily
managed.
Take care of each other. The public trusts whenever they
call, we will be there in mere minutes. When we struggle
however, to whom do we turn? We trust each other with our
lives, even if subconsciously, each day we put our gear on the
truck. At bigger incidents like high rise fires, it’s the unspoken
certainty that 42 other brother & sister firefighters are putting
everyone before themselves that gives us the confidence to
do this risky job. Anyone that took this job did so because they
have a good heart. We need each other, and we have a duty to
look after one another. When someone is acting out or calling
in sick, don’t judge them or shun them. Check in on them.
Don’t just ask the question ‘you doing alright?’ and move on
when they reflexively shoot back ‘I’m good…’. Talk with them
and let them know you care. And if someone is struggling - or
you personally are struggling - know this Union is here for you.
You are never alone. You are surrounded by this membership.
We’ve made sure of that. If you ever need to talk, and you
want to do so anonymously, call the Resiliency Hotline and
you’ll be connected with a counselor that understands this job
that we do from firsthand experiences.
Remember the phrase ‘this too shall pass…’ This job will
cause us to experience human emotions at their extremes
on a far too regular basis; remembering those extremes - no
matter how extraordinary or horrible - are momentary. The joy
of delivering babies will be tempered by memories of children
lost to senseless shootings. The euphoric rush of adrenaline
when all turns out alright after fires fought will be swiftly
humbled by those incidents where nothing you did, no matter
how fast you did it, redirected the march toward destruction
and heart-wrenching tragedy. There will be days you’re feeling
great, like nothing can go wrong. Enjoy those days but know
that this feeling too shall pass. There will be shifts that are
exhausting and downright demoralizing as you are dealt an
absolute beating. Just keep going. Because those bad days
are fleeting, and this too shall pass.
Honor our history and contribute to it. Respect your senior
brothers and sisters. Not too long ago, they were rookies on
October 2022 | JUMPLINE Magazine
