Friday’s Exeter News-Letter had a front page, feel good story about an Exeter firefighter’s battle with his excess weight. While his perseverance to lose weight is admirable, the real story should have been: Why was he allowed to be a firefighter weighing 342 pounds?
He admitted that he could not climb a ladder in full turnout gear during an emergency. Doesn’t anyone else see that this man could have put people’s lives at risk? If he couldn’t climb up the ladder, how was he supposed to help someone else climb down a ladder to safety? The safety of a fire fighting team relies on each individual being completely fit to meet the demands of the job at hand. While this particular firefighter should have taken personal responsibility for his weight issue and inability to meet the requirements of his job, the focus here is on Fire Chief Comeau and the Town Manager.
Where was our Fire Chief? Where was our Town Manager? Didn’t they see what was painfully obvious to any casual observer? At 342 pounds, this person should not have been on active duty. Are there any others in the department that have similar performance problems? The Chief will probably try to use this as an excuse to get the physical exam money he was refused by the Budget Committee last year. This has nothing to do with an examination by a doctor. It has to do with personal and departmental accountability.
Someone in management should be taken to task for allowing this gentleman to have put himself and others at risk. The Chief is yet again trying to sell taxpayers on the need for a sub-station to reduce engine response time. He should be concerned about his firefighters being fully qualified to do the job when they arrive on the scene.
Thanks for your blog. I would like to clear up a couple of things in your blog. I had a physical every year and it came back fit for duty. That's how I was allowed to stay a firefighter. I could always climb a ladder in full turnout gear, that was never an issue. The issue became at the peak of exhaustion, which is different for a firefighter than it is for a say...airline pilot or carpenter. Firefighters are asked to do unbelievable strenuous things and up until then it wasn't an issue. After that call, which was more intense than usual, I started to think about a change. It's hard to change something when it hasn't been an issue. Do you change light bulbs because they might go out? That's when personal accountability kicked in and I made a change. I think that's what you wanted right? Personal accountability. I did exactly what you want the town and people to do. I saw a change and took responsibility for my actions. I changed it with the support of the Fire Chief and town. Your blog is misdirected. I think it should be about the Fire Chief and me taking responsibility and making a change that is good for everyone. If the article read Firefighter gains 110lbs and can't do his job then you have a blog. I appreciate you trying to keep the towns people enraged about the budget and the amount of taxes. We need two sides for democracy to work. I think this time you missed the mark. There is no bigger personal accountability than completely changing your life for the town and job you love. Nice try.
ReplyDeleteJason, we have great admiration for your courage and perseverance in tackling your weight issue. We even said so in the blog. We would also never try to equate the extremely important work of a firefighter or any first responder with an airline pilot or carpenter or most other occupations. However, I have a question: you say that you had a physical every year and "it came back fit for duty." Did you give this information to the Chief? If so, why then is the Chief asking, again, for money to have firefighters take an annual physical to determine if they are fit for duty?
ReplyDeleteMy issue was never with you, Jason.
Obviously, a better question is: how can a bureaucracy in any way know what physical exam is suitable for a firefighter? It can't, just as it can't determine in any way how many firefighters there should be, where the station should be located, and how often it should get a new truck. Bureaucracy cannot calculate such things--it can only tax and tax and tax. By the way, "firefighter" is not in the top ten list of most dangerous jobs. (Neither is cop or soldier.)
ReplyDeletePublius it's too bad we can't just have a conversation about this and make an informed choice either way. The extreme retoric of both sides is deafening. I work tomorrow (Saturday) at the fire staion, come down and have a talk about it. Way to political for me. That's not what this story is about. Thank God firefighting isn't in the top ten most dangerous jobs. Our culture has move towards safety, it must be working. Thanks for the shout out towards safety.
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