Jumpline magazine Q1 2023 - Flipbook - Page 4
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William McAllister IV
President
President’s Report
Each January, conversations about
resolutions and renewed commitments take center stage amongst
family and friends. Promises to
workout more regularly, eat more
healthfully or see a doctor are
made. For most of us, by the time
you’re reading this article, it’s late
January and all those ideas have
been placed on the shelf, unfulfilled yet again, in hopes that 2024
will be the year you finally make your health and well-being
a priority. You’ve been too busy, right? You haven’t found the
time between shifts after all. You’ll get to it later this summer when things slow down, right? Maybe… but probably
not. Another year will go by far too fast; you’ll find yourself
amid another holiday rush and the cycle will repeat.
Break the cycle. Take these three simple steps right now.
First, after two decades of discussions without decisions,
Chief Cominsky agreed to contract language stating no member “…will be required to transport contaminated PPE in their
personal vehicle.” That one sensible change set MDFR on a
pathway to issue two sets of gear to each member, moving
us past a flawed “clean cab” concept and toward a “clean
firefighter” model. A reduction in exposure to carcinogens
is immeasurable, and with any luck, the cancer rates of our
members will begin to drop. The program still needs work,
and it will improve over time, but it exists.
Brothers and sisters, the responsibility to use the best gear
exchange model we’ve seen anywhere is now on each of our
shoulders. After every fire, exchange your bunker gear. Every time you find yourself in smoky environments using your
SCBA, exchange your bunker gear. Each time you exit a good
working fire, complete gross decontamination on scene and
exchange your gear.
To our members working as company officers, follow the
policy and do what we’ve never done before. Ensure your
crew exchanges their gear. Trucks don’t get cancer and cabs
aren’t the source of carcinogens. Your brothers and sisters
sitting beside you will get cancer because we are the carriers
of those carcinogens.
To our members working as Chief Fire Officers, labor and
management wrote the policy seated side by side. We
placed the responsibility of protecting all of us squarely on
your shoulders. Please do not let us down. Ensure your company officers and firefighters comply with I-D-12 after every
fire. You’ll never know whose lives you’ve saved from the
ravages of cancer by helping to change our habits, and if we
devote ourselves to these practices, we won’t endure the
horrible feeling of comforting a grieving family after another
member dies of cancer quite so often.
Second, commit to an annual physical. We are contractually obligated to complete a physical every two years. If you
are an active member, it is your option to request a physical each non-mandatory year. Stop what you are doing right
now and send your Battalion Chief a quick e-mail requesting
a voluntary physical. If you prefer not to visit the county’s
facility, call the University of Miami at (305) 243-FIRE and
request a physical at the Firefighter Wellness Clinic. There is
nothing more important than regularly completing preventative visits. They take just a few hours and may just save
your life. We’ve each accepted the risks associated with the
greatest job in the world; it is our responsibility to our families to manage those dangers we’ve welcomed into our lives.
Third, this last one is the easiest. All injuries aren’t physical.
Sometimes the damage done by responding to emergencies can’t be seen, it can only be talked about. Take out your
February 2023 | JUMPLINE Magazine