As Firehouse Sees It: The Ongoing Pandemic and Shifts in the Fire Service
Not a week goes by when we don’t run a story on Firehouse.com about the effect of COVID-19 on the fire service, whether it’s about a firefighter who died from on-duty exposure, members who lost their job because they didn’t take part in a mandated vaccine, budget cuts, staffing shortages, or a fire or EMS agency that closed its doors.
There also is the mental and physical toll on firefighters and the unknown long-term effects of either contracting the virus or working endless hours to staff vital units. Other units have been sidelined by brownouts or outright company closures.
The staffing shortage doesn’t appear to have an end date. Members, ranging from rookies to those who served decades at a department, are leaving agencies of all kinds. The reasons range from exhaustion to health and wellness concerns, to simply a desire for a new career path.
The next time that you gather with your crew, take a pulse on how everyone is feeling. In particular, how do they feel about the fire department today and into the future? Beyond that, engage the senior members, so they can share their stories and wisdom, to keep each other “into the job.” That morale booster might be the shot in the arm that many need to stay riding.
As I wrote this column, I read the news about the loss of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Firefighter/Paramedic Nickolas Ramirez. A statement that the department shared reminded me of what was said about so many fire and EMS personnel who succumbed to the virus since April 2020: “His compassion knew no bounds, both with his fire family and his patients … He always entered a room with a smile and never left without leaving smiles on the faces of others."
Congratulations, Ron Moore
After 301 consecutive articles published in Firehouse Magazine, Ron Moore has authored his last regular “University of Extrication” piece.
I spent years reading Ron’s columns and utilizing them for drills before I began my career at Firehouse. I was here a few months before I met Ron in person while he taught extrication at the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs Conference in Syracuse, NY. He was putting on a demonstration where he triggered an airbag from a steering wheel using a battery to illustrate the seriousness of undeployed airbags. Firefighters who watched were shocked.
Over time, Ron’s effect on the fire service reached far beyond the readers of Firehouse, but we’re fortunate that he spent years writing, speaking, filming and more. He not only authored “University of Extrication” in the magazine, but he was one of the original contributors to Firehouse.com, including the creation of the “Crash Course Quick Drills” series and numerous “Extrication Trainer’s Guides.” His classes at Firehouse’s conference were standing room only, and his hands-on classes always were among the first to fill up. He starred in several Firehouse training videos.
Countless crash victims were removed quicker and more efficiently, allowing them to make it to the hospital earlier in their Golden Hour, thanks to Ron’s extraordinary efforts.
For those who aren’t aware, Ron’s importance reaches far beyond extrication. As a fire service TV host, he educated firefighters on myriad topics, and that carried over to his work as a training officer during his career. He also championed efforts to reduce traffic flow at highway incidents through the initial efforts, to keep firefighters on roadways safe from passersby, and he helped to have safety features added to apparatus as other preventative measures.
As Ron ends the longest consecutive column in Firehouse, the lessons from “University of Extrication” will continue to save lives. Ron, from all of us at Firehouse, thank you for your friendship and commitment.
Peter Matthews | Editor-in-Chief/Conference Director
Peter Matthews is the conference director and editor-in-chief of Firehouse. He has worked at Firehouse since 1999, serving in various roles on both Firehouse Magazine and Firehouse.com staffs. He completed an internship with the Rochester, NY, Fire Department and served with fire departments in Rush, NY, and Laurel, MD, and was a lieutenant with the Glenwood Fire Company in Glenwood, NY. Matthews served as photographer for the St. Paul, MN, Fire Department.
