I don't see colour as a problem, but firefighters not being male... Now that's a problem, men are stronger, faster and have more stamina than women (not trying make women seem bad) it might seems sexist at first but just imagine being trapped in your room, suffocating, the firefighter needs to break through at all cost and carry you outside (a person weighin more than 100 lbs plus the heavy equipment, now that's some shit right). That's just my humble opinion on the topic
Actually, studies suggest that (generally) women have more (like a lot more) stamina and endurance than men. Men have a tendency to be stronger and capable of more intense bursts of energy, while women can maintain a consistent pace and level of exertion.
Which exactly why it should depend on ability, character, etc and NOT skin color!
The person who said "firefighters are too white" should be punched in the nose.
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· 4 years ago
Arent a lot of firefighters volunteers?
You ever think maybe just not a lot of women are interested in a dangerous job like that?
3/4 of US firefighters are volunteer. We have a few female firefighters who are very capable, some who aren't. It does seem that females tend to join the EMS side of the dept.
I've seen both, many departments run ambulances along with regular fire. Our Dept has a rescue company that not only does the ambulances but also heavy rescue...Hurst tool and technical rescue.
I've seen both happen, like what happened with my neighbor the other day and that picture of the firetruck while I was drunk that I posted.
I think it also depends on if you can't describe why you need an ambulance, they might be required to check for gas leaks if someone just collapses.
I know when I split the back of my head open they just sent the ambulance, as I'm pretty sure they realized there was zero reason for a fire truck in that situation.
A fire truck will roll for things like more manpower (if the person is obese) or if they need to make an entry. Basically anything they would need tools or extra people.
Here (Long Island) they won't send a truck unless it is asked for by either the EMT or police.
the EMS has all the equipment they need for any medical thing transport wise around here. The fire department is only send out when there is something that would require fire gear or if its a bad crash on the roads. The two departments dont even have any overlap other than their dispatchers are all in the same building with the police department in the 911 center. Otherwise each has its own buildings with its own staff and management and such. For larger people there are multiple things the 3ish people on any given unit can use move them over to the stretcher. just a couple days ago I fixed up some of the things they use to sorta pick and slide anyone above 90 pounds (all the way up to max level obese folk) from whatever they are on to the thing.
My dept is all one, fire and rescue. I am engine company but I will still get on the bus. In fact, the rest of the companies, 4 engine and 1 ladder, will cover the ambulance at night because it is hard to recruit and retain rescue members so we all help them with coverage.
As for the really big folks...lol...we had an ambulance and 2 engines at one house to get the person out. They burrow themselves in sometimes.
I mean, most volunteer firefighters tend to be male, just like most volunteer ambulance workers tend to be female. At least in NZ anyway, I'm not qualified to speculate about other countries
https://hbr.org/2018/12/making-u-s-fire-departments-more-diverse-and-inclusive?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=hbr
After reading the article, it seems that the problem is that white male firefighters are disproportionate to the general population, and so it creates problems within the profession for nonwhite or female firefighters, who have to prove themselves further than just passing what is necessary to become a firefighter. It causes problems within the job.
For U.S. firefighters, 96% are male and 82% are white. In the U.S. military, 85% are men and 60% are white. In U.S. local police forces, 88% are men and 73% are white.
Apparently, only 4% of emergency calls to which the fire department responded were actual fires. 64% were medical emergencies. In this case, it makes less sense for it to be male-dominated.
Wow, I read the article and while there's merit in the argument that a more diverse and inclusive FD is worthwhile, the reasons themselves undermine the argument.
So we should have more women because 64% of calls to firefighters are actually medical emergencies? Well, how about raising awareness towards misguided calls to firefighters instead of EMS?!
More ethnical diversity? Yeah. But not as a result of affirmative acction. It's been proven that affirmative action only creates resentment and suspicion of the beneficiaries.
Now:
Did the research show how many candidates are M vs F (or Black v White)? No.
Did the research show what is the overall pass/fail ratio on the aptitude tests? No.
Did the research show what is the pass/fail ratio between men and women? No.
I think that until these things are looked into, you can interview as many people as you like, but you'll never address the real issue.
64% of calls to which firefighters are directed are medical emergencies because firefighters are usually qualified to handle those emergencies. They are purposefully directed there by dispatching centres.
We should have more ethnic diversity only in ways that are proportionate to the population; diversity for diversity's sake is pointless, it's just unfair to exclude women and ethnic minorities for no reason.
I agree that the original article was lacking. I found it too brief, and it didn't include specific enough accounts.
from my experiences the main reason that there are a fuck ton of white dudes in EMS (not firefighting but id assume the situation would be similar) is because of a few things but one of which is that there are families that's almost entirely made of medical people, mine being a good example. Mother and uncle are both paramedics, grandmother was a nurse before working as office behind the scenes for EMS, step uncle 1 is EMS and volunteer firefighter, step uncle 2 is volunteer firefighter, cousin is a nurse, step aunt 1 and 2 are nurses and step aunt 3 used to be EMS and thats just one side of the family. None of us are all the way white by the way, some are full blood native and some are cherokee/white mix bloods.
The person who said "firefighters are too white" should be punched in the nose.
You ever think maybe just not a lot of women are interested in a dangerous job like that?
I think it also depends on if you can't describe why you need an ambulance, they might be required to check for gas leaks if someone just collapses.
I know when I split the back of my head open they just sent the ambulance, as I'm pretty sure they realized there was zero reason for a fire truck in that situation.
Here (Long Island) they won't send a truck unless it is asked for by either the EMT or police.
As for the really big folks...lol...we had an ambulance and 2 engines at one house to get the person out. They burrow themselves in sometimes.
After reading the article, it seems that the problem is that white male firefighters are disproportionate to the general population, and so it creates problems within the profession for nonwhite or female firefighters, who have to prove themselves further than just passing what is necessary to become a firefighter. It causes problems within the job.
For U.S. firefighters, 96% are male and 82% are white. In the U.S. military, 85% are men and 60% are white. In U.S. local police forces, 88% are men and 73% are white.
Apparently, only 4% of emergency calls to which the fire department responded were actual fires. 64% were medical emergencies. In this case, it makes less sense for it to be male-dominated.
So we should have more women because 64% of calls to firefighters are actually medical emergencies? Well, how about raising awareness towards misguided calls to firefighters instead of EMS?!
More ethnical diversity? Yeah. But not as a result of affirmative acction. It's been proven that affirmative action only creates resentment and suspicion of the beneficiaries.
Now:
Did the research show how many candidates are M vs F (or Black v White)? No.
Did the research show what is the overall pass/fail ratio on the aptitude tests? No.
Did the research show what is the pass/fail ratio between men and women? No.
I think that until these things are looked into, you can interview as many people as you like, but you'll never address the real issue.
We should have more ethnic diversity only in ways that are proportionate to the population; diversity for diversity's sake is pointless, it's just unfair to exclude women and ethnic minorities for no reason.
I agree that the original article was lacking. I found it too brief, and it didn't include specific enough accounts.