Spot on Tony! The main reason I stopped running active….I’m not combat ready. I started feeling like a liability on the fireground. I want to grow old…er older with my wife! Be Safe!
Tony – it is even harder to be told by the docs that you will never be combat ready due to medical reasons unrelated to firefighting, and if you do participate actively on a fire that you will be a liability – – the words hurt – for a short time – until you realize you can be just as much of an asset assisting with the fire scene. If all of the able bodied firefighters would realize they CAN and should keep themselves in as good a condition as possible – the LODD number would be drastically reduced. In effect, Tony you are absolutely on target. More firefighters should read your blog and make those necessary changes. We want to make sure that Everyone Goes Home – SAFELY. I am sure that Paul would agree with me, that not running active doesn’t diminish a persons worth in the fire service – there are many other functions that us OLD TIMERS perform to make sure the active firefighters can perform their duties, and then go home to their families. Thank you Paul and Tony for your outstanding service. Keep up the good work my friend ! ! !
This applies to so many professions that have been the fabric of our communities….law enforcement, nursing, teaching…the words may be different but the sentiment is exactly the same. Lead by example, don’t expect to be rewarded for doing what is right, it isn’t your outfit, its your actions…etc. Thank you for putting it into words.
Tony, I’m not sure why, but you spoke to me in the article and I hope to one day do the same for others. You helped and motivated me when I really needed it the most. I’m sure you read my posts and I know I can be a bit wordy however I just wanted to say thank you brother.
Brett thanks for the kind words. I replied as you inspired me with your words. You provide reinvigoration to tray and provide a message that others can utilize in real life, not just in social media. thanks Again
Great blog particularly about knowing when to step down. I was a volunteer fire fighter back when Virginia Beach had a combination paid volunteer fire department. I was also a member of the rescue squad. That was many years ago.
I want to thank you for following us on twitter and hope that you will take a serious look at our website. In particular the video on the home page wemustfixhealthcare.org and the video and article’s on wemustfixhealthcare.org/state. The reason I started this was because I knew a young man, 28 year old, married father of two children, that died. Died because he could not afford his asthma medicines. Medicines that cost over $500 a month in this country and $45 a month in Europe. The same medicines, the same manufacturers, the exact same stuff.
He did not have insurance, because the company he worked for did not offer it. It happened before the ACA and I am sure he could not afford it particularly since he had a pre-existing condition. But the is not about the ACA (Obama Care) it is about the underlying costs of health care and the fact that we spend on average twice what other countries spend on health care. We spend more than twice as much for medicines, more than twice as much for medical devices, and more than twice as much of administrative costs as other nations do.
In the last 50 years, adjusted for inflation, wages are up 16%, GDP up 168%, and health care costs are up 168% (wemustfixhealthcare.org/charts) This is simply not sustainable, and is the #1 issue for local, state, and federal budgets. Thousands of fire fighters, police officers have been laid off, fire stations closed, maintenance and equipment not purchased. It not going to get better as long as we let the health care lobby set the agenda in Washington, DC They spend $500 million a year to make sure that their profits stay were they are. It is time to do something about it before it literally destroys are economy and bankrupts the country. All the stuff on the website is mainstream facts. No B.S., no hype. The video on the home page is by the former head of the GAO, the nations top accountant. If you look at the numbers you can not help but understand this must be fixed. I hope you share this with as many people as you can. Last but not least please look at wemustfixhealthcare.org/parents and see what doing nothing will do to our children and grandchildren. Thank you. If you would like to talk I am available at 757-486-1753 or arthur@wemustfixhealthcare.org. Again it is free to join. Politicians only understand two thing. Money and large groups of voters. We want to be the latter, they can trump the former.
TonyECorreia 
Spot on Tony! The main reason I stopped running active….I’m not combat ready. I started feeling like a liability on the fireground. I want to grow old…er older with my wife! Be Safe!
Tony – it is even harder to be told by the docs that you will never be combat ready due to medical reasons unrelated to firefighting, and if you do participate actively on a fire that you will be a liability – – the words hurt – for a short time – until you realize you can be just as much of an asset assisting with the fire scene. If all of the able bodied firefighters would realize they CAN and should keep themselves in as good a condition as possible – the LODD number would be drastically reduced. In effect, Tony you are absolutely on target. More firefighters should read your blog and make those necessary changes. We want to make sure that Everyone Goes Home – SAFELY. I am sure that Paul would agree with me, that not running active doesn’t diminish a persons worth in the fire service – there are many other functions that us OLD TIMERS perform to make sure the active firefighters can perform their duties, and then go home to their families. Thank you Paul and Tony for your outstanding service. Keep up the good work my friend ! ! !
Outstanding post Mike. What a great attitude. I honored to be your brother in arms.
This applies to so many professions that have been the fabric of our communities….law enforcement, nursing, teaching…the words may be different but the sentiment is exactly the same. Lead by example, don’t expect to be rewarded for doing what is right, it isn’t your outfit, its your actions…etc. Thank you for putting it into words.
Tony, I’m not sure why, but you spoke to me in the article and I hope to one day do the same for others. You helped and motivated me when I really needed it the most. I’m sure you read my posts and I know I can be a bit wordy however I just wanted to say thank you brother.
Brett thanks for the kind words. I replied as you inspired me with your words. You provide reinvigoration to tray and provide a message that others can utilize in real life, not just in social media. thanks Again
Great blog particularly about knowing when to step down. I was a volunteer fire fighter back when Virginia Beach had a combination paid volunteer fire department. I was also a member of the rescue squad. That was many years ago.
I want to thank you for following us on twitter and hope that you will take a serious look at our website. In particular the video on the home page wemustfixhealthcare.org and the video and article’s on wemustfixhealthcare.org/state. The reason I started this was because I knew a young man, 28 year old, married father of two children, that died. Died because he could not afford his asthma medicines. Medicines that cost over $500 a month in this country and $45 a month in Europe. The same medicines, the same manufacturers, the exact same stuff.
He did not have insurance, because the company he worked for did not offer it. It happened before the ACA and I am sure he could not afford it particularly since he had a pre-existing condition. But the is not about the ACA (Obama Care) it is about the underlying costs of health care and the fact that we spend on average twice what other countries spend on health care. We spend more than twice as much for medicines, more than twice as much for medical devices, and more than twice as much of administrative costs as other nations do.
In the last 50 years, adjusted for inflation, wages are up 16%, GDP up 168%, and health care costs are up 168% (wemustfixhealthcare.org/charts) This is simply not sustainable, and is the #1 issue for local, state, and federal budgets. Thousands of fire fighters, police officers have been laid off, fire stations closed, maintenance and equipment not purchased. It not going to get better as long as we let the health care lobby set the agenda in Washington, DC They spend $500 million a year to make sure that their profits stay were they are. It is time to do something about it before it literally destroys are economy and bankrupts the country. All the stuff on the website is mainstream facts. No B.S., no hype. The video on the home page is by the former head of the GAO, the nations top accountant. If you look at the numbers you can not help but understand this must be fixed. I hope you share this with as many people as you can. Last but not least please look at wemustfixhealthcare.org/parents and see what doing nothing will do to our children and grandchildren. Thank you. If you would like to talk I am available at 757-486-1753 or arthur@wemustfixhealthcare.org. Again it is free to join. Politicians only understand two thing. Money and large groups of voters. We want to be the latter, they can trump the former.