On helping your community understand your Fire Department...

This week we are featuring the Inside the Fire House Column that is published through PCFCA and Plumas News. The original intent of this series was to help the layperson understand what we in the fire service do and why. Our profession has been around in America for over 300 years, and has developed it's own culture and language that we often take for granted. We throw around words and acronyms like SCBA's and AED's and fully expect others just to 'get it'.

We then wonder why and how we are misunderstood at times. Why can't you respond without lights and sirens to my need? Why can't I just get an ambulance? Why does it cost so much for the fire department? Why do you need those really big trucks? Why don't you just hook right into the fire hydrant? Why would I need home fire sprinklers? Why do I need a carbon monoxide detector, and isn't this just another example of government intrusion into our lives?

Our first posting is from the 2015 series that ran last year on Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Why is the fire department even involved in field EMS, and how did we get to where we are today? FD members should consider asking their board members to review this series, and then openly discuss other questions they may have on this topic  - EMS has become such a large part of our operations over the last few decades. Read the series under the Inside the Fire House menu.

Accident on Highway 70, 2011. Photo by Maureen Forster.