"Real" firefighter
My son recently had a discussion with his father (my evil ex) about weather or not his mom was/is a "real" firefighter. I also recently got into this arguement with a drunk guy at work that left me fuming.
Of course I am a real firefighter! I wear a pager, take shifts, have personalized turnouts and a hook with my name on it. I belong to the Echo section of the black platoon and answer to first my Lieutenant and then my Captain. I am a medical responder as well, and respond to Charlie, Delta and Echo matrix calls which are the more serious calls, to assist the BC Amlulance Service. I am only a few modules away from being blessed with my Proboard IFSTA NFPA 1001 national Professional Firefighter 1 & 2 Certification. I have my Auto ex, hazmat ops, Occupational first aid level 3, Live Fire and First Responder 3 with spinal and AED endorsements.
Most importantly (to my ex) YES. I am paid. Paid on call. Which makes me eligible for that fat firefighter tax credit that took that chunk out of my income that made me ineligible to pay you the child support that you never paid me.
Tonight I am on First Responder standby. My little son and husband who sleep with me enjoy my fire rescue tshirt, pants and pager that will inevitably sound a piercing beep, at which time I will head to the hall in a sleepy state, receive the call from fire dispatch and put on my turn out pants. Grab the address, a radio and head off in the direction of someone having a potential heart attack, stroke or worse. Perhaps it will be an alarm activation, in which case I will join the rest of my sleepy crew in gearing up in our extensive life-saving gear, fight for the most exciting seats on the Engine or Ladder truck and don our masks, and SCBA so that we may be ready to grab an attack line and SAVE YOUR LIFE!
So, yeah. I don't know. What do you think? What is a "real" firefighter?
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