A Happy New Year to everyone. Hope your families and loved ones are doing well. It’s the beginning of a New Year and as tradition goes time to make New Year Resolutions. As such, it is the perfect time to make changes that will impact our working environment, health, safety and service we provide.

As a Union and Union Members we should not only attend meetings this year, but drag someone along with you. Remember Contract review and preparation for negotiations are currently under way and its time to stay informed.

As Firefighters we should continue to work on and improve our personal fitness. By being in the best athletic shape possible we can enjoy our careers and retirement. We should also take time each shift to address safety and conduct training to reinforce those lessons.

As service providers we should take several steps to improve our service. We should make it our goal to respond to calls as quickly as possible. By being on the apparatus and pulling out of the station well within a minute of being dispatched our response times will drop. It should be in our minds that the person we are responding to could be our mother, father, brother, sister or dearest friend. Another goal for this year should be to improve in the level of service you can provide. For some that could be becoming an EMT-I or EMT-P. For others becoming Alternate Driver or Lt. Certified.

2008, is full of possibilities and hope for our Department and our Union. I know we will continue to provide great customer service. We will do so, with the compassion and skill that the Fire Service is known for.

 

Jason Smith
President, Local 2362