Not sure what to make of this
Mar. 30th, 2013 10:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walkitouthttp://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x345285446/How-many-fires-do-firefighters-really-fight
I keep seeing references like this:
"While the number of fires has decreased about 50 percent since the 1970s, according to Natick Fire Chief James Sheridan, the number of responses made by fire departments “increases each and every year steadily.”"
It's one of those things I think we all know (how many times have we noticed the amazing amount of equipment at a car accident, and wondered where the fire was because none was visible), but that did not occur as a result of policy. One hesitates to call it naked careerism at public expense. But perhaps that's only hesitation.
ETA: Questionable efforts to find a comparator country suggest that the ratio of firefighters to population in the US is actually very similar to France. However, I suspect that we pay more of our firefighters than France does. The French ones are going out mostly on medical and other non-fire calls, just like ours.
ETAYA: Germany seems to have a lot more firefighters (again, figured against population) than France or the US; unclear what the paid/volunteer ratio is there.
This would probably answer a bunch of my questions.
http://www.amazon.com/pompiers-dEurope-Christophe-Dubois/dp/2916079181
In the meantime:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefighter#Firefighting_around_the_world
I keep seeing references like this:
"While the number of fires has decreased about 50 percent since the 1970s, according to Natick Fire Chief James Sheridan, the number of responses made by fire departments “increases each and every year steadily.”"
It's one of those things I think we all know (how many times have we noticed the amazing amount of equipment at a car accident, and wondered where the fire was because none was visible), but that did not occur as a result of policy. One hesitates to call it naked careerism at public expense. But perhaps that's only hesitation.
ETA: Questionable efforts to find a comparator country suggest that the ratio of firefighters to population in the US is actually very similar to France. However, I suspect that we pay more of our firefighters than France does. The French ones are going out mostly on medical and other non-fire calls, just like ours.
ETAYA: Germany seems to have a lot more firefighters (again, figured against population) than France or the US; unclear what the paid/volunteer ratio is there.
This would probably answer a bunch of my questions.
http://www.amazon.com/pompiers-dEurope-Christophe-Dubois/dp/2916079181
In the meantime:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefighter#Firefighting_around_the_world
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2013-03-30 07:53 pm (UTC)not seeing any evidence of that in the comparative discussions I'm reading
Date: 2013-04-01 12:16 am (UTC)I think I have found an answer to the why is the ladder truck at a car accident question. 911 dispatchers have some rules about how many _people_ need to be on scene for various things (cardiac arrest, etc.). Those bodies are assigned to various vehicles as part of their daily job. So it isn't that the ladder truck was needed -- it was that the guys who are responsible for the ladder truck that day were needed at the scene. You might ask, but why bring the truck? Presumably because if their call is interrupted by or followed rapidly by a need for the ladder truck, they don't need to be chasing back to the station to get the equipment.
At least, that's what I think I've figured out. There's a whole open question in my mind about why we supply emergency medical transport through the fire department vs. through the police department or a third option. Presumably historical accident.