Anonymous Strikes Again! No Guts, No Integrity, So What's New? NOTHING of course... It's all coming true!

It's so sad when what's predicted comes true and it's just not good for the department or district because it's so extremely obvious it all personal agenda's. While I've  watched this entire mess unfold in the Southern Manatee Fire District, I have  been dismayed at the audacity of Commissioner Mark Ruben and Battalion Chief Pete Donchenko, Jerry Bennett and Union President Merv Kennel. At the December Fire District Meeting, Fire Chief Foster Gover resigned with dignity.He has sat through these meetings listening to the charges being rattled off that mostly occured several years ago when he was in another position.He proffered up the solution to a bad situation full of some poor judgments that had cost him his position.   I would have sought relief from staying there too were I the chief.  Gover Foster left with dignity, and SMFD has mud on it's face as there are just as many lower ranking people guilty of the same things the chief was found guilty of.

Yet they're too busy going back over my old posts and correcting me and then continuing to pick at me with ANONYMOUS posts about facts they think I misconveyed about my own physical condition during an event in which I depended on the services of the SMFD. (Trust me, THAT won't ever happen again! EVER.)  Once again, Anonymous just doesn't have any backbone to sign their name! Seems to me there aren't any backbones, integrity and guts in all the anonymous posters who have to HIDE behind ANONYMOUS! Lots to say but nothing to own. Just cowardly.  In this case, it may be an EMT, in which case, what was the point except to pick on medical technicalities.

Just a little fyi... your heart rate cannot be 70/38. Your blood pressure can be though. Oh and we dont give epinephrine for symptomatic bradycardia (which is what your attempting to describe) we give atropine. And I love my brothers at SMFR, however they dont tell "EMTs" what is needed on a call. SMFR are first responders and trained EMTs. The people who gave you medicine and made the decision to transport you were an ALS (advanced life support) team. This means one charge paramedic and either one EMT or a second paramedic. I dont know enough about the politics of all of this to make any comment on that. However if your posting facts, then light needed to be shed on your mistakes when it came to EMS and your treatment. Anonymous.

First off to Anonymous, thank you, you are correct about the heart rate as I miswrote in my haste and have since corrected it. But, were you there at my house when the ambulance showed up with the personnel at my door? (I'm sorry but I'm not going to attempt to try to keep straight everyone's individual potential titles! To me an EMT is in an ambulance and I happen to know SMFD train their firefighters to be EMT's and first responders too.) Were you there when the firefighters greeted them at my door? They doublechecked the same things the firefighters had done and got all the same readings on my blood pressure and then mutually helped each other get the stretcher and me together as my front entrance isn't very conducive to it. Were YOU the one who was administering the ECG to me in the ambulance and couldn't get a good reading so that after the third attempt, I finally asked why the confused look and you explained "too much noise" on the reading, so then I explained the internal tremors (ANOTHER MS factor!) that no one see but I can feel. And that's when the injection came out for my IV site and my blood pressure suddenly jumped to "normal" so we could proceed on to the hospital. I ASKED what that was and was told, epinephrine. I always ask as an informed patient is better off than one who isn't.

But now you tell me you would never do that so I'm intrigued. I researched it and found this: "...so bradycardia and salivation are unwanted side-effects. It is much more appropriate to give atropine (or glycopyrrolate), which deals with all the parasympathetic side-effects, than it is to give epinephrine, which deals only with the bradycardia. Epinephrine is very short-acting, and needs to be given by infusion for a sustained effect, whereas a single injection of atropine often has sufficient duration. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090510012718AANHm7q " 

Since I wasn't having a full blown heart failure and only experiencing the bradycardia, then, I believe the personnel did the right thing! Epenephrine- short term stabilization for the trip to the hospital. It was shot into my IV too (which if I remember correctly is by infusion so that appears accurate also).  Had I not had tremors he probably could have seen my heart was fine and not shot me with anything. You're arguing MY HEALTH with me which anyone who knows me, isn't wise. Even my doctors know they've got to explain themselves cos I don't blindly follow unless I understand. So please, for brevity, I was simply making a complimentary point to the good service I got. But, that won't happen again.

What's really frustrating though is that because of this email post in particular and the many others now, I  have no confidence in calling on the SMFD for any possible health issues should I ever need your services again! Since this has begun, the level of disrespect and attitude levied over this site in anonymous posts has made me wonder who would be trustworthy for real treatment. As everyone knows me (who I am and where I live) but I don't know who bears so much ill-will against me (save Pete Donchenko and Jerry Bennett), I just am not comfortable with the idea of expecting anything from this department anymore. I will have my husband or son,  take me to the hospital or drive me out SR70 to the EAST MANATEE FIRE HOUSE where I know a wonderful firefighter there and can ask for a checkup to be sure everythings ok before I EVER call on SMFD's services again! With MS there is always a multitude of mimicking things it does to my body but I've learned I can be very uncomfortable but still survive. If I end up in a situation that needs attention, I'll trust GOD to keep me alive and strong enough to make it OUT OF THIS DISTRICT and into the hands of those I can trust before I ever trust calling SMFD again. Unless I could specify my firefighters / responders, which I know I can't, there is no trust or confidence. The new motto for the district should be "All for US".

Another anonymous post before this one who exhibits no backbone. i'm curious deb, if these issues are of such concern for you why have you not run for fire commissioner or make more of a public cry for answers? most firefighters dont work 8 day a month they work 10. do the math the shift is 24 hours on 48 hours off. i can never understand why citizens dont have a problem with going to their bossess and asking/getting a raise and NEVER concerning themselves where it comes from. "i got mine and thats that" and thats ok but public service workers are supposed to work for meager pay and never have the same things everyone els has? dedication does not pay FPL every month. i think you know little about the average southern mananatee firefighter. he or she is cross trained as an EMT, inspector, fire offcier, haz mat tech, rope and confined space rescue and other specialties some of which they took on their on dime and time. you give the impression that they come in, drop in a chair and do nothing. a standard day consists of inspections, public education, firehouse maintenence, equipment maintenence and doing blood pressures on request which the citizens are allways welcome to and many of the other unseen things people complain about. you should get better informed. the dedicated men and women should recieve better because they DO BETTER. in all of the posts i have noticed that the DELIVERY OF SERVICES to the citizens has NEVER BEEN QUESTIONED or complained about .

This post simply shows the childishness of one firefighter who insists on continually whining about how tough and important his job is. Since when was public service compared to the private sector? I do not want to be a commissioner, I am a writer amongst other things. We should all do what we enjoy. Perhaps you're so unhappy because you don't enjoy your work anymore?  I am very glad to hear how well trained our fire fighters are- they should be. This is nothing short of CEU's every profession goes through, and the mega hours many professions put into their jobs for far less money, benefits and hours than a firefighter invests or gets. How about being a Detox Tech Supervisor on call 24/7? It's a thankless, low pay, major responsibility job dealing with people's lives all the time yet no one in that industry runs around crying "look at me, woe is me, pay me more, give me, get me more, I'm this or I'm that!" Grow up. You are well paid. You have a good job, and you are supposed to love your work. Perhaps it's time the good citizens of this district knew ALL that the firefighters truly get already and a full disclosure of the entire financial picture is in order? I wonder if we'd really  be all that thrilled after all with our firefighters and this muddy mess you've created.

Like Phil Collier, former retired firefighter from Cedar Hammock pointed out at the meeting, that he was "sickened by everything and appalled". I couldn't agree more. Southern Manatee Fire District used to be the best fire district in the county that the other districts strove to be like. We have the standards, but we've lost our character. I'd rather we had our character still.

To those among these fools who still have that character, I apologize if I am insulting and you think this doesn't affect you. It does. Being quiet doesn't work right now. Because the louder they get, the more they continue to plow on through these board meetings marching down their personal agendas, and the worst the district will become. If you don't like how they're behaving, show up at the meetings and shut them up. Stand up for your district. If they can make noise, so can you. Yes, you all work together and yes, there's a union but there's more of you with character and true values than these who are in it for themselves only. And if you don't think they are, then you aren't paying attention to the handwriting on the wall.