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Stateside Comment US Correspondent Catherine Levin looks into the politics of hiring and firing US fire chiefs
I
caved in recently and bought a Kindle. I was fed up finding myself with spare time to read but without my latest 500 page book because it was just too heavy to carry. I can definitely see the benefit from a portability perspective but also privacy. I wonder how many people hide Fifty Shades of Grey on their Kindle while on the tube in London? And I also wonder if it is the same for those who have just discovered Who told you that you were naked? This is the title of a book published in November 2013 by the now former Atlanta Fire Chief, Kelvin Cochran. One year after publishing his book, Cochran was suspended without pay and in January 2015 fired from his post. This was an ignominious end to the career of a fire chief who, before accepting the job in
Atlanta in 2008, was in line for taking on the presidency of the International Association of Fire Chiefs and in 2009 was nominated to be US Fire Administrator. So what happened? Cochran is a committed Christian who published a book about his views: it’s a religious book by a religious man and it has some strong anti-gay views. He published it while in office and shared it with colleagues. The Mayor of Atlanta, Kasim Reed, fired him because he did not seek permission to publish and did not keep quiet. The New York Times took up the cause in its leader column on 13 January under the not oft used title ‘God, Gays and the Fire Department’ and agreed with the firing. It concluded that no public official should
foist their religious views on city employees ‘who have a right to a boss who does not speak of them as second class citizens’. Mayor Reed employed blunt fire metaphors in his summary “I hired him to put out the fires, not create them”. This is the highest profile fire department staffing controversy I have seen since I started following the workings of the US Fire Service. It may speak more to the size of the country than anything, but there are many troubled fire departments in amongst the 30,000. Some fire chiefs are fired due to incompetence, some as a result of illegal activity and some through sheer political will where a fire chief’s face does not fit once the new administration gets its feet under the table. There has been a huge
turnover in fire chiefs of major metropolitan fire departments in the last 12-18 months with Los Angeles, Boston, New York, Detroit and now Atlanta all dealing with new leadership. It’s a time of great turmoil and change, but hopefully a time of great opportunity to move forward and modernise. And change is where this column ends, as I bow out and leave New York to return, Kindle in hand, to live in London once more. It’s been real privilege to write Stateside Comment for the last two years. I’ve loved doing it and I hope you have enjoyed reading it too. Ed – Catherine will continue to report for FIRE on this side of the pond. See pg 47 for her interview with the Commissioner of the Philadelphia Fire Department, Derrick Sawyer.
Working to support the elderly in their own homes Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service has partnered with local at-home care company, Home Instead Senior Care, to create a stronger community support network for the elderly in the area
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evon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service have issued special ID cards with their phone number, email address and a unique Home Instead logo and account number to all Home Instead CAREGivers who provide support to elderly in their own homes. The purpose of the cards is to make booking home safety visits for their elderly clients simple and easy. Home Instead’s CAREGivers visit their elderly clients for a minimum of one hour per visit and, as they don’t rush their visits, they have time to help their clients with various projects in and around their homes, including smoke alarm and general safety checks with a well-being and person-centred care focus. Keith Denning, Crew Commander for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue
Firefighters and Home Instead Senior Care
Service, commented: “We are really pleased to partner with Home Instead Senior Care. The well-being of the elderly is a top priority for both the Fire Service and Home Instead, and together we are doing
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our best to make sure that we provide safety checks for them in a manner that is easy and convenient.” Mark McGlade, owner of Home Instead Senior Care in Budleigh Salterton, also
commented: “Working with the local fire service is a fantastic way for us to ensure that our elderly clients feel safe in their own homes. Knowing that the fire service has the best interests of our clients in mind, gives us great confidence and the cards are a great demonstration of their support. “We are also looking forward to providing the service with free training in dementia awareness over the course of the year. It’s a win-win scenario for everyone involved and we welcome the opportunity to work with the public and voluntary sector services to join in our mission to keep our elderly residents as safe as possible in their own homes.” For more information on the partnership or community dementia workshops visit http:// www.homeinstead.co.uk/ eastdevon