Paid fulltime firefighters are not compensated enough for the job they provide citizens - Essay Example

This paper will try to point out that despite the seemingly attractive salary of a firefighter in New York, there is a generally perceived low salary for firefighters that restrain many aspirants from seriously considering it as a career. A firefighter’s sworn duty is protect lives and properties from the threats of fire. But most of the time, they also need to respond to emergency calls for public safety from medical, disaster to terrorist acts. Aside from responding to emergency calls and situations, firefighters also include in their duty to educate the public for fire prevention as well as aid in the investigation process for cases that involve fire or arson (NYFD, 2).

The firefighters are expected to be ready to serve, brave enough to bring other people and properties to safety despite threats to their own lives, committed and prepared to perform their duties (NYFD, 3). Prevost et al (42) suggested that firefighters face tremendous occupational accidents and the job requires physical and mental professionalism to be able to perform satisfactorily. They encounter in their job aerobic capacity and significant motor coordination. In one study, it was found that many firefighters do not receive salaries but work on voluntary basis, receive minimal government support, and work only as required and when needed, specifically in emergency situations only (Monares, Ochoa, Pino, Herskovic, Rodriguez-Covili, and Neyem, 36).

In responding to emergency situations, the firefighters are expected to be aware of full information about the situation in order to take control. These information includes the dangers of the fire, type of fire, size, evolution; affected areas, building blueprints, emergency exits and access, electric or gas network; surrounding key resources such as schools, elderly care homes, chemical industries; the update of response process such as the number of fire trucks and firefighters in the area and capabilities of