Welcome to the Rotary Club of Omaha

I love the information and insight we gain at our meetings every week in Downtown Rotary through our presentations.  The one thing I truly value is hearing about careers and opportunities that are so foreign to my life and how they operate day to day.  This week we had Captain Charles Oborny from the Fire Department to explain to us what that life entails.  He has been a part of this life for 19 years and truly loves his job.  There are 24 stations throughout Omaha with about 635 members with 35 females.  
 

Fire fighters have an initial probationary training for 2 months followed up by working in the field with hands on training for a year.  After that year the rookie is officially a firefighter.  Fire Apparatus Engineer is the next step up…that is the fancy name for Fire truck driver.  These individuals have to memorize every street as well as learn to drive that very large truck.  The captain is the next position above that and his duties are to be in charge of the fire truck crew and orchestrate the jobs when they get to the location. The next level up is the battalion chief. There are seven in the city and each chief is in charge of 3 or 4 of the stations.  This position takes care of all the personnel issues and sometimes takes over the fire scene to insure the firefighters are safe when split second decisions are made.  Continuing up the chain of command is Assistant Chief.  These are the managerial officers.  There are 4 in the city and if there is a multiple fire they will come to the scene to assist.  The top boss is the fire chief. This person reports to the mayor and city council and handles more of the political issues.
 

Captain Oborny described what is called the Fire apparatus.  This consists of the ambulance, which is staffed with 2 people, a firefighter and paramedic. There is a fire pumper, which is the truck with the hose and carries about 500 – 1000 gallons of water and up to 100 feet of hose.  There are 4 people on that truck, the driver who also runs the pump and fills the hose.  The captain and one firefighter are responsible for the hose and going into the fire, the 4^th firefighter hooks the hose to the fire hydrant.  Each fire hydrant is color coded to indicate how much water is in the hydrant.
 

The big ladder truck has ladders going from 50-75 foot but no water.  They are considered toolboxes on wheels.  This will have a TIC camera, which is a Thermal Imaging Camera that will show hot spots and victims.

The firefighters work 24-hour shifts, 7 a.m. to 7 a.m. with a 24-hour shift off after that.  Their daily routine consists of checking compressed air tanks, ensuring all equipment is working and house chores.  The captain revealed to us he cleans pretty well but doesn’t want his wife to know.  I think we need to demand some hush money for that.  Code: Hush money. On going training has the latest techniques. With 75 pounds of gear physical fitness is a must.  PTSD is dealt with through family; peer support and EAP. The hard work makes it difficult to recruit; cancers are the most prevalent cause of death, which makes it very important they decontaminate their uniforms, and take nothing home. 

This was very informative. Thanks Captain Oborny.  Have a great week!

-Camille