Heres an article I wrote inspired by the earlier post from Ryan Royal called Mental Poison. First off, here’s to a prosperous and safe new year for all of you. We are largely in charge of our own destiny, however, I sincerely hope you all have the year that you hope to have and that you and your family are healthy, safe and enjoy each others company. So many times in the fire service and in the fire service’s internet world we talk about those that aren’t setting the tone, the ones that are making us look bad or the ones that just bring us down because of their poor attitudes and work ethics. So While looking ahead to a new year I thought I would write a little about the people who went our of their way to help me navigate through the challenges of being involved with the emergency services. The thoughts behind this post are something that I think of on a daily basis and the lessons brought forth by the people I’m going to talk about have changed my life forever. I thought that the New Year would be an appropriate time to write this post in hopes that it may inspire you to take a look at who is important in your life and to make the effort to be important in someone elses life throughout this year and well into the future. As I said in the beginning we are all largely responsible for our own destiny in life and in our careers. However, there are many people who play an integral roll in developing us into the individuals that we are. Many of the individuals who play a role in shaping who we are in our lives may have nothing to do with the emergency services. So I want to first take a moment to say thank you to the important people in my personal life who have helped me along the way. We both know who you are. It is those individuals who really helped set the stage for the people I’ll talk about in this article. One more quick blanket statement before I move on…. Over the years there have been so many people who I’ve met, worked closely with and endured some pretty intense times with. You’ve all touched my life in many important ways. And for that I say thank you for being a friend, and for sharing in those times with me. If you’ve made it this far I might suggest grabbing a coffee or a snack, its gonna be a long one… The people I want to write about now are those who took a special interest in helping to show me the way. Those who took time out of their lives to build friendships, act as mentors or to just be there when I needed them the most. These were the people who were the light along the path. The inspiration to try harder, to learn more, and to exceed expectations. They are the ones who really took the time to share their lives and their experiences with me in hopes to make me better at whatever I was doing at the time or just to support me when I thought the going was getting too rough. So here we go…. In the early 1970’s I lived in Martins Creek, PA, we lived there until I was 5. We had the good fortune of living in the same duplex as Jimmy and Bessie Palmeri. Two of finest people you could ever want to know. Jimmy was I believe the Captain of the Lower Mount Bethel Ambulance Corps. He was my first real exposure to the emergency services. I can remember going to their house and listening to the Plectron while eating buttered bread heated in a microwave… AMAZING! On special occasions he took me to the ambulance building. I remember the way it smelled, I remember the Cadillac ambulances in the bays, orange and white. And I can remember the curtains in the windows of the backs of the ambulances, not sure why but I do. These are the moments that I think more than anything sparked an interest that would change my life forever. At the same time I would be babysat by Rosie Sabo and her family. Rosie was also very involved with the ambulance there and I think that also has a lot to do with my very early interests. In 1976 we moved to Tatamy, PA just a few miles away. The single biggest influence at that point in my life was of course Johnny Gage and Roy Desoto. There wasn’t a day that I missed going on calls with Squad 51. Every day after school these guys set that bar high on how to be cool firefighter paramedics. As I got older I spent a lot of time chasing the fire trucks around town when there was a call or stopping by the firehouse on drill night or any time I saw the doors open. When the siren blew I would hop on my bike and pedal to where ever the call was, sometimes a bit further than my parents even knew. At that time the Tatamy Fire Co. Breakfasts were the only way to spend a Sunday after church. All of the guys there were supper nice and tolerant of the little kid who kept stopping by. Ralph Laubuach, my friends dad was a firefighter there and his mom rode the ambulance in Forks. Playing with Robbie and Carl always involved disaster and emergency responses. Who am I kidding, playing with anyone at that time meant disasters and emergency responses. It was at the Tatamy Firehouse that I first learned that they even made magazines about firefighting, there was nothing cooler. It was Chief Don DeReamus though who would always allow me to stop by the firehouse and who was the one who always took the time to answer my questions after a call or whenever I saw him. Several unfortunate events led me to take a few trips in the back of the ambulance where I got to know some of the people from the Forks Emergency Squad and Medic 9. While they took very good care of me, they also inspired me to follow the emergency services as a career. By this time I knew I would be doing something in Fire or EMS. Once I got to high school I began to research the emergency services and do every paper I could on related topics. While doing research for a paper in school I did a ride along with Medic 9. On that night I met Jim Frey and Anamarie Robertone. They answered all of my questions and taught me as much as they could about what they did that night. They also took me on my first emergency responses. And they were the first people to teach me about death, in real time. That was the first time I watched someone die. And it was the first time I had the experience of being berated by a grieving family. They didnt know who I was they only knew that I was with them. We talked a lot that night after that call because the paper was on the effects of stress on paramedics. Shortly there after I began working at Easton Hospital on the weekends. It was at this point watching the daily drama of life in the ER and ICU’s that my course was forever cemented. In high school I worked with S.A.D.D. and while planning a mock crash event I met A. J. Heightman, the Executive director of the Eastern PA Emergency Medical Services Council. AJ could not have been a nicer person, nor a better mentor. I know now that he was someone who got it and was leading the charge for so many. He worked tirelessly to make everyone better individually so that we could all be better as a system. He was the first GOD in the emergency services that I met. In the summer of 1989 I was about to be a senior in high school and was spending vacation in Montana at my Grandpa’s house. On July 12th as we cut firewood in his back yard he suddenly collapsed and died. The ambulance came and I rode in the back to the hospital and helped the one person in the back as much as I could. It was in the moments after arriving at the ER that I learned the importance of the human side of what we do. It was the ambulance crew that took time from their day to not only response to the call but to talk with me afterword and to try to help me make sense of what had just happened and of the fact that one of my heroes was gone forever. I only wish I knew the name of the woman who had that talk with me. It was probably one of the most important lessons in the emergency services that I have ever learned, but wouldnt realize it until years later. I wish I could thank her for teaching me how to really take care of people, for showing me how important it is to realize that the incident doesnt just involve the patient. That fall there was little that could stop me from joining the Nazareth Ambulance and going to become an EMT. My friend Tom Molchan joined and began we taking our classes. The cast of characters there was strangely familiar. AJ Heightman, Jim Frey and Anamarie Robertone were our primary instructors. Again they were larger than life. So excited about what they did and passing it on to us. I remember one night in particular when Gloria Estephan’s tour bus had crashed not to far away the previous weekend. Jim Frey came into the room dancing to her song Conga because he had responded to the call and cared for her. These were the coolest people I had ever met. Little did they know then and little do we know now the impact we can have on another person and their future. Another lesson from them learned years later that I try to carry with me every day and in everything that I do. Once EMT class was over we were cleared to ride the ambulance it was then that I really got to know Ruthmary Male, the Captain of the Nazareth Ambulance. She came with a reputation that preceded her. And I was quite honestly scared to death of her. For a long time I thought she hated me. Again, years later I realized she was challenging me to be better. She had high expectations and she didnt take any crap, especially from a smart ass high school kid. Ruthmary took what we did very seriously and expected nothing less from those who joined. I wasnt old enough to really see the forrest from the trees there. Those were lessons I didnt really learn until I walked in her shoes years later. Leaving Nazareth Ambulance was something that I regretted later in life not because I didnt like where I went next but because I never really thought I paid her back through service for the opportunity she gave me. While I was at Nazareth I met their full time EMT, Mike Potope. Mike was the right guy at the right place at the right time for me. I didn’t have any family involved in EMS or Fire that understood what it was all about. Mike filled that void. He was in his early 20’s and was cool to the level of Johnny and Roy as far as I was concerned. He was the guy who really helped me cut my teeth in EMS. He was there to teach me the streets and that things were a bit different than what I had learned in class. He was also there to get me through the first time I froze on a call. Just him and me on a cardiac arrest. It wasnt pretty. The house was dark, the wife upset, the guy purple and very dead. I was in vapor lock. Eventually he handed me a pad and said go write down the meds. He worked the code by himself until the medics got there. I knew I screwed up and I knew he wasnt happy but he never said a word, he just helped me get better at it. Mike is the guy who got me on the right track and pushed me forward. Eventually, I decided that because I lived in Bushkill Twp. that I should join the FD there and ride with them. So I left Nazareth and joined Station 3, the Bushkill Twp. Vol. Fire Co. I rode there and quickly became one of the few people available during the day. It became the Carl and Brian show for a while. Carl Flesher and I handled a lot of calls together and I learned so much from him and had way to much fun doing it. That was 1990 and it was at this point that I finally began to train to be a firefighter. I attended my Essentials class at the Northampton County Fire School. There Tom Barnowski was my primary instructor. It was great as he was also a Lieutenant in my department. That proved helpful months later. Chief John Bast, from the City of Easton, though not a chief at the time was also one of my first fire instructors. On a very snowy Friday, like feet not inches, we were at the station taking delivery of our new Mack/Saulsbury rescue truck and we got hit out for a house fire. That was the moment I’d been waiting for and fearing. Due to the conditions, by the time we got there the fire, an arson job, was going good and there was no one else coming any time soon to help. It was Mike Potope, Tom Barnowski and me. Mike did a search and I took the line and Tom backed me up, or more likely, pushed me along. We knocked the fire on the first floor and then went to the basement. I’d like to say we fell down the steps which were covered in kids Golden Books, but I think it may be a bit more accurate to say Tom had little something to do our rapid decent. But it was because of Tom that I got through the first time jitters. It was his calm demeanor, and coaching that calmed me down to where I could say, ok it’s just like fire school, even though it was NOTHING like fire school. It was the men and women of the BTVFC who placed the first stones of my firefighting foundation. The guys I mentioned before as well as Chief Renninger, Art Rader, Pete Stoolvort, Kevin Rep, Nick Timar, Jen Timar, Barry and Jonna Cole and many more really fanned the flame of my interest in the fire service. In 1991 I moved to York, PA to attend York College and very soon after joined the Grantley Fire Company. There I met some of the most interesting and in reality influential people I’ve met. I came in as a young kid who thought he had a bit more knowledge than he actually did. But they accepted me and broke me of that and helped to rebuild me into something better. To say there was a culture shock would be a monumental understatement. This was my first experience with a combination department and my first experience in going on so many calls. The fire side although slow still killed what I had been doing at home and EMS probably ran more calls in the first quarter than we had all year in Bushkill. The story’s from my days at The Grantley could fill volumes. It was there that I met and made some of my closest friends in my life. Chickie Peters was the paid ambulance person and she took me under her wing and taught me so much. It was with her that I went on most of my calls the first few years. Her years of experience and kind way not only taught me but cared for me as if I was one of her own. The paid firemen, Mike Garland, Lee Sowers, and Barry Emig put up with me, and taught me not only about the fire service but about life. Again they challenged me to be better. They expected more. They were the best at being senior men. It was Mike Garland though who through fatherly intimidation and strict adherence to the way he wanted things to be done taught us that at some points you just have to trust and do. He taught us about respect earned through example. Mike was a guy I would have followed straight into hell. One of the primary medic units that ran with us was York Hospital’s Medic 97. It was through them that I met Kay Ella Bleecher. Kay is one of the nicest people I have ever met. We hit it off and she really took the time to mentor me, teach me and support me. Her supportive demeanor and ability to listen and help me understand and deal with the downside of emergency services has had a major impact on me. She taught me that we need to not only take care of our patients but we must take care of each other as well. As I rose though the ranks of being and EMS officer, all of the inevitable issues of a young kid in a leadership role came down the pike. But there was one person who was right there the whole time to be a mentor, a dose of reality, and a friend. That was Dave Bond. He was the guy who had a way of keeping me in check, and explaining reality in a way that no one else could. It was Dave that thought me about perception in management. My perception and the perception of those in my charge. He was the first person to really take an interest and begin to teach me about dealing with and managing people. And he was one of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet. One of the people that I had to deal with on a regular basis was Chief Joe Barron. Chief Barron was a retired Deputy Chief from the City of Philadelphia who was now the Chief of the Spring Garden Twp. Fire Department. Joe and I got off to a bit of a rocky start mostly because I was a young smart ass who obviously knew more than a decorated retired Deputy Chief of a major metropolitan fire department. Again, years later I realized that it wasnt a battle but a push to be better. It was high expectations and a desire for us to be better and to do better. It was tough mentorship. In my time as EMS Captain he would always challenge me on operations, and I would fight back, and he was mostly correct, but I didnt see that. He would tell me that he had the phone number of a private ambulance service written on his hand and that each morning he would look at it. And one of these days he was going to call it and there would be nothing more for me to worry about. It always pissed me off. But it wasnt just him toying with me, it was a challenge to be better. Chief Barron has always been there for me as a mentor whether I realized it or not. He’s one of those guys who I wish I would have realized it earlier. Social media of all things allows us to be in touch and I look forward to our conversations and his support and continued mentorship every time we talk. Eventually I wanted to be come a fire officer. It was Rob Bissey and Scott Eby who allowed me the opportunity to step into those roles. And they’ve always been there since to offer advice or just talk about doing the job. As well the career firefighters at The Grantley supported me in most things I did, which was something I felt good about considering the set up of the organization. They also taught me a lot. They growled when they needed to but also took the time to help me get better at what I was doing. Becoming a volunteer fire officer in an organization that had a career system over top of you was seriously one of the best learning experiences I have ever had. For that I have to thank all of the career firefighters and officers of the Spring Garden Twp Fire Department. One of my favorite EMS jobs was at Hempfield Ambulance in Lancaster County. This was the largest EMS organization that I had ever worked for and in the short time that I was there I learned alot. It was there that I met Matt Tobia. He was the president of the board and the person ultimately responsible for hiring me. He began to challenge me from the first time we met. I will never forget him asking me during my interview, what’s on the cover of JEMS this month. I didnt know. It was a helicopter rescue. He wanted to see how engaged I really was. He continued to push me and hold me accountable for constantly becoming better at what I did. Around that time I began to burn out from EMS though and really wanted to become a career fireman. I tested all over and and as many people do became frustrated with the process. It was then career firefighter soon to be Lieutenant Rick Merck who really supported me to keep trying and to not give up. Rick was a great friend and mentor. He was a person who was incredibly funny and had a way of getting us young guys at the fire house to do anything that needed to be done and to have fun while doing it. He taught us a lot about life as well. I credit Rick with my having a career job today. It was because of his infectious attitude that I kept going. It was his support that got me through the letdowns and endless frustration of trying to land a job. One of the people I met while at The Grantley was Chief John Senft of the York City Fire Department. I first met him when he would stop by at station 13 for visits and later got to know him through photographing York City fires and attending classes. Chief Senft is probably the one person who through all the years has kept in contact and kept our relationship up more than any other. He has been one of my most influential mentors. There have been literally hours and hours of conversations about everything from life, to businesses to basic firemanship to the dealings of being an officer to the most important of course….food. Chief Senft has really been a true friend and for me clearly defines the word mentor. In 1996 I was hired by the City of Harrisburg as a career firefighter. There was nothing in life that could have made me happier at that point. The first person that I clearly remember from day one was Lt. Doug Bair. He was there on the day we took our physical agility test, a freezing cold, snowy January day. I dropped the dummy during the drag just over 3/4 of the way through but somehow picked it back up and made it across the line. I was sure though that I had not passed. I was walking away exhausted and dejected and I remember him saying to someone, “he don’t know it yet but he just got himself a job”. Little did I know he was right and little did I know that he would soon become one of my closest friends and mentors on the job. Doug, as anyone who knows him, is one of the most interesting and fun people to be around. And he has an ability to push me to go further than anyone else I know. We’ve had some of the most intense times both at fires and on adventures that I’ve ever had. Doug is a true friend. Once at Harrisburg the number of mentors to chose from was incredible. I was now working with legends in the South Central PA fire service. People that I had heard about for years were now sitting with me in the fire truck. The learning was non stop. The first person I want to mention is Chief Donald Konkle because he gave me the opportunity in the first place and in the years to come would teach me more than I could imagine about the fire service. But most importantly he taught me that you have to take care of your people. You can’t aways give them what they want but when they are need you do the right thing for them. I was assigned to the C Battalion and worked with a great group of men and women. But a few stood out. First was Chief Ron Reed. An absolute legend as far as I was concerned. He defined what a Battalion Chief should be. He cared, but was firm and you’d better know what the hell your doing. He had special way about him, calm under pressure yet there was no doubt who was in control. One of the best bosses I’ve ever had. While on C I met then rebel firefighter Mike Horst. A salty truckman who pushed the envelope. He was intimidating when I met him. Always pinching me under the arm to see if I had what it took to be a truckman. His expectations were very high, and he had no trouble telling me when I didnt meet them. But there was always time to help me get better at the job. Over the years we became friends in and out of the firehouse. And later in my career when I was promoted to Lieutenant he was the first senior officer to take me under his wing and get me on track to do my new job. I was moved to the B Battalion at the end of my first year and there I met the group of guys that I would spend the next 15 years with. These were the guys who really got me into being a fireman. Brad Myers, Dave Houseal, Jack Paine, Sam Clark and Bruce Henry and Captain John Blessing. They taught me everything from the history of the fire service, to being a good engine man to igniting my love for the truck. But most importantly they became my friends. I credit these guys with so much of what I learned in my early days at the HFD. Eventually we were joined by Eric Jenkins and Leon Cliatt. They fit in perfectly. We all learned so much from each other. They called us the House of Harmony. I could literally go on for ever about these guys. Just know that they are some of the best and their mentorship and friendship I will cherish forever. During my early years at the HFD I met Chief Tom Brennan. He had retired from the FDNY and from being Chief at Waterbury FD in CT. He wrote my favorite column in Fire Engineering, Random Thoughts. He lived not far from my grandparents in Florida and we spent many evenings chatting on AOL. He would ask me questions about Harrisburg and I would ask him about all kinds of fire service topics. We didnt really know each other from anything other than those conversations but they meant a lot. Here was a fire service GOD spending time, a lot of time, answering my rookie questions. I learned so much from him about the service but I also learned to take the time to listen to and engage with the next generation. To pass on what you know just as others did for you. I wish I printed out our conversations. The last person at the HFD that really had an impact on me from a leadership standpoint was Chief Tim Sevison. Tim was unlike any other leader that I had experienced anywhere. He had come from a military background and though I was unfamiliar with that I picked up the new way pretty quickly. His expectations were high and his tolerance for ineptitude low. That didnt work out well for everyone but I loved the change because it was something we were not used to. Once of the things that struck me most was that he would let you go as far as you allowed yourself to go. He gave me more opportunities within the department than anyone ever had and if I performed well I got to do more. Chief Sevison was also the Chief who gave one of the most inspirational talks I have ever heard in my time in the service. We’d lost 4 out of a family of 5 at a house fire and were pretty down in the dumps. To hear that the Chief is coming out talk to your whole shift doesn’t inspire confidence of a good outcome. But I will leave it at this… he did what a chief should have done at that moment and he knocked it out of the park. He cemented my respect for him as out leader on that day. I was really sorry to see him move on. He was a powerful force in our department. There is one more group that has a significant influence on me today that while not traditional mentors by definition, their impact is significant. The brothers and sisters of the Harrisburg Bureau of Fire, A Battalion. They are the perfect mix of senior experience and young energy. They push me to show up and be better every day. They thirst for knowledge and strive to do their best at everything they do. I am proud to be a part of them and thank each and everyone for what they bring to the table and for the force they generate for each of us to be better. IF you made it this far first of all thanks for sticking with it and making it to the end. The whole point of writing this was to first of all say thank you to an unbelievable group of people who have had a major impact on my career and my life. But also to talk about the ways that we do good in the service. Not to just highlight the people who arent doing anything to further our cause. Please don’t think that I’m saying that I have mastered the lessons learned from the people I spoke about. Its an everyday challenge to live up to their examples and expectations. Some days you get it right and some you just got to try harder. That said, we are all making an impact one way or another, hopefully you will be included someone’s list of those who changed their life for the better. I know I hold the people I spoke of in the highest regard possible. What’s absent here is the list of people from which I have learned what not to do, and that could fill volumes. They had a major impact as well. They taught me that I didnt want to be like them. And those are very important lessons. I learned from them and then I distanced my self from them. The main take away for me here is that the positive influence you can have on someone can literally last a life time. You’re going to influence people either way so try to do it the right way. Take the time to be one of the rays of light that helps show our next generation the way. Be Safe - Lt. Bastinelli
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 06:34:19 +0000
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