This question is posed for both Fire and EMS work.
At what age should you decide to hang up the badge and either retire, quit volunteering, or go to a supportive/auxiliary role in your department?
This question is brought on by discussion we had last night over at Firefighter Netcast. We dissected LODD’s and spoke about the many things causing LODD’s as well as ages in when firefighters and/or EMT’s are dying in the Line of Duty.
We discussed about a 72 y.o. LODD.
I am merely posing the question, should we still be fighting fire (or running EMS calls) at this age. Let us be honest, firefighting is dangerous and physically challenging. Are we really doing ourselves a favor by remaining active for this long.
My angle is not for departments to start discriminating or deciding at what age you have to quit. My angle is that individually, we need to understand that there will come a point in time where we will need to stop being active.
I had another discussion today about it via twitter. I did not have an answer. We all know that you could have a 60 y.o. who is in better health than a 40 y.o. Likewise you could have an 80 y.0. who might be in the shape of a 60 y.o. In theory, there probably isn’t a perfect age to cease active service. I know in my department there used to be a sunset of 66 on working as a firefighter. This came to a stop after certain legislation was passed to end discrimination on age.
I know from speaking with coworkers that it is not easy to retire and go on with your life after spending 20-30 years doing what you love. Many have a hard time leaving because they think the department cannot operate without them. Others have a hard time realizing that the department can operate without them.
When do you think you will turn in the badge? When do you think you should turn in the badge?
Also on the FireCritic …
- Firefighter Netcast – Coming January 12, 2009 – January 1, 2010
- Furthering Discussion of the Backstep Firefighter on the Houston LODD’s – March 10, 2010
- I Have That T-Shirt! – June 23, 2009
- I Lost a Brother Today – October 22, 2009
I feel that your retirement age depend on the person but in the fire fighting field, one should take a desk job after a certain age. 72 is too old to still be in the field or want to be in the field still.
City of Detroit, day you turn 60, you are done, no matter what job you have. Since they promote by seniority, it has turned their Chief's job into a revolving door.
Timely post. Yesterday an 85 year old firefighter was killed responding to a mutual aid call. In one report I read he was driving the ambulance. http://goo.gl/hvP3
To be quite honest I knew of the story when I wrote this. I decided to not post the info on this post out of respect for Leroy Kemp and his family. I didn't want to point the finger at anyone specifically. Instead, I wanted to just bring attention to the issue.
You could be correct with this comment though. I would like to think that at 85 years old, I will have other younger men and women to carry the weight.
But it's hard to give it up! I think about the day that i will be to old to serve and it makes me very upset knowing that i'll never jump the truck again. Just imagine NEVER going on another call for the rest of your life!!
I have 15 years until I can retire at the age of 47 with 26 years on the job. I am not sure when I will go and I can imagine it is hard to leave.
What a tough tough decision to make…..our retirement age is 25 years of service and 50 years old. So I will be 50 before I can even retire. I know ti will be tough for me….the FD is all I have known my whole life. My dad is 51 and still hasnt retired from the FD.
I think it will really depend on what my role in the department is when I arrive at retirement age. If I am still just a firefighter than at 52 (30 years of service in the department) I will probably go. However if I am in a leadership role then I would probably stay longer.
The only thing I hope is that I still love it as much at age 50 as I do now at age 28….I hope that I still want the nozzle, still want to be the OVM, and still want to go to calls.
My train of thought is much like yours Robby! I can only hope that my heart is still in it as much then as it is now.
I do not see myself running calls on the rigs much past 55 though. I would have 33 years in the department. Our multiplier hits a glass ceiling at 30 years.
However, if I were in a management role you never know….
Well i have 18years at my department and I can retire at 51 with 30 years but i've put my self in line that i hope i will be chief when i hit 48 or 49. If that happens then i hope to stay until im 55 to 60, depending on how it goes. As far as still loving the job, i have a total of 24 years service as a firefighter ( started as a vol.at 17 ) and i still get that rush when i hear structure fire! I hope it will always be in my heart and i hope i will always be a part of a department some where even if it's just on a board.
Depends. Does your department have a health-screening/fitness program? Is retirement based on age alone or does the contract/commitment end at the time it's determined your own safety is at risk? Are there standards of performance against which your ability to serve are fairly measured? In a volunteer department, are you pressured to remain because of the shortage of personnel?
As a fire service family, we need new ways of looking at this and finding new solutions that work. We need equally to consider the safety of (a) ourselves, (b) the brothers and sisters with whom we serve and (c) the safety of life in the communities we serve.
Being bound to a contractual commitment or an obligation borne because we're short-handed can result, too many times, in tragedy as we age. There are examples of firefighters doing well well into their 60s. There are more examples, however, of injuries, disabilities and deaths resulting from trying to over-extend.
Thinking 'outside the box' (sorry for the cliche) is a tactic we NEED as we address this important issue. Putting fire/ems folks, doctors, phys ed and rehab specialists AND family members together might be a good start to a national debate.
As for myself, I spent 32 years in gear, the last 10, approximately, in training/management roles. There came a point where I KNEW, despite all the emotions, that I at some point was going to be a liability in a crisis or a victim, and I couldn't subject my brothers and sisters to that.
Like others, when I hear the tones or klaxons or sirens or bells, my heart longs to jump on a rig and head for the job. I'd like to think, however, that I can still serve by helping others understand the fire service and its role in our lives.
I remember waking up every morning joking with the guys that we had just finished another day of our sentence… My captain always said that when he hit his 25th yr(45 years old) that he would turn in his retirement. When I made Captain, I said the same thing. That would make me 55 years old.
I just can't see the advantage of having front line personnel that are much older than 55. As long as the department has effective annual physicals I believe that mid 50s could be a good age to transition to another post in the department..
I remember waking up every morning joking with the guys that we had just finished another day of our sentence… My captain always said that when he hit his 25th yr(45 years old) that he would turn in his retirement. When I made Captain, I said the same thing. That would make me 55 years old.
I just can't see the advantage of having front line personnel that are much older than 55. As long as the department has effective annual physicals I believe that mid 50s could be a good age to transition to another post in the department..