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An Important Message for us all tonight…….
I wanted to take a moment as I finally pry myself away from news coverage of today’s mass shooting in Newtown CT at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. I need not expound upon any details which I know we have all been inundated with and will continue to read and watch for hours, days and years to come.
This is one of the most horrific and tragic incidents any of us will ever experience and we will each deal with this differently and profoundly with our families. This message tonight does not involve politics, rhetoric, or any other standard Union fare. I simply ask each of you to send your thoughts and prayers to the people of Newtown and to all parents, children, families and the first responders who arrived on scene to care for the victims.
If you already pray, pray more…if you don’t give it a shot…and if you still don’t, send your thoughts. Today is a reminder of how fragile life is, and how valuable our families and our friends are and how precious each day is to us. The firefighters and paramedics and Law Enforcement Personnel who responded will undoubtedly be affected for the rest of their lives and our thoughts and prayers for them are also part of our Brotherhood and Sisterhood in our line of work.
I will also remind you to take a moment to review and look at what we are trained to do in these incidents, be ready to serve well and protect not only the public but each other during and after incidents like this. We have seen much and on smaller scales similar calls, and coincidentally Local 1014 is hosting a meeting between the Fire Department and the Union and subject matter experts to further push for and address needs for these types of incidents.
I talked to the Board of Supervisors this morning and the Fire Chief and while we were preparing for any and all commentary or press that may come our way I also reminded them to let this be a catalyst to further our plans and training for response to incidents of this magnitude to best serve the public and provide for our safety also and we get to real discussion on that next week. I anticipate many changes in how we do business and not a day to soon. We meet next week.
In closing, again…take a moment, take more, and send your thoughts and prayers to all of the Children and the Parents and Family and First Responders who will be forever affected by this tragedy… and take time review and be ready to serve our citizens and protect each other.
Thank you for your time tonight to give this a read and a little thought,
On behalf of the entire Local 1014 Executive Board,
Dave Gillotte
President
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