Fire & EMS Leader Pro The job of old firefighters is to teach young firefighters how to become old firefighters!
7. A Perspective: “Old School” Blends with “New School”
Rick Costley
Rick Costley is a former colleague of mine with the Chesterfield County (VA) Fire and EMS Department who’s had an equally distinguished 2nd fire service career with Dominion Virginia Power as an instructor for the Safety and Emergency Response Training Facility. He is currently the supervisor of Safety and Emergency Response Training for Dominion.
“Maybe it’s because I am older, and hopefully wiser, that I am writing this. Before my time, during our time, and even now, when you hear one of the old timers telling war stories or saying “that’s not how we used to do it”, the younger ones should not write it off as, “that was then and not now.” But did you ever think of how an old firefighter got to be old in the first place?”
