Let firefighters cease to be "temporary workers"

Fire fight is not only physical strength and courage. As a practical science, it needs more experience. A firefighter who has been in business for a decade or two will certainly be better than the one who has only worked for one or two years in terms of ability and quality, and has better handling and resilience in the fire.

On the afternoon of May 1st, a fire broke out at a high-rise residential building on Longwu Road in Shanghai. During the firefighting, firefighters Qian Lingyun and Liu Jie were affected by the hot air thrusts and fell from the 13th floor. They were sacrificed after the rescue. Since the beginning of this year, four firefighters have been desecrated in Shanghai.

The death of two firefighters is sad. In particular, the two men pulled their hands together when they fell out of the window. It seems that one of them suddenly lost focus and fell down, while the other tried to save. This scenario has touched countless people.

Firefighters have now become a high-mortality job. In recent years, firefighters have been repeatedly killed in news of fire. Moreover, these firemen are often very young. For example, Qian Lingyun is only 23 years old and Liu Jienian only. 20 years old. A report in the “People’s Public Security” in 2013 disclosed that since 2006, the average age of the nation’s sacrificial fire officers is 24 years old, and the youngest is only 18 years old.

So heavy bloodshed, is it the price that fire fighters must pay? In fact, it is not necessary that in the Norwegian capital of Oslo, there have been no firefighters who have died for nearly 70 years since World War II. Also in other developed countries, firefighters are at high risk and are not necessarily equal to the high mortality rate in the fire scene.

So why can these countries effectively control the deaths and injuries of firefighters? In addition to advanced equipment and equipment, one of the most important reasons is the professional management of firefighters in these countries. In these countries, the welfare benefits of firefighters are extremely favorable. In New York, the United States, a firefighter who has been in five years, has an average annual salary of more than 99,000 U.S. dollars (two times the annual salary of a professor at a local university). This does not include other additional benefits such as Life insurance and other life insurance for firefighters themselves and their families. It is because of such high welfare that firefighters in these countries are often able to retire.

The benefits of professionalization are obvious. Fire fighting is not only physical and courage. As a practical science, it requires more experience. A firefighter who has been in business for a decade or two will certainly be better than the one who has only worked for one or two years in terms of ability and quality, and has better handling and resilience in the fire.

However, at home, it is another situation. Recently, Wuhan, the “hot-caught brother” who was enthusiastically on the Internet, said that he was a “temporary worker”. Due to the long time of duty, the danger of work, and the low salary, firemen of this contract system are difficult to recruit people, and it is difficult to retain people. Most of the active servicemen who are the main fire fighters are also “temporary workers”—the service period is two full years, and many people have just left the fire brigade. The new ones are all without experience and start from scratch. Those who have a long working life will have to face frequent trials of non-commissioned officers. Many wealthy and experienced fire cadres have to be transferred to other occupations.

Firemen not only have to face the dangerous fire, but also the main force of various rescues, which undoubtedly put forward high demands on the professional capabilities of fire fighters. The professionalization of firefighters is more conducive to retaining professional backbones, accumulating experience, and improving the effectiveness of the entire team. Of course, the firefighters will have a professional system, and the financial investment will be relatively large. However, security is a basic public service. It is unnecessary to save the money. What's more, with the reduction of loss of life and property brought about by the improvement of firefighting performance, those investments are actually very worthwhile.

After the death of 20 fire officers and soldiers caused by the fire in Hengyang in 2003, public opinion began to call for the professionalization of fire fighters. At present, except for a few places such as Shandong, which are beginning to try full-time firefighters, firefighters in other places are still Water soldiers." In order to give firefighters better professional treatment and safety protection, the professionalization of firefighters needs to be put on the agenda as soon as possible.

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