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 Hello!

My name is Ellen and I am a full-time firefighter in Springfield Township, Richland County, Ohio. I am the first female full-timer here and I have been welcomed with open arms. We are a young department with many ideas. I am also one of three full-time females in the county. I am so glad there is a website for female firefighters: I believe that we need to stick together and be as strong as possible. Unfortunately, this is a "man's world" -- I am hoping to change that!! Any letters full of advice would be appreciated; I was just recently hired this Jan. 3. Take care all... Be safe!!

Respectfully,

Ellen Northrop

Hello, I am Julian Davis, a member of the Jamaica Fire Brigade and also a member of Women In Fire Service. I have found your site and your Firework publications to be very informative. I have been encouraging other women in the Jamaica Fire Brigade to log on and be informed. I hope to be educated continuously as I have decided to make firefighting my career. I also hope to be the first female Commissioner the Jamaica Fire Brigade will see, therefore I will continue to yearn for information that will enable me to be more productive. Please send any such information via post or e-mail. My mailing address can be obtained fromWFS

I will always visit.

Yours truly,

Julian Davis
Lance Corporal
Jamaica Fire Brigade

I am a member of a volunteer fire company on Long Island, NY. I am trying to get the women firefighters of Long Island organized. There are over 200 fire departments on Long Island with a couple women in each. I think it would be great if we could get together to encourage each other and pass along ideas. If anyone can offer suggestions, I would appreciate them. And if any women firefighters from New York want to join me in this, please e-mail me. Thanks.

Jennifer Price
Captain
North Babylon Volunteer Fire Co.

Hello,

I am 23 years old and have been career firefighter for three years and love it!!! I work for a small department in Washington state. I have read the old bulletins and I am sorry for those of you who deal with a bunch of s- - - !

For those of you just starting out, there is hope to find a good department. The guys I work with for the most part are great.

My question is for you mothers out there. How was your experience with having children while being a firefighter? Did you go on light duty right away? How long did you take off after having your child? Did you feel it was hard to get back into shape? As you can see I have many questions. I will probally be having children in the next few years, and I want to be prepared.

I would appreciate any advice or help I could get.

Thanks a bunch!

My district has an unfair pregnancy policy, and I was wondering if anyone out there has similar problems or has successfully battled with a problem such as mine. I belong to a volunteer fire department, and by their policy, you must give up all firefighting duties upon taking a positive pregnancy test (even if it is just a home test).

I find this unreasonable and unfair, and would like to have it changed. I understand giving up your duties at a certain point later in pregnancy, but as soon as finding out I think is wrong. I had to do this, and I want to change my district's policy before one of my fellow female firefighters has to go through my ordeal.

Any help or comments would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Megan

To: Training Officers, or other people who have done lots of training

I am a Captain in a small (58 people) fire department. I am taking a promotional exam to training officer in December. I am looking for someone who would be willing to look over my exam material and give me suggestions in the first week of December. I would mail or e-mail the information to you. You could mail or e-mail your suggestions back. The test is 3 parts. I have to make a one-hour lesson plan. It is to pre-plan our new Community Center. Then I will teach 10 minutes of the plan. The third part is to turn in a master list of one year's training with the reasons why. I will be giving all of this material to 3 people they have brought from the outside to grade us.

Please help! Anyone who has the time and inclination. I live in Missouri. My e-mail address is

Thanks!

My name is Stephanie Lewis and I am currently a senior at Barnard College, Columbia University in New York City. I am writing my senior thesis on the issues concerning female firefighters as a result of gender. Many of the things addressed in your website coincide with my studies and I would love to discuss them with some female firefighters. I was wondering if you could post a message on the bulletin board for female firefighters in the NYC area, to see if any would like contribute their thoughts and experiences to this project. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone had the time to speak with me. My email address is if you have further questions.

I would appreciate it if you could respond to me either way.

Thank you very much,

Stephanie Lewis

Hello to all. I am a female firefighter/EMT who recently gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. I stayed on line and active until I was seven months. After the birth it was discovered that I now have something called a uterine prolapse, as well as a what is called a cystocele. I am going to have to have a hysterectomy at the age of 28. I was told that afterwards I may never work as a firefighter again, and that the job I do was a major factor in what happened to me. Before this happened I had never even heard of such a thing, and it turns out this is usually only happens to women who are post-menopausal.

My question to all of you is : Am I alone in this? Has this happened to any other women in the fire service? I worry about the other young women I work with who want to have babies... will this happen to them? Aside from all of the physical aspects, it is emotionally devastating; I feel alone, I worry about my husband in all of this... and my career... I love my job, I don't want to leave it. It now comes down to a choice between my health and the future my husband and I had planned.

Is this something other female firefighters should be aware of? There are things that can be done to prevent it, but only when you are aware of it in the first place.

Any comments or information would be greatly appreciated. Be safe.

Tanya

Hi to all.

My name is Terry, and I'm a career Engineer/Paramedic with a small fire department in northern California. I just wanted to encourage any who can to go to the Leadership conference in San Diego in March. I was fortunate enough to have attended last time and found the encouragement and support that had been lacking in my 11 years with the department. Having been through years of harassment and doubting my career choice, this was a refreshing and career-enhancing experience. I am now an acting captain and will be attending again this year in anticipation of taking the upcoming captain's test. Everyone who is dealing with harassment issues out there, don't give up on your dreams. It's difficult to persevere, but well worth it.

Thanks, Terry

I'm a national wire service reporter in Washington, D.C., working on a story about women in the fire service. I'd be interested in speaking with women about their experiences through the years: The challenges and the rewards of being a woman firefighter. Feel free to contact me through the e-mail or telephone number below -- I can call you back so we can talk on my dime. Thanks for your time!

Best regards,

Ms. Dru Sefton
National Correspondent
Newhouse News Service

202/383-7879 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time, weekdays)
Who am I? http://www.newhouse.com/sefton.html

I would like to hear from any woman firefighter, in the U.S. or elsewhere, who has had trouble getting pregnant, but eventually managed to do so. I would particularly like to hear from women who have used in-vitro fertilization (test tube baby) successfully, or from anyone who had problems conceiving that may have been linked to their work schedule. (For example, you were able to get pregnant after changing to a 40-hour week.)

Please contact "Tina" in care of WFS. Thank you in advance for any information you can provide.

Sincerely,

"Tina"

Hi there. I just found this board too! I am really glad I found this site. I really need it nowadays!

I am on family leave from FDNY/EMS. I'd like to just clarify (as Skiffsway1 did) that under the umbrella of the FDNY there is an EMS command. We handle the 911 calls as well as hospital based ambulances, private companies, and even VACs.

I took the "promotion to firefighter test" and scored 97.xxx on the exam. When it came time to take the physical agility, I was pregnant with my daughter and was told, "it is my fault I got pregnant", so I am out of luck. (Another woman was told the same thing) Strike one...

I was a volunteer firefighter in my hometown for almost 9 years. In a nutshell, I was thrown out for asking the discrimination and harassment to stop. I was a driver of the ambulance and engine (MPO) and held ALS certification throughout. (Our company is about 70 men, of whom 40 are
active, 20 are drivers, and 4 are ALS providers, so it is not like I did not carry my weight) Strike two...

I'm guessing I am never going to be a firefighter again. I would have to sell my house and move to join another volly dept and FDNY is out, apparently.

I am really, really, looking for positive issues on women firefighters, but I am also not done dealing with the hurt I have... If anyone, especially vollies in the LI/NY region has been through this and would like to exchange E-Mails, please E-mail me at NYCEMSCHIC@aol.com. Thanks so much!

I just found your web site and I am very excited about it!!! I am a volunteer Lieutenant for a small rural department in Washington State. I have been with my department for 10 years now. I am really looking forward to meeting other female firefighters and getting all the good information that your web site has to offer. Thanks for putting this site together and keep up the good work.

Jenny