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| Members of the Fort Thomas Fire Department at the Grilling for Tim event at Tower Park in July. |
Captain Parker retired with 25 years of service to FTFD, 17
as an officer, while Lieutenant Rath had 22 years, with the last 3 as an
officer. Fire Chief Mark Bailey said the
department has lost: “Two wonderful
gentleman and they’ll be sorely missed. They’re both welcome back at the
station any time.”
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“Most people don’t
realise that we respond to more EMS calls than anything, it’s around 90% EMS to
10% anything else. Jeff was instrumental
in keeping our EMS service on the right path, I can speak highly enough about
Jeff and the job he did.”
Jeff also teaches the next generation of first responders at
the University of Cincinnati on their bachelors in fire protection program and
he’ll continue to teach there, as well as getting involved in training at local
departments, now that he’s retired
As well as his emergency duties, Lieutenant Steve Rath
carried out fire inspections in Fort Thomas and assisted his captain in running
his shift. Lieutenant Rath has also served on the executive board of the
Kentucky Fireman’s Association, currently serving as secretary. Chief Bailey
said having someone with Steve’s background in the station was invaluable:
“A lot of regulations
come from our senators in Frankfort and Steve did a great job of keeping us
apprised. He was instrumental in letting us know what was passed there and what
was happening in other parts of the state.”
Both men spent time in fire stations from an early age, as
both of their fathers were volunteer fire fighters. After serving for so
long together the men are great friends. Captain Parker says of Steve: “He’s a hell of a guy, a hell of a
firefighter and a hell of a medic. He made so many runs and did a lot of good.
Everybody loved working with Steve.”
Having served for so long, the men have seen many changes
over their long careers. Captain Parker says there is so much specialization
now, and so much training involved that makes fighting fires easier, although it also makes it harder for members of the public to volunteer as fire fighters, as
there’s so much time involved.
Although Captain Parker says the Fire Department is a lot
more “organized” now, he does have concerns about staffing levels. “If we have
4 people on shift and two go on a call, there’s only two left in the station
should another call come in.” He believes that this is primarily a funding
issue but is worse since historically there were many volunteer fire fighters
and now it’s so hard for people to spend the time required.
Another unwelcome change has been an increase in the number
of overdoses paramedics must deal with: “In
the 80s and 90s we used Narcan (a drug which can block the effects of opiates
and prevent an overdose) very rarely, now it happens quite often.”
Having gone on thousands of runs, it’s impossible to
overestimate the positive effect that these two men have had on Fort Thomas.
Captain Parker remembers being called to help a man in his fifties. He needed
defibrillated, the medics did CPR, ran IVs and cleared his airways. They
managed to get a pulse and got him to the hospital. When they got to the fire
station for their next shift, the man’s son was waiting with giftsto thank them
personally. “Those are the ones that
stay with you.”
A lot of the things Captain Parker is proud of doing during his
time in FTFD happened behind the scenes, such as applying for a grant that allowed
the department to purchase a new cot with hydraulic lifts. Small things that could possibly go unnoticed but make things better for the guys who come after
him, as well as the citizens of Fort Thomas.
Captain Parker says serving Fort Thomas for so many years
was an honor: “The people who live here
were good to us. They appreciated us. You never want anything bad to happen to
anyone, but I always enjoyed helping people when I could.”
Chief Bailey is grateful to both men: “I thank them both for their service to our citizens and wish them
nothing but the best in their retirement.”
Despite having big shoes to fill, Chief Bailey is confident
that the newly pinned fire fighters and newly promoted officers will be up to
the job of keeping Fort Thomas safe:
“I look forward to
working with the new personnel and newly promoted officers and it’s all
positive things for FTFD in the future.”
Captain Parker agrees:
“The city can count
on these guys. They are great paramedics and great firefighters.”
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