New KSFFA President
Last month at the annual conference of the Kansas State Firefighters Association a few changes occurred on the executive board. For starters, after more than 32 years of dedicated service to the KSFFA, long time Treasurer Dan Romine retired. While this is a well-deserved retirement, Dan has agreed to stay involved with the association and is now the KSFFA Historian. Steve Hirsch who has held a few different executive board positions, including the last year as President chose to not seek re-election to the President position and was elected as Treasurer. Laramie McPherson who was the NE Trustee, was elected as the 2nd Vice President. Justin Couse was re-elected to the NW Trustee position and TJ Randolph was re-elected to the SW Trustee position.
We would also like to welcome a new face to the executive board, Jimmy Hubbard who works for the Metropolitan Topeka Airport Authority and Shawnee Heights Fire District was elected to the NE Trustee position. Lastly, after serving as the 2nd Vice President since 2005, I was elected as the President of the association.
For those who attended the annual conference this year, thank you. While it was not a record setting attendance, it was certainly nice to see everyone including some new faces attending the conference for the first time, this is certainly a trend we would like to see continue.
For those who attended the conference, the open forum discussion with Dan Romine and Steve Hirsch during the vendor hospitality event was entertaining as well as inspiring. The years of service that Steve and Dan have dedicated to the Kansas Fire Service should be inspirational for new recruits just starting in the fire service all the way to those of us who are closing in on the end of our time in emergency services.
There is no doubt a lot has changed over the years, everything from PPE to tactics to training have all adapted. Adapting to change is hard, as a young, new, eager firefighter I remember the old guys saying that firefighters usually never like the way things are but they also don’t want things to change. After 30 plus years of being involved in this noble service, I would say that the old guys were right. I am now considered one of the “old guys” and have found that this statement rings true today as it did when I was that young, new, eager kid. Each of us likely has a different perspective of what inspired us to get involved in this line of work. Be that as a volunteer firefighter or EMT in your local community or those who have successfully sought full time employment in fire and emergency services, there was something that inspired you to do so. Fire and emergency services is constantly evolving and it is up to us to evolve with it, if we don’t the citizens we serve ultimately suffer. The general public typically relies on us when they have no one else to call, it is up to us each day to respond and provide a level of customer service and professionalism that you would expect if it were you or your family member experiencing the emergency.
There are far too many people for me to thank individually for getting me to where I am in life today, there have been many challenges along the way. But at the end of the day, I feel those challenges have made me a better person, and for that I am truly thankful.
Be safe, be nice and never stop learning.
Shane Pearson,
KSFFA President