UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 32, Page 9
May 21, 1992
Taking the heat; Fire fighting volunteers put their lives on the line

     Volunteers can find themselves in challenging situations where
rational, responsible decisions must be made quickly and gracefully.
     Firefighters-answering alarms on crises from substance poisoning
to car accidents-are volunteers set apart from the rest. They put
their lives on the line to help, save and protect families, homes and
communities.
     "It's a tremendous commitment being a volunteer," said Vic Costa,
manager of minor construction at the University.
     Costa balances his full-time job on campus with his elected
position as chief of the Singerly Fire Company in Elkton, where he has
been a volunteer for 19 years.
     Costa also conducts training classes part-time at the Maryland
Fire and Rescue Institute in College Park, and he finds time to coach
his daughter's softball team.
     Costa began volunteering while in high school and stayed active
throughout college. "It progressively became a bigger part of my
life," he said. "It's almost like an addiction-you need to be there."
     Hundreds of hours of training go into being a volunteer fireman,
but you learn the most on calls, Costa said. Training physically
prepares a beginning volunteer, he explained, but emergency calls test
another side of volunteers as well.
     After an emotional or stressful call, firefighters are encouraged
to talk about their experiences and feelings. Costa said fire
companies lose many volunteers who suffer from critical stress, a
disorder involving flashbacks, insomnia, lack of appetite and refusal
to discuss a difficult incident.
     "Some people think you're supposed to have a macho attitude.
You're supposed to be able to handle it," he said. "Firefighters are
human."
     Mike Ripple, a junior consumer economics major, stressed the
importance of concentrating on the job. Volunteers who put their lives
on the line together develop a brotherhood, he said.
     "I never want to see someone hurt," said Ripple, who has
volunteered for five years at Aetna Hook and Ladder Fire Company in
Newark.
     From delivering babies to rescuing victims of car accidents and
shootings, volunteers "see everything," he said.
     The uncertainty of the 17,000 calls yearly attracts Ripple to
firefighting. "You never know what you're going to get into. It's
different every time."
     To relax after a stressful call, Ripple said volunteers play pool
or basketball, watch television and talk.
     The best reward of volunteering is the feeling of saving people
in trouble, Ripple said. "I love seeing the expression on people's
faces when we help them."
     Interacting with people from the town has also been valuable for
Lynn Formigli, a graduate student working toward a doctorate in
biology. "(Firefighters) get exposure to the public you don't get as a
student," she said.
     Formigli first volunteered to ride the Aetna ambulance four years
ago as an undergraduate at the University. After a year, she trained
to be a firefighter and tillerman, who is responsible for steering the
back of the ladder truck.
     Firefighting is "really rewarding," she said, and serves as a
break from studying and researching. At the station, it is never dull
or routine, she said.
     However, firefighting can be physically demanding, Formigli
explained, because each volunteer wears up to 50 pounds of equipment
and must carry a flashlight, ax and a forcible entry tool when
fighting a fire.
     Formigli, the first female tillerman at Aetna, said the male
volunteers call her "tillerperson." Volunteers are judged on how they
act on duty, not on their sex, she explained. "Once you prove yourself
as a firefighter, you are accepted."
     Sara Romans, a junior criminal justice major, also stressed the
importance of dedication in determining a good firefighter. "'Service
to others' is our motto," she said.
     Romans, who began last spring at Aetna to help on ambulance
calls, is now a probationary firefighter in the midst of her training.
     Romans enjoys volunteering for the excitement and mystery that
every alarm entails. "It gets the heart and adrenaline going," she
said. Each call also offers opportunities to learn techniques from
experienced officers and paramedics.
     She integrates volunteering with her computer skills by upgrading
local area maps for the station. She also enjoys socializing at the
station, where she met her fiancee.
     Volunteer firefighters-working together in dangerous situations
to serve the community-are trained to rescue and help others in need.
     Through their physical and emotional experiences, they discover
their strengths and overcome their weaknesses, as they witness day to
day situations of life and death.
     -Karyn McCormack