There’s always money to make the rich richer. But somehow taxpayer money “runs out” when it’s time to feed kids, fund care, or heal the sick.
That’s not a budget crisis—it’s a values crisis.
I was fortunate to work with Michele at several ranks in our careers.
She is an exceptional firefighter and now Deputy Chief.
Promoted from Battalion 46 too.
One of the best battalions’s on the job- of course, that’s also where I worked :)
Congratulations!!
The #FDNY way!!
On Friday, Battalion Chief Michele Fitzsimmons, 24-year veteran of the FDNY, will be promoted to Deputy Chief. She will be the first ever female Deputy Chief and highest-ranking female in Fire Operations upon her promotion.
“I've been fortunate to work in a lot of great places. I've been supported by the Department. I've been supported by my friends in the Department, people who I've studied with. That’s made a really big difference in my career, and it's an exciting moment for me, because I feel like it's an opportunity for young girls to see what's possible. That's kind of the biggest thing for me when it comes down to it. I really love my job as a Battalion Chief, but I feel like it's an important thing to happen in the Department for a woman to be in the rank of Deputy Chief,” said Chief Fitzsimmons. “I think the number of women on the job is just going to continue to grow. It's the ability of people to see women on the rigs and doing the job in their community that makes it seem obtainable. When you hit that tipping point of, hey, you know, there's women on a lot of rigs out there. I think it's that tipping point that we haven't reached yet, but at some point, hopefully we will.”
Chief Fitzsimmons comes from a family of firefighters. Her great-grandfather, Charles Roth, joined the FDNY in 1909 and retired in 1958. Her grandfather, Michael P. Fitzsimmons, joined the FDNY in 1932 and retired as a Battalion Chief in 1968. Her sister, Maura, followed in her footstep and joined the Department in 2006. Chief Fitzsimmons began her career with the FDNY in May 2001. Six probies from her class were killed on 9/11.
“I really feel very fortunate and felt it was important to study, because I was given an opportunity they never had. It's in honor of their sacrifice to be able to really push to do the best I can in the Department.”
At her promotion, she’ll be thinking of them.
“I'll be thinking about the six guys from my class who didn’t get to have the full career that I did, and the sacrifice that they made. I’ll be thinking about my family. One of my nieces sent me this project, homework that she had from when she was a kid that she found the other day. And it was about ‘who is your hero?’ And it said, ‘My hero is my Aunt Michele. She's a firefighter,’” said Chief Fitzsimmons.
Fitzsimmons is one of 70 members of Fire Operations will be promoted at a ceremony at Queens College on Friday. Watch the ceremony live at 10:00 AM at https://t.co/v8xzFnEOXs.
On Friday, Battalion Chief Michele Fitzsimmons, 24-year veteran of the FDNY, will be promoted to Deputy Chief. She will be the first ever female Deputy Chief and highest-ranking female in Fire Operations upon her promotion.
“I've been fortunate to work in a lot of great places. I've been supported by the Department. I've been supported by my friends in the Department, people who I've studied with. That’s made a really big difference in my career, and it's an exciting moment for me, because I feel like it's an opportunity for young girls to see what's possible. That's kind of the biggest thing for me when it comes down to it. I really love my job as a Battalion Chief, but I feel like it's an important thing to happen in the Department for a woman to be in the rank of Deputy Chief,” said Chief Fitzsimmons. “I think the number of women on the job is just going to continue to grow. It's the ability of people to see women on the rigs and doing the job in their community that makes it seem obtainable. When you hit that tipping point of, hey, you know, there's women on a lot of rigs out there. I think it's that tipping point that we haven't reached yet, but at some point, hopefully we will.”
Chief Fitzsimmons comes from a family of firefighters. Her great-grandfather, Charles Roth, joined the FDNY in 1909 and retired in 1958. Her grandfather, Michael P. Fitzsimmons, joined the FDNY in 1932 and retired as a Battalion Chief in 1968. Her sister, Maura, followed in her footstep and joined the Department in 2006. Chief Fitzsimmons began her career with the FDNY in May 2001. Six probies from her class were killed on 9/11.
“I really feel very fortunate and felt it was important to study, because I was given an opportunity they never had. It's in honor of their sacrifice to be able to really push to do the best I can in the Department.”
At her promotion, she’ll be thinking of them.
“I'll be thinking about the six guys from my class who didn’t get to have the full career that I did, and the sacrifice that they made. I’ll be thinking about my family. One of my nieces sent me this project, homework that she had from when she was a kid that she found the other day. And it was about ‘who is your hero?’ And it said, ‘My hero is my Aunt Michele. She's a firefighter,’” said Chief Fitzsimmons.
Fitzsimmons is one of 70 members of Fire Operations will be promoted at a ceremony at Queens College on Friday. Watch the ceremony live at 10:00 AM at https://t.co/v8xzFnEOXs.
On Saturday, the FDNY responded to a fast moving fire on Graham Avenue. Our members worked aggressively to prevent further spread. I am grateful there were only minor injuries, and thank our partners in the Red Cross and other city agencies for their assistance with displaced residents.
Here’s a message that was sent to me by a paramedic who saved a patient’s life half way across the world from me.
When people ask “why teach on social media?”
This is why.
Q: Why are waits at emergency rooms so long?
A: Because the rest of the healthcare system is failing.
The patient did everything right, but the healthcare system did them so so so wrong.
🧵…
They call their PCP, but can’t get an appointment. So they turn to the ER.
They call their specialist, but the call line (automated, no human to respond) says go to the ER.
They try to pick up their new medicine, but it’s 3x their monthly rent $ and they already work 3 minimum wage jobs…so they turn to the ER to get a dose of medicine.
They try to get their imaging done, but can’t get the prior auth approved. So they come to the ER to get it.
Their employer won’t let them take a sick day without a work note (and the ER is the only thing open they can get into TODAY).
They need to see their doctor in the clinic, but can’t afford to take time off work to go, much less arrange childcare, and the ER is the only thing open when all those conditions sync up.
They lost their job and now have no insurance and can’t see their doctors anyways. So they come to the ER.
The list goes on and on and on…
Healthcare reform is not about healthcare — it’s about economics, corporate greed, lobby dollars, transportation, housing, politics/policy, culture, and more…
A hypotensive trauma patient arrives in your ED without access, do you...
(a) Go straight to IO
(b) Attempt IV
(c) Fumble around with a central line because you think you are faster than what you actually are
A prospective study of 581 patients with 1410 attempts in @JTraumAcuteSurg found that IO was far superior in first-attempt access over IV and CVC (93% vs 67% vs 59%).
https://t.co/ggMF8eQCzM
#emergency #emergencymedicine #icu #criticalcare #trauma #injury #foamed #foamcc #data #science #research #armyemdoc #medtwitter
Sending out Thoughts & prayers to the families & members of Newark Fire Dept, after the LODD’s of FF Wayne Brooks & FF Augusto Acabou, while trying to extinguish blaze on a cargo ship in the Port of Newark. Heaven gained to heroes: Rest in Peace Brothers.
“No one should walk into a hospital more worried about their bill than the diagnosis” said @MannyPastreich, President of SEIU 32BJ. #HACPA#AffordableHospitalsNow https://t.co/o0aJCvzD3V
Seeing these 10 survivors and their families, who were all given a second chance at life, makes me incredibly proud of all of you and this Department - #FDNY Chief of Department John Hodgens, at yesterday’s 27th Annual Second Chance Ceremony.
'An attack on one of us, is an attack on all of us.'
Nicole Marino who mowed down an off-duty FDNY EMS EMT with a car, causing the EMT's leg to be amputated will return to court again on May 19th, 2023.
“Yadira Arroyo was an extraordinary EMT who cared for her patients deeply – just as she was doing when she was brutally killed six years ago. We are grateful her killer will never be on the streets again, with no eligibility for parole,” said @FDNYFC