Seniors Get Nude To Protect Local Volunteers

Did you see that?  That’s what I’m talking about.

Recently I took a bit of flack here for a suggestion I made. A New Jersey volunteer squad was having their funding cut by the governor and there was a lot of online press with the squad members explaining how devastating this would be to the community and how essential their service was to the sick and injured.

I made two observations:

1.) If you are certain that your service is essential, the best was to make your point is to call the governors bluff. Start shutting the doors on certain days. … Stop providing the service.

2.) If the community feels your service is essential they will rally around you. No need to shout your own praises, they wil do it for you.

I took some e-mail heat from New Jersey volunteers explaining that the public can’t be trusted to understand what’s truly good for them. The idea of not responding to an emergency was reportedly reprehensible and the fear that the community wouldn’t understand what they had lost until it was to late was evident.

I disagreed. I still disagree. And to further stand by my claim, I give you The Pinnup Boys of Atlantic Shores.

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New Jersey EMTs Rally to Protect Training Funds

New Jersey Governor John Corzine has a job to do. He’s required to make some tough decisions to balance his state budget. Many feel like this is good fiscal policy especially in tough times like these. But he made the decision to direct 4 million in cuts at the training fund for the 60 some-odd volunteer EMT squads in the Jersey area.

You see, when you get a ticket in New Jersey, you pay an extra 50 cents to the training fund for the volunteers. The governor saw these funds as surplus and decided to nab them to boost his budget. Now the volunteers are up in arms. Last Wednesday they held a big rally to draw attention to the plight of the fund.

The volunteers say the fund is essential. They claim that without such vital funding, lives will be put at risk. I see their point. I was a volunteer for many years and the chief benefit for my time and energy was free training. There is an expectation on volunteer squads that, while the work force remains unpaid, there is still a give and take. Training and experience are huge to many volunteers.

I’d like to suggest a powerful strategy that might cause the governor to reconsider.

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