The HORRORS of Being a Firefighter | The Ether Podcast

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ย. 2024
  • Welcome to The Ether Podcast by myself Ant Middleton! I'm giving my platform to the people for the people. In this episode Ant speaks to Syd who recently retired after more than 25 years as a Firefighter, finishing at the rank of Station Manager. Prior to becoming a Firefighter Syd also served 9 years in the Royal Engineers.
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ความคิดเห็น • 58

  • @lucasallison9057
    @lucasallison9057 ปีที่แล้ว +60

    Now let’s back these guys in the job more than ever and give them a fair living wage !

  • @JohnAdams-vb9yv
    @JohnAdams-vb9yv 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Great Interview Ant , (also enjoyed your tour few years back in Chesterfield) This guy mirrors my own life , I joined the Army at 16 , JLR RAC at Bovington , I served just over 9 years as a Tankie , left then joined the Fire Service did 26 years ,with help from my Army pension , managed to retire early and enjoying life, it’s great to see your guests are from all walks of life.
    The experiences he speaks about are all to familiar ,
    There is no respect or discipline know ,I’ve had bricks thrown at us , truck shot at with paint ball guns, hoses stabbed ,stealing equipment of the trucks. I am a grandad know and it bothers me to see what’s going on in our Country , (For our kids )Our Armed Forces especially .
    Rant over , keep up the good work mate.

  • @davemc3231
    @davemc3231 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    Been “bricked” personally 3 times (leg, collar bone and head) never mind my own truck. “AFA” turned into persons reported multiple times…thank you Ant for giving us a bit of a shout out! We don’t deserve the heroics of nurses and doctors but we try our best when the call comes in

  • @drhames3476
    @drhames3476 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    I really like Ant, I've read all his books but I hope these are just teething problems but often he interrupted before the firefighter had chance to say what he was going to say. I think personally a podcast is an art that needs to flow and if it's disrupted regularly it doesn't work. Having said that I'm really happy he's doing this with these guests that's right up my street. All the best with it Ant!

  • @chadnading7304
    @chadnading7304 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I started in May of 98 in the states and retired a captain I'm December 2023. I enjoyed your remembering of your time, you did our career good brother. Enjoy retirement. We earned it.

  • @pauldevlin6382
    @pauldevlin6382 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    We had an AFA the other day which turned into a rescue so every now and again they catch you out!!

  • @J.L.K
    @J.L.K ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Loved this, my dad was a fireman who retired a few years ago. He has never spoke to me about the horrors he saw, only the great laughs he has on shift in the earlier years, as alluded to in this interview. Really interesting to listen to.

  • @Vanalleswa
    @Vanalleswa ปีที่แล้ว +11

    what a legend! i have so much respect for these people! I wish him the best for the future!

  • @allanwighton6236
    @allanwighton6236 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Another great and insightful podcast! They hit home well too. Top stuff to Ant, guests and the team. Making the people proud. I look forward to the next one.👍

  • @alanveck5756
    @alanveck5756 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Thankyou Ant for giving these heroes a voice. Wishing you every success mate 👍👍👍

  • @MTW80
    @MTW80 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Massive respect to both. Love the channel.

  • @jamiegraham382
    @jamiegraham382 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    New to the podcast, but love how Ant is connecting with every day professionals. Great insight into some of the careers.

  • @seedhillbruisermusic7939
    @seedhillbruisermusic7939 ปีที่แล้ว +28

    never understood why fuckers attack emergency workers like ambulance staff or firefighters. I can understand to a certain extent why folks might attack the police, but firefighters and paramedics? There should be serious consequences for people found guilty of doing that. I'm talking serious time in prison. It's disgraceful. They're putting their lives on the line to help people, if you attack them you should go to prison for several years.

    • @BrentMcDonald-t5t
      @BrentMcDonald-t5t 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      It’s usually drug,addicts, or non white ungreatful immigrants that attack ems workers

    • @desertdinghy9833
      @desertdinghy9833 10 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Yup. I was a full-time ambulance EMT and, later, a volunteer firefighter. I've been attacked numerous times in my career. Mostly by psychiatric cases, drunks, druggies, jerks and strangely, by beat up wives who after being placed on our gurney, heard the cops arresting the wife beater and tried to attack the cops screaming to her "man", "I LOVE YOU BABY!" In that case, you get scratched, slapped and bit
      Not one single time was an attacker arrested by the cops on scene. We hauled ass to get to a cop injured or in a traffic accident. You'd think they would have reciprocated. No one cares. You do your job, get kicked around some and go home thankful you survived another shift.

  • @jaygrist165
    @jaygrist165 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Hi Ant, Syd, thankyou for sharing this episode, very eye opening, fair play to you both, its good to see the whole picture from the horses mouth, also i totally agree with putting good energy into rebuilding community, 1 love, massive respect to you both, take it easy, keep smiling and thanks again, Jx

  • @JoJo_GSD
    @JoJo_GSD ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Absolutely fantastic 💯🙌👊

  • @LeDiamondDog
    @LeDiamondDog ปีที่แล้ว +4

    RESPECT to the British Firefighters from France 👨🏽‍🚒👏👏👏🙏🙏

  • @RichardJonesMagic
    @RichardJonesMagic ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Epic!!! I've only just found out you have a podcast. Big fan of all your work over the years. Looking forward to listening to these podcasts in the car this week.
    If you would ever consider having another local chelmsford man on to talk about the psychology of Magic & the challenges of transitioning from Army into the TV world I'd be over the moon to share my successes and failures with you 🙂

  • @ElstheElder
    @ElstheElder ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you for bringing a spotlight on to our unsung every day heroes xx

  • @rub1tan679
    @rub1tan679 3 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Great interview.. enjoy a well deserved retirement ❗️❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Standards were dropped to let Female Firefighters into the Job … ( started in the mid 80’s )equipment was dropped / taken away certain rescue techniques completely lost ..this is fact . Obviously some Female Firefighters are excellent And in some cases better / and more professional than their male counterparts. The absolute Dross that is joining now (Not all) .. Male and Female is embarrassing ( Because of the drop in standards to meet diversity targets ) 🙈 The good recruits at training ( Male and Female) are demoralised seeing the absolute dross passing out with them … THIS IS FACT🤷🏼‍♂️…WE now have Experienced professional Female Recruit Trainers questioning 🤨 the drop in standards .. they are basically told if you want to stay in training go with the flow and to not rock the boat … The below standard Fire Fighter rocks up at STN and is now expected to crack on .. the frustration of having a physically weak.. no common sense Recruit come onto your watch was rare now it’s a regular occurrence… Sadly through no fault of their own They sometimes end up with Mental health problems/ or claim they are being bullied or harassed or resign generally after having a claim against their brigade dragging their STN Into the Mire of investigation and disciplinary action

  • @adamjones1914
    @adamjones1914 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    A good selection of life s heros respect to you all 😉😉😉😉😉

  • @noworriesnoproblems6382
    @noworriesnoproblems6382 ปีที่แล้ว

    Just got ants new book on audible. Bit gutted you didn't go with the full cast again like in the first one. That was amazing

  • @DAN-z3u
    @DAN-z3u ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I’m really enjoying your podcast keep it up.
    However there has been a mix up on the Spotify platform it’s a reupload from the previous podcast.

    • @TimMarshall44
      @TimMarshall44 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Same with iTunes. also agree. the podcast is bloody brilliant!

    • @sydbarrett3287
      @sydbarrett3287 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I’ve let Ant’s team know and they are sorting it.

    • @AntMiddleton
      @AntMiddleton  ปีที่แล้ว +3

      The team looked into this, all should be sorted!
      thank you for the heads up.
      hope you enjoy the episode 👍🏻

  • @matthewtemprell5422
    @matthewtemprell5422 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    My dad has experienced the target of abuse as a firefighter. Called to a gypsy camp where a van was alight, some people on the site wouldn't allow them to put it out and shouted and threw stuff at them so they refused to tackle the fire till police presence where on site.

    • @danielrandall260
      @danielrandall260 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Something similar happened to a friend of mine on a site in my area had to get police with shields to stop projectiles

    • @sydbarrett3287
      @sydbarrett3287 ปีที่แล้ว

      I’ve been to a lot of those in Essex and again we had to wait for a police escort before entering 🤷

    • @brambleheart
      @brambleheart ปีที่แล้ว

      @@sydbarrett3287 it’s sad that those people are preventing you to do your job safely and saving lives quicker

  • @mrnugget7530
    @mrnugget7530 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

    what a fantastic chap!

  • @DeputatKaktus
    @DeputatKaktus 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    I just have two remarks here.
    First: I know it is your show and all the rest of it. I get it. All good. But at several points I felt like shouting „For god’s sake, let your guest finish a sentence and stop talking over him with your own anecdotes/views“.
    Second: people should really loosen up about women in the service and move forward. I would trust any of the gals in our station with my life. They are tough as nails and I know that any of them will work as hard as the next guy when the brown smelly stuff hits the spinny thing. They get no „girl bonus“, they ask for none, and they hold their own receiving (and dishing out) the same friendly and loving abuse as the rest of the lads.

    • @rachels9377
      @rachels9377 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      As a female firefighter this comment is everything! Can squat the lads but still get stick at incidents 🙄

    • @JohnAdams-vb9yv
      @JohnAdams-vb9yv 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Glad you’ve had all good experiences with the ladies , but unfortunately there were a couple I worked with that wanted everything changing for them , and on jobs they would stand back , let others do the graft until an officer came on the job , but other’s have just got on with the job not wanting anything different , being part of the crews and excelling.

  • @politicallyincorrect7236
    @politicallyincorrect7236 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Who tf cares how many women are in the fire service and forces, I’m sick of hearing about it if you can do the job you can do the job regardless of gender.

    • @Andy-ss8yg
      @Andy-ss8yg ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Sounds like he is

    • @rub1tan679
      @rub1tan679 3 วันที่ผ่านมา

      @@politicallyincorrect7236 👋👋👋Well said let’s bring the standard’s back up forget about diversity targets.. and all start on a level playing field and not cut corners … Male and females reaching the same raised professional standard

  • @marieforrest8023
    @marieforrest8023 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Really disappointed in this interview. I’ve been in the navy for 5 years and fire service for 17 years. I’ve have to prove myself at every opportunity. I passed all the tests fairly. I really didn’t like the chat on females in the job. We work as a team which requires all types of strengths.

    • @mrbeeoutdoors3213
      @mrbeeoutdoors3213 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I'll firstly admit, I've not watched this yet, so I may yet agree... but if I assume correctly, I'd guess there is a topic about females within the service...
      I mean no disrespect, but if female firefighters don't have to lift as much etc, can you give me an example of what a female brings that a male does not?
      Of course on an individual basis, a female may be stronger than her male counterpart, but according to the tests, it's suggested otherwise... so can you provide an example?
      From someone who genuinely is totally impressed by the work firefighters do and would be thankful for whatever gender pulls me or my family out of a burning building.

    • @marieforrest8023
      @marieforrest8023 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Hi, females do the same tests as the males. They lift the same. Everything is equal in the fire service. I just didn’t like his outdated views. They didn’t need to go there. It was a good interview up until that point.

    • @mrbeeoutdoors3213
      @mrbeeoutdoors3213 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@marieforrest8023 smashing! Thank you for correcting me! Admittedly, still haven't watched the clip yet haha.
      Stay safe :)

    • @sydbarrett3287
      @sydbarrett3287 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@marieforrest8023 whose views? Ants or mine?

    • @marieforrest8023
      @marieforrest8023 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Sir, I feel Ant was very clever and got you to agree with his views. Things have changed but standards have not dropped, in fact we do way more in our role than ever before! I don’t want to get into a debate, I just wanted to have my opinion. I was so disappointed as I have up until now been a big follower of Ant with his books and even went to his show. I wish you all the best for your retirement. Take care. Marie.

  • @Asc11903
    @Asc11903 ปีที่แล้ว

    Smart podcast emergency services and service related good nice yh understandable