u/krzysztofgetthewings

I went to school at the smallest and poorest school district in the state I live in. At some point in middle school, I began to struggle academically. High school only got worse. The only "help" you'd get with classes is taking the same class again next year if you failed. No tutoring. No support. Nothing. But this prevented me from taking the classes I actually wanted to take: auto mechanics, and welding. I got to take one semester of auto mechanics. The instructor was nearing retirement and was completely checked out. But because I can't interpret Shakespeare or Dickens, I wasn't allowed to keep taking classes on what I actually wanted to do with my life. So I kinda just gave up. After coming back from winter break of my senior year, I was given a letter. At the end of the semester, I would no longer be a student. Due to poor academic performance and low attendance, I was kicked out of school.

I didn't fail high school... my high school failed me.

I *would have* graduated 20 years ago this week. But instead... I went to work. I worked in restaurants and in retail. It was so hard to see and hear about all of my classmates that DID graduate.

It's been so long, but every year during graduation season it just rips open the old wounds. I got my GED. I have a successful career. I've moved on with my life. But it still hurts.

I've been a county EM for a couple of years. I get a whole bunch of Tier II reports every year, and I don't know what I should be doing with them. I keep them on file, but that's about it.

My state requires that any Tier II report sent to an EM/LEPC also needs to be submitted to the state. It is then logged in an online portal that every EM in the state is given access to for their county. It's also sent to our fire departments.

Most of our Tier II materials are crude oil, fuel storage, and some manufacturers have chemicals that require reporting. Over all, nothing major. I estimate I get about 20 or so Tier II reports every year.

I worked at a manufacturing facility that made metal components used in the oil and gas industry. When the components were hydraulically clamped into place, it was common for it to fail at the weld. So our engineers developed a better approach. Rather than a heat treating process to temper the weld. This was too much time and money for other manufacturers. So what our engineers came up with was a quick and easy process to temper the weld. It wasn't perfect from a metallurgical standpoint, but it was good enough to survive the hydraulic clamping force 100% of the time.

Legally, I cannot divulge what that process is for another 25 years.

Mine was when I turned 13. My sister, who is several years older than me, had a baby on my 13th birthday. The day that I became a teenager was also the day that I became an uncle. But it was also the day that my parents all but forgot about me. There was so much fuss about my sister leading up to the birth of her baby that my birthday was basically forgotten about. No presents. No party. No special dinner. No cake. Just sitting in a hospital waiting room for hours.

It didn't stop there. All holidays for the next year revolved around the baby. It was her first *holiday*. Halloween. Thanksgiving. Christmas. Easter. It was all about the baby. The new grandchild. My 14th birthday. Non existent. The baby's 1st birthday. This trend would continue. Every holiday. Every birthday.

And all these years later, I can specifically point to my 13th birthday as the day my childhood ended.

I recently became an in house EMD instructor for my agency. We are EMD only. I would probably teach 2 to 3 classes per year. I would also be a protocol expert and able to coach our dispatchers to provide better service.

We normally give $0.50/hr raises when a dispatcher completes EMD, same with other certifications including completing our in house training program. But I think that being an EMD instructor is worth more than $0.50/hr in some ways because of everything that goes into being certified (paramedic experience, instructor academy, two team teaches, and a final evaluation by a master instructor) and the responsibility of training all of our new dispatchers in EMD. But I also recognize that it's not something I'll be doing all the time but I still have to maintain my certification.

What does your agency for raises for EMD instructors, or how much of a raise should I ask for?