R U OK? Day falls on the 9th of September this year. This year’s message is ‘Are they really OK? Ask them today.’ 

R U OK? is a national suicide prevention initiative that encourages Australians to connect with people in the community, your colleagues, friends, family, and loved ones – encouraging them to generate constructive discussion about issues such as suicide, depression, isolation and mental illness. 

The aim is to encourage people to stay connected and have meaningful conversations that can help others through difficult times in their lives. 

The R U OK? charity has some terrific resources to help equip you for those conversations, and some coaching to help get you ready to have a conversation which could literally change someone’s life. 

Available from www.ruok.org.au resources walk you through four easy steps of; ask; listen; encourage action; and check in. There are webinars and role plays to help you, and a really important section in the ‘How to Ask’ area that can help you get ready. Questions such as if you are ready to ask, are you prepared for where the conversation may go and how best to pick your moment and environment. 

Remember, that all members including your immediate family members have free access to CFA’s wellbeing and welfare services 24 hours day, 7 days a week. You can access these via 1800 959 232 or via www.cfa.vic.gov.au/wellbeing 
 
This year’s R U OK? day is a great reminder of the incredible power each of you have to make a real difference in someone else’s life. You don’t need to make a big song and dance about it, but if you have noticed someone in your life who might be experiencing some personal difficulties or is struggling with life’s current uncertainties (COVID-19 isolation for example) your genuine support and compassion can have a huge influence. Use R U OK? day to remind ourselves not to wait until someone is visibly distressed or in crisis before we act and check-in. 

VACCINES 
We are receiving some enquiries asking whether VFBV is pursuing mandatory vaccination for CFA members. At this stage, while we are not pursuing mandatory vaccination, we are very supportive of encouraging members to be vaccinated as soon as possible. 

Early discussions at Board and State level have indicated it is still too early to consider mandating. The looming fire season remains our focus, with national vaccination targets providing a good baseline and aspirational target for this year. Ensuring all members who want a vaccine have adequate opportunity to receive it remains the best strategy to drive the numbers up. 

VFBV was at the forefront of vaccine advocacy, leading the charge for the inclusion of all emergency management volunteers under priority 1B of the national vaccination roll-out plan. And while we have had access to Priority 1B vaccinations since the 22nd March 2021, not everyone has had the same access and opportunity. Early vaccination hubs were predominately only available in metro areas while vaccine supply has only markedly improved over recent times. 

In essence, CFA is an essential service whose sole role and purpose is to protect lives and property. Therefore, any discussions that start excluding people or creating artificial barriers that have the potential to impact on our essential service delivery to our communities is not something to take lightly. It deserves deep thought and analysis and respect for the complex policy setting that such decisions exist within. 

CFA is also not an island. We work alongside many other partner agencies on the fireground, meaning we must adopt a sector wide approach. 

Philosophically, we also need to consider whether it is the role of organisations, agencies or private enterprise for that matter to be stepping into the health space and introducing what amounts to potentially a significant incursion into the right of people to withhold consent for something affecting their bodies. 

This isn’t an anti-vax position. In fact, for context - I’ve been fully vaccinated for many months now, and by the time you read this the entire VFBV Board is also fully vaccinated. But there is a big difference between encouraging vaccination vs mandating it. 

CFA is the largest emergency service in Victoria. We are a broad and diverse organisation. We have room to always strive to be as inclusive as possible. There may well be a time when mandatory vaccination is well supported, and our public health bodies make the recommendation like what is happening in high-risk sectors such as health. But the place for those decisions is squarely within the institutions of our parliamentary democracy with appropriate checks and balances in place, including judicial review and oversight. 

There may very well be some activities where vaccination is going to be preferred. 

For example, there have already been recent occasions where residents have requested smoke detector installation by fully vaccinated members due to the resident having some underlying health concerns. And where we can - we should respect these requests. 

It is also likely we will see some preferences emerge for vaccinated members for some activities like cross border and other potential higher-risk settings. 

We should also not ignore other tools such as rapid antigen testing, air monitoring, and pre health screening activities that are already in use right now across the world where our northern hemisphere agencies are already well advanced in their summer fire seasons and dealing with much larger outbreaks. 

I acknowledge some of these discussions are already occurring. A fellow volunteer remarked to me recently that they would only be going on a strike team if every single other member on the strike team was fully vaccinated. I’m sure this position is shared by many. 

The question is - what if it was your community on fire or under threat and we couldn’t send enough fire trucks because we were standing around figuring out who should and shouldn’t attend? With recent drops in volunteer numbers, extended fire seasons and increased requests for mutual aid, we need to think very carefully about anything that reduces our response capacity. 

Emergency response activities have not been super spreader activities to date. In fact, in all settings where there are strict COVID safety protocols, proper use and discipline of wearing PPC, physical distancing and proper hygiene controls – these have all proven very effective. Our brothers and sisters in Victoria Police and Ambulance Victoria are dealing with thousands more occasions where they are interacting with potential cases every day. I say this not to understate the risks, but rather put them into perspective. As far as fire brigade activities are concerned, you’re more likely to be involved in a road accident on your way to the call than catching COVID-19. Our policy response needs to be proportionate to the risk. 

I guess what I am trying to say is there are already enough things that try to pit us against each other without having to add to the list. It is a very 2020 type notion that these days people are either only ‘for’ or ‘against’ things. Public discourse and debate seem to be led by what can fit on a meme or in a 140 character insult, with victory deemed to the ‘loudest’. 

Let’s respect the inherent complexity of the issue and commit to some genuine and robust discussion and dialog to help inform our views. Please use your brigades and District Councils to start the discussions so we can understand the pros and cons. 

I would urge people not to try and hastily reach consensus or positions, but rather encourage participatory discussions where we can learn from one another. Conversations that promote divergent thoughts and thinking, allowing alternate views to be respectfully considered, and genuine informed discussion that respects and acknowledges the broad diversity of thought amongst the membership. 

Having said all that I would ask that all members please seriously consider being vaccinated. If you are unsure or have concerns or family histories that make vaccination high-risk, they are all legitimate concerns. Informed consent is just that. Informed. 

And with the greatest of respect - social media or the internet is not always the best source of reliable and factual advice, so if you are hesitating - please discuss your individual circumstance with your doctor. And for those waiting for something better - the best vaccine is likely the one you have access to today. 

To those who are vaccinated, please be kind and respectful to those who may not be. Vaccination is a very personal decision. You won’t change minds by simply insulting people or driving them away. 

The strength of VFBV is the willingness of members and delegates to challenge, be inclusive, inspire, and pioneer new ways of doing things - all the while maintaining our compassion and empathy. 

This month I have chosen two quotes fitting of this month’s discussion. The first from Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the second by Eleanor Roosevelt. 

FDR is the only US President to have served more than two terms, having been elected four times and serving as President between 1933 and 1945, encompassing the Great Depression and World War II. 

Eleanor served as First Lady to FDR, but earned the tribute ‘First Lady of the World’ by President Truman in recognition of her work as a diplomat to the United Nations and her human rights achievements.

“Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” Franklin D. Roosevelt 

“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.” Eleanor Roosevelt