15: Joe Decisco

Firefighter

Firefighters risk heat exhaustion, smoke inhalation, and serious injury on the job. Those stressors plus the stress of not knowing if they are entering into a situation where covid is active make fire fighting during the pandemic especially stressful. Joe DeCisco, a firefighter who has given 39 years of service, describes his work as a firefighter/EMT during covid.

Workdays consist of 10 hour days and 14 hour night shifts. 

Workers continued working through the shutdown, responding to any threat or emergency in the city area. “Every time we walked into a house, we became much more aware of how devastating this illness is,” said Joe. 

He says he noticed that his fire department team was even more caring and supportive with one another than usual. Sadly, he lost one coworker to covid. Even with PPE, there is much fear and anxiety in dealing with the public. He describes covid as the sword of Damocles hanging over us. 

His hope for the future is that we can return to normal and continue to care for one another. He looks forward to retirement and wishes his fellow firefighter/EMT the very best.