Aurora Professional Firefighters Local 4956

08/17/2026

Brothers and Sisters,

Today marks the end of an era. The last shift of Aurora Fire Department.

Since 2013, Local 4956 has represented the dedicated Firefighters, Paramedics, and EMTs of Hamilton County Ambulance and then Aurora Fire Department. Local 4956 stood for fair wages, benefits, and safety of the brothers and sisters who placed their lives on the line every day to serve Hamilton County.

To the Founding Members- a sincere thank you for standing up for yourselves and the future of the department.

To the past Union Leaders & Membership- thank you for continuing to stand up and make progress towards this becoming a career department.

To the current Union Leaders- thank you for standing beside me this past year while I worked hundreds of hours to continue the mission.

To the IAFF, the NPFFA, and the other Local Presidents & Stewards- thank you for taking a new leader under your wing, supporting me in the background, and helping me find my strength. I always said “I’m just a girl.” The response I got was “You’re not ‘just a girl’ you’re a Union President.” A huge Union force in the USA, standing next to a tiny Local in small town Nebraska. I cannot thank you all enough.

Thank you Giltner, Phillips, Marquette, Hampton, Hordville, and Aurora Volunteer Fire Departments for your teamwork and support. Thank you to our Law Enforcement partners- Hamilton County Sheriff, Aurora Police Department and Nebraska State Patrol for helping keep us safe on scenes. Thank you dispatch, for being the calm voice in the dark.

Most importantly, to the community members and patients- you are the reason we all walked through those doors every third day, leaving our families at home for 24 hours. Simply so we could be there to serve you in a time of need.

Aurora Fire Department was a second home to all of us. We are family. We always will be.

Local 4956 will be inactive status as of August 18, 2026. Local 4956 will always be Aurora Professional Firefighters Association. Any remaining donation money will be donated equally to Hamilton County Volunteer Fire Departments.

Stay safe today Hamilton County. C-Shift has got you.

In Solidarity,

Amelia Guenther, NRP, EMS-I
Aurora Professional Firefighters Association Local 4956 President

08/04/2026

We have received & noticed several people questioning who of the current staff will be staying through the transition to EMS Unlimited. For the sake of privacy, we won’t go into too much detail- however- 4 of us will not be transitioning to EMS Unlimited due to being offered opportunities for career advancement elsewhere. That leaves 5 current providers continuing with EMS Unlimited. There will be new faces in the ambulance, however there are 2 familiar faces returning to Aurora for EMS Unlimited.

06/23/2026

06/21/2026

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads that sacrifice 1/3 of their lives to serve their communities. We appreciate you!

A special thank you to the Dads on shift today. C-Shift has got you today!

06/13/2026

Fire departments are struggling to recruit volunteer firefighters. Here's what you need to know about the nationwide shortage https://www.investigatetv.com/2026/06/11/volunteer-firefighter-shortage-threatens-communities-nationwide/

06/10/2026

One of the hardest things a first responder can go through is not a bad call.

It is loving the job…

and being broken by the environment around it.

It is knowing you were built to serve.

Built to help.

Built to show up when people are hurting.

And still reaching a point where the calls are not what push you out…

the culture is.

The gossip.

The favoritism.

The disrespect.

The burnout.

The leadership that doesn’t lead.

The coworkers who make the shift heavier instead of lighter.

The feeling of walking into a place you once loved and realizing it no longer feels safe, healthy, or worth what it is costing you.

That kind of heartbreak is hard to explain.

Because people on the outside think you just left a job.

But first responders know better.

Sometimes you did not just leave a job.

You left a dream.

A purpose.

A version of yourself you were proud of.

And the worst part is, some of the best people in this field do not leave because they stopped caring.

They leave because they cared so deeply that staying in a toxic environment started destroying them.

So if you ever had to walk away from a place you were passionate about because the environment became too heavy, too unhealthy, or too draining, you are not weak.

You are not a quitter.

You are not the problem for refusing to let a broken culture break you too.

Sometimes leaving is not giving up.

Sometimes leaving is survival.

And sometimes protecting your peace is the bravest call you ever make.

~ Medic Humor

06/10/2026

Tonight the Aurora City Council voted unanimously to negotiate a contract with EMS Unlimited. This was after several weeks of citizens and first responders pointing out key reasons why the EMS should remain managed by the City.

This has significant potential to be detrimental to the citizens of Aurora and Hamilton County, not to mention an immediate concern for the livelihood of the employees and their families.

Eleven heroes lost their jobs tonight. Local 4956 will continue to stand by the employees in the coming days while we prioritize stability for our families.

Thank you.

06/09/2026

The last agenda item tonight is regarding EMS. The City Council meeting has been moved to the Bremer Center. We will live stream that portion of the council meeting on this page. Stay tuned!

06/03/2026

A message from the dedicated first responders of the Nebraska Professional Fire Fighters Association:

At the scariest time in your life – when you are worried about your safety, your health, your ability to live – when the paramedics arrive, would you rather be a patient or a customer?

Privatization of government services is done for one reason only: cost savings. There are some areas of government where privatization can help make certain tasks typically held by the public sector more efficient, more streamlined, and thus, ultimately, less expensive.

Emergency Medical Services in the public sector are driven by one reason only: life safety. Yes, paramedics operate within protocols defined by their scope of practice, but these protocols and standards are written based on what is most successful and will save lives based on empirical research and evidence.

There is a reason why privatization of 911 services is not the standard across the country. If it were anything other than cost-savings, every single city, county, and municipal service across the nation would utilize this model, rather than hovering around 30%. Why don’t most cities do it? First, privatized EMS workers eventually reach the point where they are paid lower wages, affecting turnover and experience levels. Second, the decision is difficult to reverse once made, as start-up costs become a political liability that many decision-makers try to avoid. Ultimately, the safety of the public is held hostage by a model that is profit-driven. The patients become customers, and profit becomes the priority.

Obviously, no company is willing to look at what a human life is worth (at least publicly), nor would it be ethical to do so. However, in a for-profit EMS model, every decision ultimately impacts this ethical consideration:

• Staffing is profit-driven, meaning the fewest people possible are staffed in an attempt to increase profitability.

• Wages are profit-driven, meaning the lowest wages possible are paid to increase profitability. This results in lack of the typical competition that governs wages, leaving only the newest EMS workers taking these jobs simply to gain experience before moving on.

• Protocols are profit-driven, meaning the threshold for when to administer potentially life-saving drugs is driven not by the clinical necessity determined by an experienced paramedic, but by strict protocols designed to provide guardrails for less-experienced personnel.

Like many for-profit businesses, the opportunity to enter a new market is taken into consideration when bidding. Higher wages and more personnel may be promised initially to ensure shorter response times. These promises soon become stagnant, however, as profit remains the primary motive and everything else is viewed as an expense.

So, knowing that a decision made today can impact the community for decades, and imagining a day when your life may require intervention from a paramedic, ask yourself: do you want your responding paramedic to be viewed as a resource or an expense? Do you want your 911 call to take secondary priority to a private transport that can be billed at a higher rate? Do you want the response time of the paramedics who come to your aid to be a mere line item impacting a private company’s profitability?

Ultimately, with your life on the line, do you want to be a patient or a customer?