Am I addicted to the rush.......?

[SWLAFireDawg]

This was a poorly worded opening statement.......so I reworded it below.

[dday05]

I find myself "wanting" the pager to go off......doesn't matter if it is a medical call, vehicle accident, or fire. I want to feel the adrenaline rush.....

Does it ever go away? Or does it always remain a sort of "high", just like deer hunting?

Anyone else feel this way all the time?

You need to calm down,before you possibly hurt some one. And watch saying stuff like in your first sentence.Stuff like that can come back and haunt you. Take care and good luck in your fd.

[SWLAFireDawg]

Please don't take it wrong, I do not mean to imply that I act recklessly or impulsively. Just that it feels really good to help people in need, and it does create an endorphine/adrenaline rush.

[2andfrom]

Its called "time in"

Once you get over the first 250/300 calls(and if you are at a busy station-it won't take long) you will hate the bloody bells going down-not because you hate the job, its just that you are responding to some poor buggers tragedy.

[SWLAFireDawg]

I see what you mean. And it did read in a very ugly way I guess. I don't want someone to get hurt, or suffer a tragedy. Perhaps it was poorly worded as an opening statement.

Perhaps this would have been better:

I am enjoying the feeling of "goodness" I get when I respond to a call.....be it medical, accident, or fire. While I do not enjoy other people's misfortune, it does my spirit good to know that I can help those in need. I also enjoy the adenaline rise I get when anticipating what lies ahead after the pager goes off.

I hope the good feeling never goes away.........

[2andfrom]

It won't

I hope the good feeling never goes away.........[/QUOTE]

That is why after being out of the job for more time that I was in(20 yrs career/paycheck bandit) I still snoop around Fire Service forums--it is called being proud of your small contribution.

[fireman4949]

If you truly love this job, you never get enough!

I work at a busy house...Many days running 20, or more calls.
After 16 years of doing this, I still get a rush every time the tones drop!

If I ever get to the point that I dread going on another call, I'll know it's time to hang up the helmet.




Kevin

P.S. I can see this thread going the way of the "Do you want fires" one that was beat to death a while back.

[ElectricHoser]

Every time the tones drop, one of the following things is almost always true:

(1) Someone is injured or dying
(2) Someone's stuff is being destroyed

Wanting the tones to drop and knowing that the cost of the rush is that one of those things is happening to some innocent chump you probably don't even know.... that is not a faithful reflection on why we do what we do.

Once you get past the rush of being the hero arriving in glory to restore order, and arrive at accepting the basic obligation and responsibility to help those in need - that is to say, once you can discern the difference - you''ll look back and regret feeling the way you do.

But it it's probably not your fault. Most of us go through that. Just think about what has to happen to someone for you to get your rush, and hopefully you'll be cured soon enough.

[ElectricHoser]

After 16 years of doing this, I still get a rush every time the tones drop!

If I ever get to the point that I dread going on another call, I'll know it's time to hang up the helmet.

Yes, well said, the difference is wanting the rush versus enjoying it. I don't wish for a call, but I enjoy knowing I am one of the guys who get called when crap happens, no one else knows what to do, and they call us to fix it.

[SWLAFireDawg]

Once you get past the rush of being the hero arriving in glory to restore order, and arrive at accepting the basic obligation and responsibility to help those in need - that is to say, once you can discern the difference - you''ll look back and regret feeling the way you do.

But it it's probably not your fault. Most of us go through that. Just think about what has to happen to someone for you to get your rush, and hopefully you'll be cured soon enough.

I think that really does explain it for my position. It is new to me, and it is exciting. Perhaps I haven't truly made the connection yet as to this is real world, or to the true tragedy of it. And I do believe that most, if not all, firefighters/medics go through the rush addiction if you will at some point or another. Yes, perhaps it is sad to enjoy it at someone's expense.

I sure hope this does not turn into a bash fest. There has been some great comments, and it is making me think a lot more on why I feel this way and if it is healthy to feel that way.

What appears to be the controversial portion in these types of threads is the difference between the enjoyment of fighting fires and responding to emergencies, from the realization that a tragedy is occuring or has occured and the depression or guilt which may follow the initial rush.

While I state I enjoy the rush, I hope it is not misconstrued as meaning I enjoy tragedy. But, it is sort of like a bad train wreck.....you hate to look, but you do anyways.

[ChicagoFF]

P.S. I can see this thread going the way of the "Do you want fires" one that was beat to death a while back.

You rang? I still want a fire every day!

[fireman4949]

You rang? I still want a fire every day!

Right on, Brother! So do I

[engine13A]

I'd start all over again today if I could!!!

[doughesson]

I used to live a quarter mile from my volunteer station so I'd ride my bike when the tones dropped.I'd burn off all that pesky adrenaline just getting to the house to the point where we'd be getting on scene and the LT would holler"Someone wake Doug up!"so I could do my assignment.
Yes,we only respond when someone's day is going to Hades in a handbag but we want to show off our skills and compassion.It's nothing to be ashamed of.I am sure those who are truly good at the job and proud of it will be forgiven for their sin.

[jeneric]

Like a previous poster mentioned, wait until after your first few hundred calls. You will despise it going off. Especially when you and the usual gang end up being the only ones to show for the early morning call and half of them leave to go to their other jobs leaving you to clean gear, fill bottles, put new hose on the truck. that gets old real fast!

When my father was chief, i was about 4 so the fire department was all that I knew. When i started running myself, i did get the adrenaline rush but it wasn't so much for the call to happen but more for getting myself ready for the task at hand.

I lived in a small community of about 4000 people and when you tend to know a large percentage of them, you dont want to hear tones at all because it was never good.

About the only calls that I enjoyed going to were field fires because chances are, the owner started it to burn off the grass to begin with. For the most part they were safe (just remember to stay in the Black!)

Take care.

Eric