Tweet
I know this is a bit long so if your to busy too read it, no problem just skip on by .
I will go back in time a little bit to when I was a new firefighter. I was single and didn’t have any kids so I was definitely ready to risk my life to save a life. It was a no brainer for me, if I get a call for a working house fire with a known rescue go ahead and punch my ticket because I am going in. I don’t look at the ticket to see if it’s only one way. If your single without children right now then chances are you feel the same way and if you started your career the same as me, single without children than you also most likely felt the same way I did at the time. I held on to this philosophy for many years and I don’t know this for sure but I would think the majority of firefighters out there Family or not would agree with me (not all but the majority).
So now let’s fast forward a bit to a time when I now have a family of my own. My mind set has changed, but it should change right? I now have to ensure that my family is taken care of, I want to see my child grow and experience life, I want to teach her to read, then teach her to drive and I want to walk her down the aisle. So I still risk my life every shift but now the “calculated manner” means a whole lot more than it did before. If I get a call for a working house fire with a person trapped I will still punch the ticket but now I take a good look at it and make sure it’s a round trip. Isn’t that what I am supposed to do? When you read my tactics as a single firefighter did you think to yourself “freelancer” or “Johnny save the world”? You probably thought “there shouldn’t be a firefighter on any truck that’s going to risk his life in such a reckless manner”. Well don’t be so quick to judge me.
I am going to use the tragic columbine shooting to try and put this into perspective. The first shots were fired by the two suspects at 1120 and within the first five minutes there were multiple officers on scene and following their protocol they didn’t go in after those two. Instead they set up a perimeter and waited for the swat team to make the entry, mean while they had to stand outside and listen to countless gun shots and horrible screams coming from the inside the building where helpless students were being killed. They don’t make an entry because it would probably be a one way ticket. Let me ask you this, if you were outside and your child was inside would you go in? I bet of those that are reading this it’s a 100% yes vote. How many kids would have been saved that day? We will never know the answer to that question but I do know that a large majority of Police departments have changed their operating procedures so that the initial officers will make the entry and will try to eliminate the threat as early as possible. They have the tools, they have the training and they made a decision to accept a job that could put them in that exact situation, I don’t want to see an officer die but I am thankful that they changed their practices.
Well we also have tools, the training, and we made that same decision to accept a job that will put us in harm’s way. I have been in some fires that “Calculated manner” and “saving a life” where as far away from each other as the north and South Pole. It’s easy to go in and work your way down a smoky hallway and when conditions start to deteriorate a little you sound the emergency traffic and switch to defensive operations, you didn’t complete the primary but it’s considered a successful fire because you and your crew made it out alive. I am talking about a real “Risk”. When you haven’t finished the primary search and everything is telling you to get out soon but you continue to push forward and clear that last room before bailing out the window that you’ve truly “risked your life”.
So here is the point of this letter. Should my philosophy still be; “I have a family and I shouldn’t take the risk so I be there for them”? That isn’t fair to the person who is trapped. They are dying and the only thing they can pin any amount of hope on is “the firefighters are coming, they are brave and they will risk it all to save me”. They are fully expecting to be rescued and they certainly deserve to be. I don’t feel its right that I have placed my own family above theirs/yours? I took an oath and I provide for my family because of that oath. If I intend to honor it I must ensure that my family will be taken care of and I must make my spouse aware of my intentions. I will no longer place my family above theirs/yours, but if you took the same oath then can you make me the same promise? Like most of us, I don’t work at the fire station that would respond to my house in the event of an emergency. If my house catches on fire I pray that the responding Engine Company will put everything on the line and get my family out. I am not some want to be super hero and I am not asking all firefighters to run into burning buildings with total disregard to their own safety. I am only asking that you truly hold to the risk management profile and truly “RISK A LOT” to save a life in a calculated manner. Am I wrong to think this way?
I will go back in time a little bit to when I was a new firefighter. I was single and didn’t have any kids so I was definitely ready to risk my life to save a life. It was a no brainer for me, if I get a call for a working house fire with a known rescue go ahead and punch my ticket because I am going in. I don’t look at the ticket to see if it’s only one way. If your single without children right now then chances are you feel the same way and if you started your career the same as me, single without children than you also most likely felt the same way I did at the time. I held on to this philosophy for many years and I don’t know this for sure but I would think the majority of firefighters out there Family or not would agree with me (not all but the majority).
So now let’s fast forward a bit to a time when I now have a family of my own. My mind set has changed, but it should change right? I now have to ensure that my family is taken care of, I want to see my child grow and experience life, I want to teach her to read, then teach her to drive and I want to walk her down the aisle. So I still risk my life every shift but now the “calculated manner” means a whole lot more than it did before. If I get a call for a working house fire with a person trapped I will still punch the ticket but now I take a good look at it and make sure it’s a round trip. Isn’t that what I am supposed to do? When you read my tactics as a single firefighter did you think to yourself “freelancer” or “Johnny save the world”? You probably thought “there shouldn’t be a firefighter on any truck that’s going to risk his life in such a reckless manner”. Well don’t be so quick to judge me.
I am going to use the tragic columbine shooting to try and put this into perspective. The first shots were fired by the two suspects at 1120 and within the first five minutes there were multiple officers on scene and following their protocol they didn’t go in after those two. Instead they set up a perimeter and waited for the swat team to make the entry, mean while they had to stand outside and listen to countless gun shots and horrible screams coming from the inside the building where helpless students were being killed. They don’t make an entry because it would probably be a one way ticket. Let me ask you this, if you were outside and your child was inside would you go in? I bet of those that are reading this it’s a 100% yes vote. How many kids would have been saved that day? We will never know the answer to that question but I do know that a large majority of Police departments have changed their operating procedures so that the initial officers will make the entry and will try to eliminate the threat as early as possible. They have the tools, they have the training and they made a decision to accept a job that could put them in that exact situation, I don’t want to see an officer die but I am thankful that they changed their practices.
Well we also have tools, the training, and we made that same decision to accept a job that will put us in harm’s way. I have been in some fires that “Calculated manner” and “saving a life” where as far away from each other as the north and South Pole. It’s easy to go in and work your way down a smoky hallway and when conditions start to deteriorate a little you sound the emergency traffic and switch to defensive operations, you didn’t complete the primary but it’s considered a successful fire because you and your crew made it out alive. I am talking about a real “Risk”. When you haven’t finished the primary search and everything is telling you to get out soon but you continue to push forward and clear that last room before bailing out the window that you’ve truly “risked your life”.
So here is the point of this letter. Should my philosophy still be; “I have a family and I shouldn’t take the risk so I be there for them”? That isn’t fair to the person who is trapped. They are dying and the only thing they can pin any amount of hope on is “the firefighters are coming, they are brave and they will risk it all to save me”. They are fully expecting to be rescued and they certainly deserve to be. I don’t feel its right that I have placed my own family above theirs/yours? I took an oath and I provide for my family because of that oath. If I intend to honor it I must ensure that my family will be taken care of and I must make my spouse aware of my intentions. I will no longer place my family above theirs/yours, but if you took the same oath then can you make me the same promise? Like most of us, I don’t work at the fire station that would respond to my house in the event of an emergency. If my house catches on fire I pray that the responding Engine Company will put everything on the line and get my family out. I am not some want to be super hero and I am not asking all firefighters to run into burning buildings with total disregard to their own safety. I am only asking that you truly hold to the risk management profile and truly “RISK A LOT” to save a life in a calculated manner. Am I wrong to think this way?
Comment