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Did You See This:
Pushing Through Tragedy – Why We Continue To Serve
Ever since I read a book by Dennis Smith years ago this question always remains with me and this is exactly the kind of article I have been looking for for the blog--
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Photo courtesy of 3 House Photography
We
are often asked why we do it. Why do we leave our hot meals on the
table only to return hours later to find your family asleep and your
dinner cold? We sometimes cannot find the one answer as to why we do
this job, because day after day that answer changes. So many calls test
our faith; our faith in humanity, our faith in god, and the hardest,
faith in ourselves. The emotional stress and drain we put on our
families and our jobs is greater than we realize sometimes.
We
often find ourselves in situations that make us realize our mortality.
We all do it, we walk in the door and the first thing our loved ones ask
is “how was work honey?” We answer this question the same every time,
“Just fine” or “It was slow.” Knowing damn well that fire up on 28th
came too close to taking you and your brothers with it. I try not to go
into great detail about the close and gruesome calls with my girlfriend
and family. I am also not quick to share what bothers me with my
brothers at the fire department. However, I learned that sometimes you
have to let your pride go before it is too late. This job often portrays
firefighters as tough, strong, and unfazed by tragedy. That is not
always the case.
The first call that bothered me was the very first call I had ever ran. I had joined the fire service when a co-workers mentioned that a local department was taking volunteer applications. Within a couple months I had started my training and never looked back. The first call I ever ran was an unresponsive male. This would be the first of many deceased patients I would see and work on. We were unsuccessful at reviving the patient. I still remember the family crying and telling the man they loved him and for him to come back. For the longest time I could not get the images of us performing CPR out of my head and for hours and hours after the call I could still smell his cologne. I will never
totally forget that call.
Photo courtesy of Carmen Adornetto
The first call that bothered me was the very first call I had ever ran. I had joined the fire service when a co-workers mentioned that a local department was taking volunteer applications. Within a couple months I had started my training and never looked back. The first call I ever ran was an unresponsive male. This would be the first of many deceased patients I would see and work on. We were unsuccessful at reviving the patient. I still remember the family crying and telling the man they loved him and for him to come back. For the longest time I could not get the images of us performing CPR out of my head and for hours and hours after the call I could still smell his cologne. I will never
totally forget that call.
Photo courtesy of Carmen Adornetto
There is no wrong way to talk about these calls and anything that is bothering you. Get it out before it becomes a bigger problem in your life. My department is good about making sure that we hold a Critical Incident Stress Debriefing. We sit down and analyze the call. We go over things like our reactions to the incident and how it made us feel. It sounds like some Dr. Phil type stuff but it works.
Photo courtesy of Carmen Adornetto
If anyone who reads this needs someone to listen or someone to understand this job, feel free to contact me and talk about whatever or just stop by and say hello. We need to end the silence that is causing brothers to slip into depression and sometimes ruin the lives of great people who only joined the fire service to help. Now we are the ones who need help.
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