Conflicted Thoughts

Well, it appears that it has been almost a year since I posted on this blog. Of course, there really is no excuse other than I've been busy and my adult onset ADHD sometimes doesn't allow me to develop a rational thought to place online. So, I'm just going to have a quick post tonight....

I've been thinking a lot lately about the true reason for our existence in the fire service....do we really promote saving lives, or do we only promote saving lives when it is convenient to do so. Are we creating a generation of firefighters (of which I might be one) who are self-serving and unwilling to take risks in order to do what we are supposedly sworn to do? I guess that one of the things that attracted me to this career was the fact that firefighters are perceived (or at least were at one time) as the ones who make selfless sacrifices. In some cases, that means placing our lives on the line. I'm not talking about being reckless; I'm talking about giving our firefighters a sense of pride in what they do that creates a willingness to actually do what the public expects us to do. There are soldiers, sailors, and marines fighting and dying at this very moment for our freedom; while every death is a tragedy, we EXPECT them to do it for us. And for that, we should be eternally grateful. But shouldn't those that call us expect us to do the same? A lot of the trade magazines would have you believe that you shouldn't ever do anything but try to stand outside a house fire and spray water or try to blow it out.

This ties into what we should really be doing: training and developing a mindset to be the very best at the very moment that we may be called to save a life. It is a burden that comes with the badge. It means that we should gain experience in any way that we can (and learn from the mistakes of others) so that we can make smart decisions that place our team in a position to make a difference. And it means cutting out all the bullshit that actually makes us less effective in our response....

Just my $.02...but you can comment and try to convince me otherwise.