Just Do More

Photo credit: screenshot from Fox28 Columbus

If you are easily offended, please move on. This is going to be a rant and some may find this blunt but you chose to click on the link.

I don’t want to seem ungrateful or hold a pity party because our job is pretty awesome, I love what I do and we get to do some crazy things but where do you get the nerve to ask us to do more? 

We pour our heart and soul into our organizations not only when we are at work, but also outside of work which is rarely acknowledged. We spend time reading and researching for the newest tactic, spend our own money for trainings outside the organization, and education to better ourselves to ensure we do not fail when called upon. How dare anyone question our motives or ask more of us without understanding the context of what we do and the stress we experience every day. How many times have you had to work on a dead infant with the family screaming in the background, pulling a charred body from a home in the middle of night or witnessed traumatic injuries with bodies which are barely recognizable. We may get to sit down in a recliner for a few hours and may get lucky enough to sleep an entire night while at work once in a while, but until you cut down a person hanging from the ceiling because they decided taking their own life was easier than living; then you can criticize what we do. I would gladly let you carry some of the burdens me and my brothers and sisters have to carry with us everyday of our lives. 

“I wish my mind could forget what my eyes have seen”-Dave Parnell

How dare anyone ask us to do more in a profession which is has seen an increase in demand for service and technical competencies. We used to be a fire department, but that has gone out the window. We are an all-hazards public safety department with EMS, Hazardous Material, Fire Prevention, Special Operations including technical rope rescue, trench rescue, confined space, water rescue, and now community medicine; in addition to fire suppression. What more do you want from us? 

Now, I understand there are people in the fire service that spend their time sitting the recliners all day and lack the preparedness that is necessary to be successful on the fireground and to these people, DO MORE! For the majority of us who spend countless hours in the heat and the cold training and preparing ourselves and our crews for success, the demand in building and there is only so much time and many things we can be expert in. When I have to decide where my priority lies, it will also default to protecting the citizens against the threat of fire, because we are a fire department first and foremost.

I question those internal and external stakeholders who downplay the profession or criticize our dedication or work ethic. I hope your bed is comfy, and you get a full night’s rest because as Chief Mo Davis says, “we are the protectors of city when you lay your kids down at night”. 

Again, I don’t want pity party, but before asking what we do all day, suggest we are a burden to the taxpayers, needs to busy every second of the day, or ask us to do more; I would invite you to come and see what we do. There is a reason why firefighter suicides are increasing.

So it is true we only spend One Third of our lives at work, but do we ever really leave work or does work ever leave us?