I could not agree more: Dan Santos is a hero. That may come as a surprise to Bill Manning based on his opinion of safety officers and the fact that I am one of those “overlords” he refers to. What we all must realize about what Dan Santos did is that heroics are not taught, nor are they even encouraged. Santos made a decision, for himself, and acted in the interest of the victim. This time it was the right decision.
As for the rest of the editorial, Manning depicts safety officers as those who spend their time “dissecting incidents” to find out what someone did wrong. In actuality, our time is often spent, yes, reviewing or critiquing those incidents, but for a far different reason. In my department, there are some 383 paid personnel, and I consider it my job to ensure, to the best of my ability, that every firefighter who reports for duty has an excellent chance of returning home to his family and friends at the end of the shift. I, like my counterparts in other departments, realize that the inherent risk associated with firefighting cannot be eliminated, but that does not mean that we should advocate such actions. The fire service in America is founded on the heroic and unselfish actions of its members, but we pay a dear price–with nearly 100 firefighter fatalities annually.
As I read this editorial, I, too, get all pumped up. You get that feeling deep inside that causes your stomach to feel a little queasy, like you were right there with Santos, taking that first big step that ultimately would lead to saving someone else`s life. Yet, I wonder how I would have felt if Santos had died in the attempt. I wonder what the editorial would have been called. But then Manning would not have written it–the NFPA would have, and Santos` story would have been a brief narrative in the annual firefighter death and injury report.
To Dan Santos, I would like to say congratulations, a job well done! To Bill Manning, I think your position on the duties and responsibilities of safety officers needs to be rethought. In doing so, you might find out the mission of the safety officer is no different from that of the rest of the department; it`s just that the first life that we consider is the firefighter`s.
David E. Spears
Assistant Chief, Safety Officer
Greensboro (NC) Fire Department
