“Of Mice and Men”
Daryl D. Sensenig
Odenton, Maryland
I recently read with interest and some confusion the Editor`s Opinion in the September and October issues. In the September issue, Bill Manning lists example after example of “complacency on routine incidents” that have or can turn into tragedy if the firefighters are not diligent and safety conscious even in situations that do not appear dangerous.
In the circumstances he has listed, I would suggest as a remedy for this problem the concept of holding incident commanders and their subordinates legally accountable for their actions, or inactions…. Until fire service leaders are held as accountable and then liable as leaders in other fields such as medicine and transportation, where lives and property are also held in the balance, then their subordinates would not be permitted to be so “complacent,” as he described.
This leads me to the October issue. Manning goes to great lengths to beat his chest, vicariously, I might add, over the reckless actions of an individual. The line between courage and stupidity is difficult for some people to recognize. In Manning`s case, he definitely can`t tell where it is. He dismisses the dangers and effects by stating, “The fall rendered him unconscious for a brief moment… and he hung on, treading water for dear life.” As if rendering oneself incapacitated is a routine occurrence. And how long is a brief moment? He then continues to justify the actions by describing the “luck” that came in to play by the actual rescuers–i.e., the people in the boats picked up both victims. The editorial continues to spend the next several paragraphs poo-pooing the “fire service safety surgeons” for identifying the obvious.
If we compare the point of view of the October Editor`s Opinion with that of September, we don`t have to concern ourselves with “complacency.” Let`s just trust to luck and expect someone, anyone, to be a “man” and a “hero.” After all, isn`t being macho more important to the modern fire service with all of its cowardly emphasis on safety? By the way, does Manning have a financial interest in a company that sells tombstones? Or mousetraps?
