Firefighter Career Survival

 

In 1975, my ideas about the future of the fire service and what I might see during my firefighting career were limited, at best. Of course, there were plenty of people that were dedicated to training the finest firefighters in every facet of fire protection, including hydraulics, tactics and strategy, ventilation, forcible entry, and so on. There were seminars and classes on myriad subjects, including fire suppression, fire prevention, and EMS topics. You got the idea that there was an inexhaustible number of subjects you could train on while going about your career.

 

The one area that was barely touched on was that of what the future would hold for the newbies going into the job. Of course, there was the 30 seconds used by our training officer to inform us that we could get killed while on the job and that we have an extremely high divorce rate. I think almost all of us were able to put those bits of information together by ourselves. What no one bothered to tell us was that you also had a pretty good chance of getting injured (sometimes repeatedly) and of also having your mind bent by some gruesome incidents. Even working in small departments over the course of many years, firefighters see what civilians describe as unbelievably horrific incidents. These incidents make good stories for us in the job.

 

We go to great lengths and costs to prepare trainees for working on line firefighting crews. The training officers launch a new crew to go out into the world and, hopefully, be an asset instead of a liability (I will cover the liability part later).to the community they were hired to help protect and serve. This is not always accomplished, partly because we spend almost no time informing these rookies of what really lies ahead in their career. This can lead to a significant expense to the taxpayers with little return on their investment (us).

 

How do we educate and prepare our personnel for what is coming so they are at least not blindsided when ugly incidents occur? Let’s start by telling them the truth. Let them know that their career will include elation and also a dark insight into pain and death that only military, police, fire, EMS, and the county morgue personnel see. Even tow truck drivers get to see more than they want sometimes. I won’t get into the grisly details of everything a firefighter sees and experiences in 25 or 30 years on the job. If you’re reading this and you have at least 15 years on the job, you know. Of course there are the good times, those moments we share when we look back at some of the weird and bizarre moments that happen and laugh until our sides hurt–those cleaned-up stories you tell to relatives who just shake their heads and think, “Gee, did that really happen?”

 

But, there are two sides to the coin. Far too often the underside reveals the ugly side of humanity we in the public safety sector have to deal with every day. Hey, it’s all part of the job, right? We could list all the problem areas for firefighters, but the issue is not the problems, but how we cope with them.  

 

How do we get through this career with a mind and a body intact enough to enjoy retirement? For starters, you need to take care of your body. I have seen changes that have slowly taken effect over the years. When I first got hired, about 97 percent of the firefighters in the department smoked cigarettes, including myself. Winston was my cigarette, and my union brothers (no sisters on the department at that time) were constantly berating me about smoking a nonunion brand. I declared that I was hooked on them prior to being hired on and that I had a grandfather clause that allowed me to continue smoking them. (I have reformed; I have been a nonsmoker for more than 25 years). Currently, about three percent of that department smokes, which shows that we’re moving in the right direction. The menu at the stations has changed somewhat. The old meat-and-potatoes fare has mostly been converted to a more healthful diet. I will not bore you with the “You-should-eat-this-and-not-eat-that” routine. I think we all know what constitutes a good diet.

 

If you deal only with the diet portion of health, you are only going halfway to improve your physical well-being. I strongly recommend that you start your career with a workout routine that becomes a habit. Once you have gotten into a good workout routine, your day will not feel complete unless you get your workout in. You will definitely feel better for it and will enjoy its rewards well into your retirement years.

 

By exercising and eating right, you automatically have given yourself an edge over those who don’t take care of themselves. Being in good shape does far more than help you live a more healthful life: It also decreases the chance for on-the- job injury and it assists you in doing your job proficiently. It may help you to save your own live as well as someone else’s. Having good physical health also aids in promoting mental wellness.  

 

CONVERSATION AND MENTAL HEALTH

As firefighters, we are exposed to some pretty weird environments, both physical and mental. All of us should already know that we have a far higher rate of cancer than the average citizen. The same goes for divorce rate, drug use, alcoholism, depression, and many other serious conditions (slim data are available on firefighter suicide rates, but I suspect that rate is well above the norm also).

 

How do you survive your career without falling into one of these traps? Just because you’re a good person doesn’t mean that you won’t need some help along the way. One of the latest trends in the fire service is Peer Assistance Groups. My opinion on these “groups” is that if your organization has to rely on a “peer group” for its members to be able to talk to someone, then you have a serious problem within your organization. You shouldn’t have to look farther than your own crew or station to find someone to initially talk to openly, someone you TRUST.

 

I believe that you will find out that you are not alone and that great friendships may develop out of a simple act of open discussion among fellow firefighters. Of course, departments that run some sort of department-based counseling or professional therapy provide possibilities that may work for some individuals. I should have named this article “You Gotta Talk to Somebody.” If you remember and use only one thing out of this article, let it be that you must talk to somebody–be it a coworker, company officer, rabbi, priest, preacher, shaman, shrink, hunting or fishing buddy, spouse, mountain-top guru, or a self-help geek. Just make sure that you have someone you can lean on when needed and that this person will hold what you say in confidence. This partnership works both ways. Sometimes by just listening, you may be that vital link a brother or sister needs to keep it together. This is where a good mentor can jump in and offer sound advice. 

THE KEY ELEMENT TO DISCUSSION

Trust is the key element in any meaningful discussion. Right now, America is suffering from a lack of trust—a lack of someone or something in which to put our faith.  Trust is something that is earned. The old firehouse adage “lead by example” is one method by which to build trust. If there is no trust at the firehouse and on the rigs, you have a serious problem that needs to be fixed NOW. Without trust, no true communication will occur. Speech will become guarded, and the apprehension of not fully trusting the person you are talking to will limit any meaningful exchange that could help someone deal with a problem. Get used to the word problem. Wedo have problems, and we need to address them as such. 

When I got my first transfer to a really busy company (more than 3,000 calls a year) and was awakened five or six times a night, I thought I was losing my mind. I had very vivid dreams, action-packed thrillers. As I started to relate some of these dreams to the crew, I wondered if I was starting to go nuts. I quit telling the crew about the dreams, but they were still happening and getting more animated all the time. I thought I would research this and find out if I truly was losing my mind.

 

At our public library, a very compassionate librarian helped me to do research. We found research conducted in England that had studied firefighters who had patterns of interrupted sleep. The study explained that when someone is awakened during dream activity, the person has a greater recall of the dreams. Since I was starting to dwell on the dreams, I began to recall more and more of them. Knowing that there was nothing wrong with me (at least mentally) lifted a big gorilla off my back. Soon after this, my dream recall images faded away, and I was again concentrating on the calls we were going on.  The point of this story is that sometimes you also have to figure it out yourself. Sitting at home and burning your sick leave because you thought you needed a “stress day” is nonsense. All that accomplishes is your dwelling on the matter at hand and stewing over it until you have a really nice ulcer. Be proactive for your own benefit so that you can stay healthy mentally and physically. Then when you do crash your body doing some off-duty activity (motorcycle, bicycle, basketball, football, and skiing crashes come to mind), you will have sick leave hours available.

 

Everyone knows the numbers from 9/11. There are enough bumper stickers and memorials to keep our memory fresh as to the magnitude of that day (at least in the fire service). What seems to evade the modern-day fire service is that we are losing our people at an alarming rate to a variety of problems and no one really wants to address the ugly truth. That truth is that we are not invincible and have no super powers like Superman. Although firefighters deal with (and handle adeptly) some very dark subjects, over time these little traumas can build up into one ugly nightmare. I’ve wrestled with my fair share of alligators in my sleep. Every one of us, from the chief of the department to the newbie, needs someone we can hold in confidence to counsel and mentor us to help preserve our physical and mental well-being. We need to initiate our own routine that will give us time to address our well-being.

 

Remember that liability issue I said I would get to later? If for any reason you notice a firefighter is off his game for any reason, it could affect the safety of all involved. Your immediate action is needed. If you notice your personnel are not up to normal performance levels and you do nothing about it, you could be in front of a judge or a review board and be on the hook for not taking action.  

 

No one can tell you exactly what you may witness during your time in the fire service. There will be other huge incidents like Oklahoma City or 9/11. We respond to all kinds of incidents on a regular basis that would make regular citizens physically ill. What I can tell you is that you will see some nasty scenes. Hopefully you will follow some advice: Stay healthy in all aspects of the word and find someone that you can talk to.