By John Walters
Firefighting is a very dangerous job. Firefighters take calculated risks every day, and sometimes those risks have serious consequences.
On July 19, 2006, while standing at the back of the rescue truck in Manhattan, a Taxicab tried to change lanes. Unfortunately, another firefighter and I occupied the lane. After being crushed between the cab, traveling at 45 miles per hour, and the apparatus, my life changed in a second. I spent two months in the hospital, lost a limb, and almost lost another. My home had a second-floor bedroom. I could not use the bathroom or shower on the second floor. I had to negotiate steps just to get into my house. My car had to be refitted with a left-side gas petal. I have spent years in rehab learning how to walk again, and will need prosthetic care for life. This is just a very small sample of the issues I faced, and my story is not unique.
Every year firefighters are killed and injured in the line of duty. It has been well-documented that line-of-duty deaths or serious injuries can dramatically affect a department: operational changes, Occupational Safety and Health Administration/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health fines, National Fire Protection Association recommendations, low morale, and even union issues are common consequences.
Thankfully, the fire service has recently adapted critical incident stress teams to help surviving members through a very difficult time. Once the hospital visits or funeral is over, firefighters go back to work as best we can and move on. It’s “part of the job,” we say. “He died or was injured doing what he loved,” and so on. All that we can really do is help and support the family.
Think for a moment about a member who has been tragically injured and will be hospitalized for months–an injury that may require many more months of rehab and maybe even specialized equipment or a home that better suits his new needs or special driving equipment, just to get around. Is your department ready to handle the death or serious injury of a member? Does it have the resources and personnel to help facilitate all those needs? Don’t forget, the needs will be very injury specific, meaning everything depends on the member’s actual injuries.
Everyone from the chief of department to the newest probationary member, can help.
BIO
John J. Walters III is a 28-year member and former chief of the Port Washington (NY) Fire Department. He retired from Rescue Company #1 of the Fire Department of New York in 2008 from. He has been an instructor at FDNY Technical Rescue School and is the national task force director for Sons of the Flag, the resource for burn survivors. He can be heard on Fireengineering.com/blogtalkradio.
