Reflective Post

               I must admit that I still don’t get it, why run into a fire when your natural instinct is to run out of the building, away from danger?  Over these past eight weeks I’ve learned more about the different types of calls that firefighters run and the challenges that they face every day.

               Firefighters are amazing people.  Our career firefighters work hard answering dangerous calls to save lives and property while the volunteer firefighters do the same, but they give up time away from their family to help protect their communities.

               The thing that has really affected me the most while doing this blog, I can’t get over the fact that firefighters see a lot of pain, suffering, and death in the victims of accidents and fires that they try to save.  Firefighters see a lot of horror and tragedies throughout their careers.  Once they see the horrific images, whether it is a burnt victim or a mangled body, they can never get those images out of their minds. I wouldn’t be able to handle that.

               I’m not sure if some people are just born with these amazing qualities to help others, but whatever it is, I’m so thankful for them and what they do.  Without these people, who would answer the 911 calls to rush to help people that they don’t even know.  We need our firefighters, so the next time that you see one, thank them for all that they do.  You never know if you or someone you love will need the help of the fire department one day.

What drives a person to become a firefighter?

                                             

            I thought it would be fun and interesting to see what all the excitement was about so about four years ago I decided to take the Hazardous Materials Operations and Firefighter I and II courses.  It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, along with 184 hours of my free time, but I finished the training.  I have to be honest, I sucked at it.  The gear weighed around 85 pounds, it was bulky, and I was awkward in it.  It was fun to watch the excitement in the faces of my classmates because they had the bug, the fever, or whatever you call the drive to do this stuff every day.

I think firefighters are special people.  Let’s face it, not everyone has what it takes to become a firefighter.  It takes a unique combination of skills including physical stamina, emotional strength, incredible courage, and quick thinking (Orr, 2003). 

            It also requires a sense of morality and ethics (Orr, 2003).  Due to the nature of calls that firefighters run, they are always in homes and business where valuables are laying out in plain sight.  They include money, jewelry, and electronics.  We trust these individuals with our lives and our property.

            Firefighters are trained to deal with a variety of disasters.  They are trained to protect life and property and be willing to give their lives while doing it (Orr, 2003).  What makes someone choice this profession?  I admit that if I was faced with danger, my first instinct would be to run away to safety, but our firefighters don’t hesitate to answer the call of duty.

            I’ve asked multiple firefighters why they joined the fire department and here are some of the reasons I was given.

·         It is a way to help your fellow neighbor and have fun while doing it.

·         Loves the thrill, the excitement of riding the fire truck and hearing the sirens.

·         Joy of the job where you do something different every week because you never know what call you are going to run when the alarm goes off.

·         Helping others is a wonderful feeling and it is also rewarding

·         Helping others and your community

·         It was a big adrenaline rush, it’s dangerous and exciting, and you will never forget fighting your first fire.

Many of the firefighters seem to follow in their parents footsteps.  Quite a few of them spent a lot of time at the firehouse as a child, practically growing up there, while watching their dad work at the station.  For most kids your dad is your hero and you want to be just like him when you grow up.

Whatever their reasons why they became a volunteer or career firefighter, they are truly amazing people.  The desire to help others, whether they are getting paid to do it or they are doing it on their own free time, is an amazing gift you can give your fellow mankind.                                                     

Orr, T. (2003, November/December). Heroes of the flames: firefighters.  Career World.  Vol 32.  Issue 3, p14, 3p.  Retrieved October 30, 2012, from Academic Search Complete database.

 

Visual Rhetoric 2: mythos and pathos

                                                        

     This photograph engages us through the rhetorical strategies of mythos and pathos.

  Mythos: engages our sense of humanity and connection with others

Pathos: engages our feeling

Firefighters see with death and destruction routinely in their line of work but nothing can prepare you when you see a fatality.  No matter how many deaths a firefighter sees in his or her lifetime, they remember every victim.  They can never erase the fatal images from their minds.  They are haunted by those images and continue to ask themselves what if I had arrived at the scene sooner or could I have done something different to save that person.

The image above is from the Oklahoma City terrorist bombing from April 19, 2005 where 168 people were killed and more than 680 people were injured.  The little girl, an innocent victim to this horrific crime, had just celebrated her first birthday the day before and was critically injured in the blast.  The firefighter that carried her from the rubble was one of the last people to see her alive. 

The photo captures the horror of this tragic incident.  You can see the love and compassion on the firefighter’s face for this unknown baby, as he carries her away from danger (pathos).  The picture plays with your emotions, and it reminds you that life is precious, don’t take another day for granted (pathos & mythos).

Visual Rhetoric 1: logos, mythos, ethos, and pathos

                                               
 
This photograph engages us through the rhetorical strategies of logos, mythos, ethos, and pathos.

Logos: engages our intellect through the written word: slogans

Mythos: engages our sense of humanity and connection with others and with nature

Ethos: engages our sense of identifying what is credible

Pathos: engages our feeling

The aftermath of a fire affects everyone; even animals feel the wrath of the destruction that is caused by fire. You can imagine the look of despair that is on the animals faces as they watch the flames burn in front of them as if they are wondering where will they go (pathos), their homes have been destroyed and this could have been prevented.

The image above is of the famous Smokey the Bear (mythos and ethos); standing around the charred trees with his fellow forest friends with the slogan “Only you can prevent forest fires”.  The picture grabs your attention and the message (logos) to me is clear, that the careless actions of humans can affect not only the innocent lives of the animals but also thousands of trees. 

Yes, you can read too much into the picture and know a bear is not going to be friends with a deer or a squirrel, which is lunch to him, but Smokey the bear has been a major campaign for fire prevention awareness for over 68 years (ethos).   It gets you to think about the cute animals, the poor innocent victims (pathos). 

Let’s face it, accidents do happen, but the consequences of a forest fire will have a major impact on nature for years to come (mythos).  It will take years for the trees and vegetation to grow so animals can have food and cover for protection (mythos).

All humans need to stop and think about our behavior and to inform our children the danger of playing with matches.  We need to be careful and use caution when making a camp fire. Make sure you clear the land around your fire pit.  A spark can fly and easily catch the woods on fire.  Due to the remote areas, the fire can grow out of control before the firefighters even arrive (mythos).

Also, we need to be careful when smoking cigarettes or cigars.  Make sure you properly dispose of the cigarette butt.  A lot of smokers carelessly discard of them, either throwing the butt out the car window or on the ground while it is still lit, causing a fire. 

When a fire starts, animals can’t escape in a car or receive a warning from the TV so they can evacuate.   Please remember Smokey and his friends, only you can prevent forest fires (ethos)!

What does “brotherhood” in the fire service mean?

                                                   

Firefighters spend a lot of their time at the fire house.  Due to the amount of time firefighters spend away from home, your fellow firefighter teammates become your second family.  Career firefighters work 24 to 36 hour shifts at the fire station while volunteers cover most week nights and weekends.

Trust is a major component towards a great working relationship for our fire service.  If you don’t have trust, how can you rely on that person to have your back in a dangerous situation?  You must feel secure and confident with your teammate’s knowledge to handle any situation, or you can’t perform your job to the best of your ability.

Having a close working relationship and serving your community together builds a friendship bond that can last your whole lifetime.  Being willing to lay your life on the line for someone you don’t know, or for your fellow teammate, is a characteristic that is hard to find these days.

Firefighters are responsible for what the station looks like on the outside and the inside.  They should treat the fire station as if it were their own house (Grant & Stephens, 2010).  After all, it is their home for a good portion of their lives (Grant & Stephens, 2010).  The fire station doesn’t have maid service, a cook, lawn service, and their parents cannot come clean up after them, so in a way, being in the fire service teaches them accountability and responsibility.

The fire service is a professional organization and the members should project a professional image that earns the respect of their coworkers and the public (Grant & Stephens, 2010).  You only get one chance to make a first impression.  Wear a clean uniform, be polite, competent and caring. If you look like you care about yourself and the organization, then the citizens will believe that you care about them (Grant & Stephens, 2010).

The service that firefighters provide to our communities does not go unnoticed.  For example, a friend of mine ran a call one December evening at a nursing home.  The residents were in the middle of their Christmas dinner when the fire alarm went off.  The firefighters arrived and got everyone out of the building only to learn that it was a false alarm.  The residents are used to the firefighters coming to their home to perform a large amount of EMS calls.  Well the residents were so appreciative of the firefighter’s work that they asked them to stay and join them for dinner, of course they accepted, firefighters like to eat.

Brotherhood in the fire service is an amazing bond among firefighters.  Although they are not really brothers or sisters, they are family.  For example, when one member is injured and out of work, his fire house family will come cut the grass or do odd jobs around the house for them; if a member gets diagnosed with cancer, the whole department will do fund drives to raise money for medical expenses and they will receive an outpouring of support; or when a firefighter loses his life, hundreds of firefighters will attend his funeral and neighboring cities will send their firefighters to go work the shift at his department so his fire house family can attend the funeral.  

                                              

Grant & Stephens, (2010, June) Are we our own worst enemies?  Fire Engineering.  Vol 163.  Issue 6, p73-78, 5p.  Retrieved November 3, 2012, from Academic Search Complete database.

How much training is required to be a firefighter?

                                       

I was surprised to learn that the state of Virginia does not mandate or require our firefighters to have a certain amount of education or training before they put on their gear and answer the call of duty.  According to the Code of Virginia, section 27, the state is silent regarding training standard certifications for Virginia's fire service.  The career departments that hire full-time firefighters do have certain training requirements; they will put their members through a career academy consisting of over 200 hours of training or they will hire those firefighters that have already taken the Firefighter I & II course through fire programs or another accredited agency. 

For those fire stations that have volunteer firefighters, those localities set what training requirements their members must meet in order to volunteer.  This doesn’t mean that a volunteer firefighter is less adequate than a career firefighter to fight fires or respond to an emergency call.  Some departments in the state that consist of an all-volunteer system, those members generally don’t have the time to sit through 200 plus hours of training.

At the Virginia Department of Fire Programs, we provide multiple training courses for our career and volunteer firefighters across the state.  My first job with the agency was to process the training course paperwork.  I was able to attend regional schools and observe the different courses that we offered.  I have to say it was exciting.  You can learn how to cut off the roof and doors of cars to save a trapped victim in a vehicle, you can stabilize a hole during a confined space scenario, walk down the side of a three story building by a rope, stabilize a two ton piece of farm machinery equipment as if a farmer was trapped underneath, or you can learn the burn patterns of a burnt structure to determine if the fire was an accident or arson. 

 

One key factor firefighters learn is to manage their air supply in their air bottle, also known as their Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) (Phillips, 2005).  The rule of air management is to know how much air you have left in your SCBA and manage that amount to allow you plenty of time to escape to safety (Phillips, 2005).  The last thing you need is to run out of air inside of a burning building.

 
            Another safety element is carrying the proper tools with you depending on your part of the mission. Not having what you need before you enter a structure can be deadly.  There have been many cases where firefighters have been trapped in one room and had to use an ax or halligan tool to cut their way out of a potentially deadly situation (Phillips, 2005).
  

                                    

The goal is to be properly trained, enhance effectiveness, and eliminate as many variables as possible to keep our firefighters safe (Phillips, 2005).  Departments must train their members so they will be ready to handle different scenarios.  Knowledge is key, learn what is required if you are performing a search mission, performing ventilation, or working the hose to put water on the fire.  Practice with your fellow members to build confidence and enhance their skills.

 

Phillips, C. (2005, June) R.E.A.D.Y. Checks and the rule of air management.  Fire Engineering.  Vol 125.  Issue 6, p91-96, 4p.  Retrieved November 3, 2012, from Academic Search Complete database.

What types of calls do firefighters respond to?

 

A structure fire with reports of people trapped or a multi-car crash on the interstate can be one of the most stressful calls that a firefighter hears.  Prior to coming to work at the Virginia Department of Fire Programs, I never thought about firefighters.  I figured they were just normal people doing their jobs.  So it got me to thinking, what do firefighters do?
            

Firefighters handle an array of emergency calls.  Yes, we’ve all heard about the sweet old lady calling the fire department because her cat was stuck in a tree but that is just tipping the ice berg.  Here are just a few of the different types of calls that firefighters respond to: house fires, vehicle accidents, chemical leaks and spills, trapped elevators with people inside, lost children and adults, EMS calls, water rescue missions in the James River, fire alarms and sprinklers malfunctioning, false alarms, and assisting their communities during natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods.

Environment and conditions can greatly affect the response time to an emergency call (Steele, 2007). A 10 year old girl with a broken leg on the playground would be a normal call, but if that same little girl was actually in a remote area such as in the forest, then it limits your access to reach the victim and will involve more equipment and manpower (Steele, 2007).  Your team's expertise will come into play, and you will relay on previous training to successful complete the rescue mission (Steele, 2007).

You would think using a helicopter to rescue the little girl would be the best route, but depending how remote the area is the helicopter may not be able to land due to the dense tree line (Steele, 2007). You must always have a plan B or maybe a plan C in your rescue missions (Steele, 2007).  Always expect the unexpected; even a routine call will have obstacles. Rely on your training and your fellow members that have more expertise and knowledge.   

Using this same scenario and performing plan B because the helicopter is not available, you grab some rigging packs, a stokes basket, and medical supplies and start hiking through the woods on your five mile trek to reach your victim (Steele, 2007).  The gear that you have on, the boots and the heavy equipment can really weigh you down.  The rigging packs that you hasty pack with so many supplies can easily weigh 40 pounds and all of the medical supplies can weigh close to 80 pounds (Steele, 2007).  Well let’s face it, you never know what you will need and you would rather have it and not use it versus need it and not have it. 

During this long walk, with all of the heavy gear you will need to carry, you may have more victims than when you started (Steele, 2007).  You may have a member complain about feeling chest pains, your main priority will be to save your fellow teammate which means another team will need to respond to the original mission which will delay their call for help (Steele, 2007). 

There are all types of training you can take to prepare your team to handle calls in all environments.  If your department is located near a forest or park, this scenario would probably be a routine EMS call, your members would practice this drill, and know exactly what equipment to bring along to reduce the weight of supplies (Steele, 2007).  The key is to exercise, be in shape to handle the more rigorous calls, and have plan a, b, and c to anticipate the challenges that may occur during each call.

Most departments don't have the time to train most specialty areas that they may need to respond to in the future (Steele, 2007). The key is to plan and research different scenarios that could happen in your area (Steele, 2007).  Encourage your members to think outside the normal calls you routinely answer, this will create a more confident and competent firefighter (Steele, 2007).

            Firefighters perform a wide range of calls to protect our communities.  For example, my friend ran a call where a security guard driven out of boredom, decided to handcuff his hands together, unfortunate for him; he did not have the key to release himself.  The next day they went back to the place of business to do a flow up, only to learn the security guard was terminated for his stupidity.

Another friend was working a house fire when he found an unconscious cat.  He brought the cat outside, performed CPR by cupping his hands around the cats face, blew into its nose, and saved the homeowner’s precious pet.  Due to demand, suppliers have created pet sized oxygen masks for dogs and cats, but they are very expensive.  Most departments cannot afford them and must rely on the old fashion method of mouth to snout resuscitation.  

The end results of the firefighter calls, for the most part, ends in tragedy.  For example, loss of life, loss of personal belongings that can never be replaced, and leaves many people homeless.  Thank goodness a lot of calls are also humorous and have a happy outcome.

Steele, L. (2007, February) Rescue without the big red truck.  Fire Engineering. Vol 160. Issue 2, p99-108, 7p. Retrieved November 3, 2012, from Academic Search Complete database.