But...I Read the Chapter...
This week I am borrowing my thoughts from a saying I picked up from a friend and colleague, Chief Bob Loomer of the Wayland Massachusetts fire department. Bob is an instructor at the academy and in certain instances, (not always when things were going right, I might add) Bob would say something like, "They read the chapter, but they should go back and finish the book!"
That is part of the basis for my thoughts this morning.
I have received several emails about the pictures that were on the Firehouse website from Fort Worth TX. I am not sure of all of the circumstances but the picture depicts a firefighter coming out a second floor window head first and having his fall broken by firefighters on the ground.
There is also another firefighter up above and a ladder in the picture.
The picture certainly caught my attention as many of these graphic and dramatic images that we are often exposed to capture all of us.
I thought about the comments I received, I called my attention to the various things that were pointed out to me in the photos, the burned helmet shield, the condition of the turnout gear, the condition of the gear of the rescuers and I tried to process it all.
I truly believe there is a story here in these photos, but I was powerless to relay the story because of course I wasn't there. The photograph captured a small moment in time and we know nothing about the moments that led up to it or the moments after it, just that 1/125th of a second when the shutter captured the image.
Here is what I can deduce from the photo...A city firefighter with some number of years of experienced made a decision that his life was in immediate jeopardy and got to a window and was forced to exit that window urgently in order to survive. That is what the picture tells me. As he is being helped away it also tells me we are lucky to have him with us today and we as a fire service and his family should be extremely grateful.
But, now to the point of my article about the "rest of the book."
As we look at the photo, I don't think any of us can learn much more than what I have stated above, or some minor variation. As we go back and read the "text" next to the photo we now learn some other things. The firefighter was on low-air, and became separated from his partner. It does not say anything about the presence or availability of a hoseline as it is not mentioned.
When we are presented the photographs and we try to use them as training tools as I always do, try to find out "the rest of the story" of what could have led to these dramatic circumstances. Out of air and separated from a partner can certainly lead to tragedy on an uncontrolled fireground. Having a hose line can certainly help as a guide out of the building and to help protect ourselves from fire advancement.
Don't be critical of the circumstances or the personnel but apply those rules to your own department and make sure we can protect our own members in similar circumstances. In this case I am sure Fort Worth responds with a substantial first alarm assignment that many small departments cannot produce on a first alarm. When manpower is down, safety risks and hazards increase.
The second photograph that came across my desk this week was that of a newspaper article of a New England fire department at a structure fire. In addition to a very good photo of the fire itself there was a small inset of a helmet shield of an officer that was damaged. Now here is a case where you could react to just that photo in a couple of ways. You could say how luck the person was to have escaped some sudden catastrophic event or you could wonder silently to yourself if somebody took a crew too far. I will never know the answer to this one, but I am sure there is the "rest of the book" somewhere in that picture as well.
In closing I want you to think and try not to make judgments just on the dramatic photographs that we all see, but always try to look for the "rest of the story". I have been guilty of jumping to conclusions in the past and I now know it was not correct and I am sharing my errors with you, so you might not have to repeat them.
I also want you to think of that second photograph I described of the damaged helmet front, and think of this imaginary story I present.
A man is pulled up on a boat in the ocean. He needs to be revived and is successfully saved. When he recovers he tells of a harrowing, dramatic, dangerous set of circumstances where he was almost killed in trying to save his own infant son.
The son was lost at sea in the ocean and died.
As the boat comes to shore the man's loved ones are ecstatic at his return and brush with death. He is called a hero and bestowed many honors.
As he recounts his story many times he begins to answer questions about how his son ended up in the ocean. The "rest of the book" goes that the father had actually thrown his small infant son into the water to teach him to swim.
Is he still the hero he was when you first read the story?
If he, (who is supposed to know better) put his son in direct harm, can he still be noble for his attempts at rescue?
*Remember this was only a fabricated story and has absolutely nothing to do with a fire officer in combat with a crew. Any resemblance to that is just your imagination.
Remember, don't just read the chapter, but finish the whole book!
Stay safe, stay aware, and keep thinking for you and your crew!