The News
It has been an amazing week for me in general and I thought I would take a minute to look at the news of the week to make my standard fire service analogies and thought provoking ideas.
We as a nation have just witnessed one of the most amazing and technical marvels I believe I have ever witnessed. The rescue of 9 miners trapped for some 70 + hours, rescued alive is an incredible feat. As I watched that rescue unfold through the news media I could not help but think of some parallels.
Last week I said that we in the fire service are very parochial and keep too much to ourselves in general. Being in the fire service as long as I have I have always witnessed the teamwork, camaraderie, bravery, and fearlessness, and I am very proud of all of the things we do that relate to those. I think I always knew but it was just re-affirmed for me that there are many others like us.
Some of what I heard on the news sounded like this.....
" There are nine men down there and we are bringing them up"
"Nine for nine"
"We will remain to bring up our brothers"
The physicians report that the men stated they would live or die as a group and they had a determination to see each other through.
When one man got cold the others would gather around and share their body heat.
When looking for volunteers to enter the chamber for rescue everyone volunteered to go.
These certainly sound like firefighters to me. The lesson is that each profession has it's form of camaraderie and bravado that we should often recognize. Many times in training scenarios I have made references to coal miners and firefighters as entering uncontrolled environments in unpredictable circumstances. I guess my analogy wasn't all that bad.
I was also fascinated by the entire defend in place concept that was used due to the extensive amount of time it would take to get them. The pumping in of warmed air to help the survive. The logistics involved in attempting this rescue. The double redundancy built in to everything, 18 ambulances, 18 helicopters, the delivery of hyperbaric chambers to the scene.
An incredible job by an incredible group of individuals.
I was also impressed by the Governor's hands on interaction, ability to show compassion, ability to be stern to the press and protect the families. I might not say those damn politicians so often in the future. He may have had other motives and I am sure someone will criticize him in the future, but he certainly presented a good image for this entire operation.
I also saw a plane crash at an airshow in Russia, another cargo plane crash and a recap of one of the many Arab Israeli bombings and I pointed out to my wife that in the bunches of images from many countries and from a variety of situations that were being covered by the news media there were the familiar helmets and turnout gear of firefighters in all of the images.
Today is the anniversary of the date when an airplane struck the Empire State Building in the mid 1940's and the images showed some firefighters in tin helmets and rubber coats on the upper floors wetting down the remaining hotspots.
As the emblem on the training page indicates and all of what I have witnessed this week, firefighters.....we have been there throughout history, we are here now and will be the front line in the future.
Then, Now, and Always.
America's Firefighters and their Brothers and Sisters throughout the world.