Give them the best chance!

  I read an article the other day written by Brian Brush.  Never met the man, he's in Colorado, I'm in Ohio.  But I was fortunate enough to talk to him via Fire Engineering's webcast radio show a few months ago.  Super nice guy, and he's a Warrior.
  I guess the best way to go about blogging what's on my mind right now is to share the article first. It's short and sweet.
Go read this:
Fire Engineering, Brian Brush

OK. Welcome back! Kinda harsh reading, but it hits home don't it?  I posted earlier in this blog about most of the time our citizens only call 911 once in their lives.  Don't we owe it to them to give them the best chance?  I think we do.

  The big TONKA truck you ride on, your salary (if you get one), all the cool tools you get to play with, the fuel in the rig, the station itself, all of it.  That costs a bundle!  Where does the money come from?  That person calling 911, for the first time of their life, at 03:00 in the morning.  They pay for all of that shit.

  And all they ask in return, is the best chance at getting out of their particular problem.

  I've found myself in a sort of a funk lately.  Getting up in the middle of the night because someone else has a problem, and bitching about it the whole way there.  I know how to fix the problem (training!) why don't you?  Why are you calling 911 because you smell something funny?  Why are you calling 911 because your wife has "poop cramps"?  Why are you calling 911 because you got really drunk and did something stupid?  Then we get there, and find and fix the problem, and our citizen is overjoyed, and thanking us.  Then I fell like a piece of shit for bitching on the way there.  NOT cool!

  The answer is simple.  Because they don't know what else to do but call us, the problem solvers!  And we owe it to them to show up and solve the problem.  No matter how small or trivial it may seem to us.  To them, it's HUGE, that's why they called 911!  Not saying they are stupid, or substandard citizens, but saying we have more training and better tools.  They have thought of absolutely everything they could have, and as a last resort they call us to fix the problem.

  How friggin cool is that?  That's an honor that shouldn't be taken lightly.  Like I've been doing.  Like Brian Brush was doing.  Yes, the mutts get you down, and the job becomes a job.  But we all need to take a step back sometimes and think about what it is we're doing, and why we're at the fire station instead of at home with our families.

  We're there because we're Warriors.  And we're the best chance they have.

Write that down!