Learn & Say “Yes” to Everything:
Don’t kid yourself. Education never ends. Be adaptive, aggressive and thoughtful in stressful situations. Remember: “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”
Find the busiest, craziest station in the largest city near you, and go to work.
It will be overwhelming, nerve-wracking, intimidating, and awkward, and that’s exactly what you want when starting your career in lifesaving. Listen to the crew members, do what they tell you…within reason, give them the benefit of the doubt, be honest, and—above all—work hard. Have the courage and faith that it will work to your advantage. You are looking for the overall attitude of each company or each crew within that company. When you find the place that resonates the most with your beliefs and standards, find a way to be there as often as possible. For me, the best places were always the busiest for three reasons: crews were proficient, easy-going, and never missed an opportunity to train or learn.
For crews at busy stations, mitigation of the emergency means the beginning of extrication training. Truck companies routinely remain on-scene, practicing cutting techniques on the totaled vehicles. Being busy allows crews to hone basic skills and practice new tactics, comparing concurrent procedures with theoretical maneuvers, Disasters are equal parts rescue, practice, and play. Those who work in busy areas have abundant opportunities to further the research while preserving human life.
The terminal stop on the path of mistakes toward mastery is a busy station. There will be ample emergencies to screw up and 10x as many to get right eventually and in quick succession. I like this because there’s just enough time to work out how to avoid making that same mistake and too little time to obsess over it before you’re concentrating on the next emergency.
Crazy Attracts Cool Customers
Emergency Responders who work in busy neighborhoods, day in and day out, are not average human beings. It takes a lot to feel comfortable in the city's boil, not knowing what will spill over or when. Newbies soon learn that there is no one who always has control or is under control. Amid the chaos, zen philosophy is the best practice. Be easy, hold to nothing forcefully, and be ready to shift from situation to situation. You wouldn’t hear anyone waxing Buddhism, yet I’m sure Bashō would find a kinship to EMTs and firefighters. Whether from a peaceful or difficult upbringing, or the tonnage trauma hurled continually at their feet, or by genetics, people who work in true chaos have a temperate temperament. At a freeway collision during a rainstorm, I’ve seen rescuers appear to walk through raindrops to pull a baby out of an overturned vehicle. I’ve seen a medic calm a psychotic in crisis with a warm smile and a comforting arm over his shoulder. This attitude extends to group dynamics.
Some are born with it, others learn along the way. For whatever reason, these are the people you want to provide your education. By far and large, they are easy-going, free-thinking, and the most forgiving when you screw up. They’ve been there before, and they have the answers to your error because, years ago, they made that mistake also.
When a fire broke out, they jockeyed for a chance to go in. If they were unpracticed on a skill in training, they volunteered to go first, so they had the most time with the skill.
That’s what I want! I want a group of open-minded, excited kids who know they don’t know anything, are willing to learn, fall over each other to practice skills, and are not afraid to make mistakes while they learn. I train my students to have that EMT mindset.
This quote from Theodore Roosevelt hangs in the classroom:
…The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming…Who at his best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and what the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly…
I would amend that saying with the slightest of revision: “…credit belongs to the [one]…in the arena.”
