A Message To the Recruits

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with 29 recruit firefighter/paramedics in the Memphis Fire Department Training Academy and doing a little one-on-one with them. These recruits were ready to soon hit the streets, riding with their Field Training Officers (FTOs) for the next 21 shift days as a third person on an ambulance or the fifth person on an engine or truck company.

I had all the tables removed, since I did not want any psychological barriers between them and me, and I wanted to talk openly and honestly with them about what they were going to encounter once they hit the streets, and what the fire department expected of them.

As I looked across the mostly young faces, I could detect the excitement and exhilaration they were feeling as they were ready to embark on their new journey. As I gazed at their expressions, I could not help but think back to my own first days and the thrill I felt as I wondered what challenges I would face in my career.

If you are a recruit, I would like to share with you what I shared with these recruits. Feel free to apply it as you move forward in your career. There is much I said in the 1½ hours I had, but these are just a few of the important ones.

First, you will go on calls that make no sense to you. Not every call you go on will be a shooting, stabbing, car accident, heart attack, or house fire. People will call 911 for what seems like the silliest things. If you saw my August column, you'll remember my account of my two fondest calls. One involved a woman who called 911 to have her son examined at a hospital after the boy came home from school and told his mother they found a computer virus at school. The mother had no idea what a computer virus was; she only knew a virus can invade the body. So she called 911 to have her son checked out at the hospital. The other call involved a man who had chest pain for 17 years and then called 911 one night because he was worried that something was wrong when the chest pain stopped.

I asked the recruits to define for me, what is an emergency? One recruit had the correct answer: An emergency is whatever the person calling perceives it to be. There is no true definition of emergency. What may be an emergency to one person may not be to another person. Firefighter/paramedics really need to be careful in this area.

Paramedics have years of training and education, then as they progress through their career, they add years of experience on top of their education and training. When the average citizen calls 911, he or she does not have the benefit of the paramedic's years of training, education and experience. Thus, whatever is occurring to that person or to a loved one may be an emergency. When you get to the call, you hear the person describe the problem, and based upon your years of training, education and experience, that little voice in your head says, "I never would have called for this." You may become aggravated, and may even get an attitude on the scene. Some paramedics even try talking people out of going to the hospital based on their assessment of the person's condition.

What is important here is that these calls can chip away at your excitement and enthusiasm for the job. Many paramedics come into the fire profession with an idea of how much of a difference they are going to make and what good they are going to do. Each one of these calls that they consider a non-emergency begins to whittle away at the excitement and enthusiasm for the job until you have burnout. Burnout is a mental condition that will leave you not only mentally exhausted, but physically also. Paramedics with burnout have terrible attitudes and it reflects in their work. Some even leave the profession. If you are a recruit, guard against this.

As a recruit, you may also encounter the malcontents on the job. These are the people who are unhappy in the firehouse and they complain all day long. These are the same people who would be unhappy at Microsoft, FedEx or wherever else they worked. Hear something long enough, and eventually you start believing it. The next thing you know, you're complaining all day long also and you become miserable and unhappy. As a recruit, never let anybody tell you how you should feel. If you are happy with your chosen career and profession, don't let anybody tell you differently. If you are a recruit, guard against this.

Some other tips as you embark on your career:

• Keep a log journal (paper or electronic). Your log journal can include where you were assigned on a given day, who you were working with, and every call you went on, including EMS and fire calls. Leave space for any comments you want to make about the day or a given call.

Keeping a log does several things. It is excellent documentation if anything ever comes up and you have to go back and look up information. It is also interesting to see how many calls you go on in a month, year or even your career. At the end of your career, wouldn't it be interesting to see how many house fires you went to, or how many auto accidents you responded to? Believe me, it will be more than you ever imagined.

• Find a mentor. There is a lot to learn and you will probably not even become proficient at firefighting or being a paramedic until somewhere between your third and fifth year, depending on how busy a department you work for. There is a lot to learn and initially you may not even know the right questions to ask. A true mentor will tell you when you are screwing up and help you to find the right answers.
• Stay professionally fit. What do I mean by professionally fit? Get your hands on as many fire and EMS professional trade journals that you can and read, read, read. There is a lot to learn in this profession and it is constantly evolving and changing. The only way to stay ahead of the curve and advance is by reading and staying on top of the changes within the profession.

There is much more I can tell you as a new recruit, but you have worked hard to get where you are at. Don't let anybody take it away from you and constantly look toward advancing yourself and your career. When it is all over, you should be able to look back and say you made a difference.