Sarah J McCrea-Dameron

The Golden Ticket

https://weheartit.com/entry/14967991

A few members of my team and I just finished a week of interviews for the position of firefighter trainee. We are looking for more than thirty people to join our fire family for the next 25 to 30 years. Who do we hire? These are big decisions not only for our department but also for the candidates seeking the position. In the 50+ people we interviewed this week, I met the future Fire Chief. I also met their Senior Deputy, another Deputy Chief or two, certainly a few Battalion Chiefs, several Captains, an EMS Educator, two or three Fire Training Officers, and lots of Engineers and Paramedics. I could see their future in our organization while they spoke of what they have done to prepare for the job of Firefighter Trainee and why they want to join the service.

Selfishly, it brought me great hope for the immediate, mid- and long-range futures of our organization. It’s easy to get caught up in the drama of the day, whether external or internal politics and drama. My days blur with shifting priorities, internal and external customer needs, striving for excellence, strategic planning, lack of funding, chasing accreditation, and personnel management. It can be challenging to find victories and moments of celebration amongst all the still-have-to’s and why’d-you-do-it-that-way’s. I had the privilege of spending over thirty hours listening to one ambitious and driven candidate after another. I had the privilege of listening to their stories, to their lessons learned along their quest for the position of firefighter trainee with our organization. I had the privilege of learning about our organization through the young-hopeful’s of our community, and it was inspirational, giving me the boost I needed to keep plugging away and getting work done. When I was on the streets, I found purpose on each and every call. I saw the relief in my patient’s eyes when I walked in the door and I slept soundly knowing I made a difference.

Unselfishly, I know the value of the offer they seek from us, to be a firefighter trainee. Getting onto the fire department is the metaphorical equivalent to the Golden Ticket from Willy Wonka, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime and has the potential to change a person’s life forever, perhaps for generations to come. The fire service has given me all that I have. Throughout my time in the service, my organization has provided me with the benefits, opportunities, and sustenance to raise my children, obtain college degrees, gain one certification after another, promote, travel, and live a life of fulfillment both in salary and purpose. I have acquired a second family and made life-long friends. If that isn’t the Golden Ticket, I don’t know what is. I am eternally grateful for my Golden Ticket, and like Willy Wonka, will carefully select those that will care for my organization after my last days because I love this place, Oompa Loompas and all.

Sarah J McCrea-Dameron

Choose the Hard Way to Breathe Easy

photo credit: https://from2005toeternity.wordpress.com/

Let’s face it, life is hard…if you’re living it right. The Austrian poet and novelist Rainer Maria Rilke said, “The easy path leads to the hard life, but the hard path leads to the easy life”. This has been my experience, most certainly. Seldom, if ever, has greatness come from any easy decision or easy chore in my life. Those things that mean the most to me and that have proven to be the most rewarding have taken great sacrifice and perseverance to achieve.

For example, getting into the fire service is no easy task but worth every minute of effort, I promise. Many fire departments are seeking candidates that have their EMT certification and fire science degrees. Better yet are the candidates that have survived a firefighter academy and have experience in first response either as an EMT or volunteer/wildland firefighter. This means that many of our candidates have already dedicated years of their lives to becoming a firefighter, in the hopes of being given the chance to go through our fire academy. It’s still no guarantee, but it’ll be worth it in the end.

The fire academy is no easy task, but worth every ounce of the blood, sweat, and tears sure to be lost during the experience. Ours is a twenty-two-week academy during which the recruit earns their state firefighter, hazardous material awareness, and advanced EMT certifications. They also learn about our values and culture, our strategies and tactics, and prove themselves time and again both mentally and physically. Twenty-two weeks of grueling tests and evaluations with the lingering and impending thought of potential failure and termination at every turn. It’s tough, but it’ll be worth it in the end.

Being a firefighter is no easy task, but worth every holiday away from family, every lost night of sleep, every sore back and stiff knee, every life lost for the chance to save another. It’s a career with purpose and honor, comradery and teamwork. It’s not easy to not only experience death and destruction, but to also be expected to stop the loss, save all viable life, and prevent any further injury or damage from happening, all within minutes. Firefighters are professional problem solvers and the pressure to always know what to do in every situation is enormous, especially because so much usually at stake. But it’s worth it in the end.

Being an administrator of a fire service agency is harder than I ever imagined it would be. As a firefighter, my focus was on the community and my crew. As an administrator, it is the community and the entire department, all divisions. With limited funding, aged resources, and political tensions, most days are littered with “no’s” and “not right now’s”, which are far better than the “never’s” and “what are you thinking’s”. It brings me great joy to know that my job is to serve the community through the hands and hearts of firefighters. Through it all, even though it has only gotten harder, it’s worth it.

The hard path has made my life easy, filled with purpose, pride, family, and security. And for that I am grateful, as I breathe easy.

Sarah J McCrea-Dameron

9-1-1 Dispatchers, the HEROES you don’t see

https://www.co.morrow.or.us/sheriff/page/communication-center-9-1-1

I’ve been in the fire service for over twenty years. A little over 6 years ago, I moved into an administrative role and started learning more about the various divisions of the department, other than Operations or Suppression, including but not limited to: Training, Administration, Logistics, Prevention, and Fire Communications. My first assignment was the Emergency Medical Services Quality Improvement Coordinator (EMS QIC). In this role, one of the many tasks and responsibilities included investigating customer/patient complaints or incident concerns and would involve reviewing the incident from time of 9-1-1 call through to final patient care disposition.

All those years in the field, I communicated with dispatchers on the daily. I would listen intently to their incident dispatch, where they provided essential information I needed to ensure I knew where I was going and what I was going to encounter. They were there for me when I needed to request additional resources, or help getting more information from the 9-1-1 caller, or provide telemetry to the receiving hospital. They were not only my lifeline if I ever needed help, but also the neural network that made the whole system work.

But it wasn’t until I was in administration that I began to gain a better understanding of the breadth of what they actually did every day. I would come to learn that the dispatching side of the house is actually fun for them, the part of their day that they look forward to. Until I started listening to the 9-1-1 calls in the EMS QIC role and privileged with the responsibility of the Fire Communications Division, I did not fully appreciate their knowledge, skills, and abilities…as well as their perseverance, resiliency, and compassion.

I thought I had it rough when I ran those tough calls as a firefighter/paramedic. You know what I’m talking about…they still haunt my dreams. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t drive past that intersection, or that apartment building with the pool, or that highway offramp. They all hold the memories and ghosts of those I touched, some I helped and others I watched drift away, always doing my best. But it turns out, 9-1-1 calltaking is much harder and tougher than anything I have experienced.

The panicked caller drops into the 9-1-1 calltaker’s ear, fearful for their life or the life of a loved one. They need help right now. Over the phone, with the limited sense of hearing and the gift of talking, 9-1-1 calltakers gather the address, phone number, and general understanding of what the emergency might be within minutes. All the while, they provide reassurance that help is on the way and life saving instructions for situations such as but not limited to: cardiac arrest (dispatch aided CPR makes a HUGE difference in the outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims), allergic reactions (epi-pen administration), respiratory distress (inhaler administration), obstructed airways, drownings, baby deliveries, etc. etc. They save lives every single day…

The firefighters and EMTs that are dispatched arrive most often 6-8 minutes later, after the caller has been reassured that help is on the way and has been given instructions to help the person they are concerned for (themselves or otherwise). The firefighters and EMTs don’t realize that the person they encounter when they arrive on scene was actually MUCH more agitated, panicked, fearful, and anxious just minutes earlier. The firefighters and EMTs don’t realize the luxury they have in being able to SEE and physically TOUCH the patient to more accurately determine what is wrong and how to fix it. The firefighters and EMTs don’t realize the importance of the CLOSURE they experience when they treat and transport the patient to the hospital, transferring a potentially stable (or hopefully at least improving) patient. Even the closure of knowing they did all that they could is something…

The 9-1-1 calltaker? They’ve, in the meantime, taken 8 more calls, one after the other. The callers have vacillated between the nagging knee pain that has been going on for months to the panicked mother who just found her toddler face down in the pool. Sometimes, when they just can’t take one more call, they might find a quiet place to cry, to mourn, to release. Meanwhile, their teammates are busy taking call after call and so they hurry back to help with the load.

I used to be that firefighter that took the 9-1-1 calltaker/dispatcher for granted, it was out of ignorance. Now, I respect them more than my words can express and I try to protect and provide for them with the limited resources we are granted. Perhaps, if people understood their value and worth, we would be able to hire enough staff so they didn’t have to work overtime or so they could take a breather between tough calls. Perhaps, if people could acknowledge and appreciate the Heroes you don’t see, the FIRST First Responders…?

Sarah J McCrea-Dameron

Recruiting for the Fire Service, do you have what it takes?

Image from https://exactsports.com/blog/building-grit/2016/04/11/

The fire service is hiring. Across the country, courageous men and women with a commitment to a life of service are needed to fill the rank of firefighter.

Firefighters are professional problem solvers that must be able to mitigate emergencies of all types and sizes. We have kept the title of firefighter because it defines the foundation of our response model and service, but we do it all. We have training in vehicle extrication, emergency medical response, swift water rescue, fire suppression, hazardous materials, and more. Obtaining skills in such a variety of disciplines requires constant training and unending devotion to your craft.

Firefighters are occupational athletes that must be able to swing heavy tools, drag and control water-filled hoses, break down doors, tear out walls, and move unconscious patients. These tasks are often completed while wearing a “human sauna suit” (aka turnouts), SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus), and carrying tools totaling anywhere from 60-100 lbs. Physical fitness, both strength and endurance, is a necessity not a luxury.

Firefighters are team players that must be able to work with others to accomplish their mission in stressful situations. They must respect authority and be dependable. They must earn the respect of their teammates so that their teammates know they can trust them even in the hardest, darkest, and most dangerous of circumstances. They must be resilient because they will “see it all” over the course of their career. They are their “brothers’ keeper” and must watch over each other to ensure they all make it home safely at the end of every shift, both physically and mentally.  

Finally, firefighters are public servants that must be empathetic and compassionate to their customers, the community, at every interaction. They will see their neighbors and friends in their most vulnerable moments and must demonstrate absolute professionalism and confidence at all times.

Firefighters have grit, “unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger”, do you have what it takes?