A who-dunnit indeed. First, an explanation for absence, though it's my blog so I really shouldn't have to.
Being the perpetual student, I resumed my education by pursuing a Master's Degree in Occupational Safety and Health. What the HELL was I thinking? It's hard to be motivated to write a blog post when you're writing a thousand-plus words a week on topics like machine guarding, OSHA compliance, safety interlocks, etcetera etcetera etcetera. Yeah, yeah, I can hear you now... "no excuse" you say, and you're right. However, there it is. My excuse has been entered. Accept it or not, that's on you.
Still here? Good, now let's move on to something of substance.
Today's training was vehicle extrication, something near and dear to me. I guess the destructive nature of it, combined with the desire to help, just gets me revved. We started early, got out to the training grounds right away after roll-call and truck checks. Laid out the tools, fired up the pumps, and... the O-cutters on the driver's side of the rescue are missing the front handle! WTF, why is this tool still on the truck? What will the Worker's Comp investigator say when one of the firefighters gets hurt using this tool? "Claim not payable" due to preventable conditions; basically, you should have known better than to use it in the first place, being that it's broken.
Then I come to find out, yesterday's shift USED the tool, in that condition, to do their drill. Again, WTF??? We immediately took the cutters off the truck, replaced them with cutters off our second-due engine, and did the training. How hard was that? Not hard, probably about as difficult as making a pot of coffee. No, check that, it was way easier than making a pot of coffee, given the variables involved there. Dark roast, strong, weak, espresso, decaf, too much grounds, too little grounds, taking a cup while it's still brewing... Station wars have started over lesser things than coffee. But, I digress- it was a non-event to take the tool out of service, so what was the issue for yesterday's crew? God forbid they actually had to run an extrication call last night, and needed that very tool to save a life? How do you justify such complacency? What's the thought process involved in saying, "This tool is missing a critical piece of its basic design. I think I'll leave it in service on the front-line rescue truck."???
So, the title is the case of the Complacent Complainants. It just so happens, the crew that failed to do the right thing, is the crew that seems to complain about 'Everything'. Dishes get left in the dishwasher at shift change? They're bitching to the Captains. Fridge doesn't get cleaned out on Monday? They're bitching to the Captains. Truck left dirty after a long night of chasing alarms? You got it, they're bitching to the Captains. OH, but wait, they would NEVER do that themselves, right? WRONG, they are we, and we are they... that is, they make the same mistakes, errors, omissions; leave the same dishes, forget to empty the trash, don't wash the truck off... and guess who didn't clean out the fridge this past Monday? Not my shift, I can assure you of that.
OK, I've just wasted how much of your life, rambling about whatever... What's my point, right? It's this: If you're going to do something, do it. Recognize the safety hazards that should be blatantly obvious, and correct them IMMEDIATELY. Not 'next shift', or 'in the morning', those will always get pushed off and forgotten. Just freakin' do it. And don't be surprised when another crewmember gets in your shit for complaining about the little things, if you're going to be too complacent to take care of what actually matters. The job comes first, all the other stuff after.
If we can't do our jobs, what good are we? Just more government workers, fulfilling the stereotype.... What ammunition do we have to avoid layoffs, as are affecting so many of our Brothers and Sisters across this Nation? It's pretty damn hard to justify your existence when you can't do what you're getting paid for, so make sure you've got all the tools all the time. And that they all work WHEN you need them, not after its too late. Don't complain about the little things, just correct them. Don't let your legacy in this job be the failure you could have prevented.
That's it. I've rambled enough, and hopefully there's at least one whole thought stuffed in all those words. I promise to TRY to post more regularly, as if that really means anything at all.
Stay safe, take care of each other and take care of the job. In that order.
