Limitations. You've got to know your own....
Since I left Valhalla and came to the new place, I haven't seen much work. In fact, I haven't seen much of anything besides the inside of the station, the screen of my laptop, and textbooks for college classes. Needless to say, I'm getting rusty. It's been almost 9 months since I was truly responsible for knowing 'my' engine; I've been relegated to the back seat, for what seems like eternity. On the rare occasion that we do go train, it's more like a quiz than an informative or refresher session. I can't help but feel I'm expected to fail, and that I'm treated like I know nothing.
Don't get me wrong... I know it's my ultimate responsibility for knowing my job, my apparatus, and how I should be doing things. But, don't expect me to know intuitively how things are done here, when we NEVER practice them as a team. It took a good while for my crew back in Valhalla to 'gel', to work together seamlessly. And it took a lot of practice, which we did frequently. Here? Not so much. I'm supposed to just 'know' how the Captain wants it done, how the Engineer is going to operate the truck, which line to pull, what tool to grab, etc........ Train me, and I will excel. Don't, and I will languish. I know my limitation: I don't have the motivation to go do all this crap by myself, when I won't be doing it myself in the real world. If no-one else wants to go train, how do you expect ME to be the only motivated person? I can't practice OUR way of doing things by MYSELF, right?
Enough said.
What I started to write about, what gave me the idea for this post, is something my father-in-law did today. See, he's disabled, blind and stubborn, and lives with my Wife and me. He refuses to accept his limitations, and he's going to get himself killed. He's lucky, truly lucky, it didn't happen today...
We live on a generous piece of property, with lots of grass to mow. The grassy areas are divided by a stream, something just big enough to be hazardous if you're not careful. Not too deep, unless you're down by the dam and bridge, where it's around 8 feet on the downstream side of the waterfall. Yep, waterfall. It's a little bit of heaven in my own back yard.
So, how did Dad almost kill himself? He's got very limited eyesight, can't see distance reliably, and can't make out detail at all. He CANNOT drive a motor vehicle. That would be a major limitation, right? If you can't see details, like the edge of the stream, you shouldn't be driving a motor vehicle right next to it... Especially not a motor vehicle with two razor-sharp blades, turning at a high rpm... and even more so when that motor vehicle with said blades offers absolutely no protection from roll-overs or tipping, and the blades don't have an auto-shut-off feature.
For those of you reading ahead, yes, you got it... Dad drove the BRAND NEW lawn tractor off the edge and right into the stream. I haven't even had the chance to mow with it yet; my Wife keeps beating me to it, mowing while I'm stuck at work. The mower has been used TWO times before today. Not sure if it's going to be used after today...
Now, of course you're asking, why the hell was a disabled (can't walk without a walker), blind man riding a lawn tractor on the edge of a stream where he could fall in and drown? EXCELLENT question. I'd like to know too; I'm at work today, and the Wife is in another state aiding her mother, who just had a massive stroke. Hell, we even talked about NOT MOWING today, because it's rained constantly for the past week and the ground is still too wet...
So, I get the phone call this evening. Dad wants a credit card number... to pay the tow truck. What tow truck? The one he called BEFORE calling ME or his daughter, to tow the mower out of the stream. He waited until the wrecker had come and gone, the mower is back in the garage, and there's nothing I can do from here but fume... Dad tells me he went into the stream, and almost drowned. He had to crawl -yes CRAWL- back to the house to get the phone, change his clothes, call the tow truck, have the mower put back in the garage. Oh, and he lost one of his shoes. The ones that are specially-made for his feet, due to his medical conditions. I hope that it's still there in the water, since they're so heavy. It probably didn't wash away, yet. I guess tomorrow will tell how much damage is done, and if the mower's a loss. If it is, so be it. The old man is alive, not injured (or so he says), and the material loss is not as important.
The rant is leading somewhere, I promise. Dad knows very well that he cannot drive a motor vehicle, due to his limited eyesight. Yet he choses to ignore this fact, and push the issue. Today's incident very easily could have been a tragedy; Dad easily could have been trapped under the mower when it went in, and he is not strong enough to lift it. He would have drowned, or if not, would have suffered hypothermia and THEN drowned. And because of where we live, no one would have seen him until I get home from work tomorrow morning. All this because he doesn't want to admit that he can't see well enough to safely operate the lawn tractor.
Limitations exist, and we MUST learn to exist within them. Failing to do so will eventually be fatal. Whether it's your life, or the life of one of your crew. Is that really worth it? I don't think so. Know yourself, know your own limitations, and know the limitations of your crewmembers. Our safety depends on it.
Stay safe, take care of each other, and take care of the job. In that order.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
The case of the Complacent Complainants...
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Owning it
A while back, at that little slice of Valhalla I used to call work (before I came to this place, the new Valhalla), I got myself yelled at. I did something I shouldn't have, something I knew was not right when I did it. And, I got in trouble for it.
My station was having a 'shift war'. You've been there; the little things build up, and the blame-shifting gets worse until the shifts are battling like gladiators. Everything that goes wrong becomes, "A shift didn't take out the trash" and "B shift left the dishes in the dishwasher", "It wasn't broken until A shift touched it", "Those idiots on B shift screwed it up"... No matter what, no one want to take the blame, because they can just point to the other guys. Everything is "Their fault". Classic blame shifting, finger-pointing, responsibility-shirking shift war.
A big part of the back-and-forth between the shifts was practical joking stuff, like freezing uniform items left out after shift change. You leave a uniform shirt in the day room? It's going to be in the freezer, completely encased in ice, when you get back to work in the morning. It takes hours to thaw it out. And, if the guy doing it has a little experience and finesse, your badge is proudly displayed through two inches of crystal clear ice. There's an art to freezing a shirt, and we had it down to Michelangelo levels of perfection. Problem is, A shift likes to take things too far. We heathens on B shift would freeze anything you left laying around: ID cards (needed for the computers), job shirts, uniform shirts, hats, if it fit in the freezer we put it there. In a hefty layer of ice.
A shift followed our lead, freezing our stuff. Both shifts were guilty, and we both had those 'kids' that just couldn't seem to pick up after themselves. There was always something left out, so just about every shift, something got a little chilly treatment. Then A shift had to escalate the battles; they started going into our gear lockers and personal lockers to get things to freeze. The war had gone too far.
The Captains met. The warnings were given. Thou Shalt Not Freeze Another's Belongings. Or Else. It just so happened, I was on leave the day this was handed down from on high. Didn't get the memo. So, in to work comes yours truly, like nothing has changed. I got the word from my guys not to mess with the A-shifters' stuff. Fine, I can deal with it if those crybabies don't want to play nice. Eff 'em. Doesn't mean I can't have a little fun with my own guys, right?
Come mid-morning, one of my guys left their ID card on the desk in the computer room. GAME ON! I snatched that sucker up, popped a metal bowl under the tap, and filled it half way. I put the ID card on the surface of the water, and into the freezer it went. Now, for the uninitiated, the method is this: fill a bowl half way, and put the item in it. Freeze it. Then come back and fill it the rest of the way. Freeze that. The item is now solidly frozen in the middle of two thick layers of ice, clearly visible for the misery of the owner. Works like a charm.
Here's where our 'hero' gets in trouble. I hear my Captain announce, in a pissed-off tone, "All personnel to the kitchen". I was the last to arrive, and took a seat at the table with my guys. Cap stormed in and threw the bowl on the table. My hand was up before it even came to a rest. I knew. "My office. Now." was all the Cap said. I went, knowing I was in deep. He was PISSED.
I got yelled at for at least five minutes. I apologized. I got yelled at some more. I had to promise I wouldn't do it again. I did.
So, what's the point? I screwed up, I knew it, and I owned it. Personal responsibility is huge, and we tend not to trust those who shirk their mistakes. If I can't trust you to be honest about your mistakes, how can I trust you to have my back when the stakes are truly important? When my life, our lives, are hanging in the balance? How can I trust that you actually put the work into learning your job, checking that truck, or that SCBA? Do I want a dishonest person backing me up? How about on an EMS call in someone's home? Should I have to worry that you might pocket their belongings when no one is looking? Hell no, to all of the above.
I've heard that the definition of integrity is doing the right thing in a difficult situation, even if no one else will ever know. I absolutely agree. I also think that it's doing the right thing by owning your mistakes. Case in point, a guy came to work for us and on his second shift he made a mistake. He failed to close and latch a compartment door on the side of the truck. We took the truck from the station up to the training academy, a couple of blocks, and on arriving, I noticed the compartment open. No big deal. However, the 'Hot Stick' electric current detector was missing. We knew this guy was the last one to touch it, last one to touch the compartment. He could easily have just said, "I thought I latched it" and we'd have forgotten it by the end of the day. Instead, he tried twenty different ways to blame the open compartment on "someone else". This mysterious "someone else" had opened it, had failed to latch it, had come behind him in the fifteen seconds between his closing it and us leaving the station, and undone his work. Sure. And I'm the proud owner of ocean-front property in Utah. Mmm Hmm. I've questioned his work ever since. I love the guy like a brother now, he'll give you the shirt off his back and ask what else you need. But I ALWAYS double check his work. I just have that doubt. Had he simply owned up to not properly latching the compartment, it would have been over. It was his second day on the job, for Christ's sake. He'd have caught a break. But deny it? Blame someone else who couldn't have done it? Guilty for life.
In the Fire Service, we place a very high value on trust and responsibility. It's much easier to keep that trust by owning up to a mistake, learning from it, and teaching others how not to make it themselves. Own it. Don't let it own you.
By the way, for those worried, the Hot Stick was returned by a kind Samaritan. Just about the time we were pulling back into the station to start our search for the missing item. Oh, and that shift war? We got over it eventually. A shift never did grow up, B shift just proved the truth; B stands for Better. We were the better people, and let it go. They still don't empty the trash all the time, still leave the dishwasher full going off-shift. The driver opposite me still leaves the tank-to-pump and tank-fill valves open when the pump packing is leaking like a sieve. We just let it go. We owned up to the fact that we are responsible, professional adults, and we do stupid stuff now and then ourselves. Better to just let it go than have them point the finger right back at us. We own our mistakes.
Stay safe, take care of each other, and take care of the job. In that order.
My station was having a 'shift war'. You've been there; the little things build up, and the blame-shifting gets worse until the shifts are battling like gladiators. Everything that goes wrong becomes, "A shift didn't take out the trash" and "B shift left the dishes in the dishwasher", "It wasn't broken until A shift touched it", "Those idiots on B shift screwed it up"... No matter what, no one want to take the blame, because they can just point to the other guys. Everything is "Their fault". Classic blame shifting, finger-pointing, responsibility-shirking shift war.
A big part of the back-and-forth between the shifts was practical joking stuff, like freezing uniform items left out after shift change. You leave a uniform shirt in the day room? It's going to be in the freezer, completely encased in ice, when you get back to work in the morning. It takes hours to thaw it out. And, if the guy doing it has a little experience and finesse, your badge is proudly displayed through two inches of crystal clear ice. There's an art to freezing a shirt, and we had it down to Michelangelo levels of perfection. Problem is, A shift likes to take things too far. We heathens on B shift would freeze anything you left laying around: ID cards (needed for the computers), job shirts, uniform shirts, hats, if it fit in the freezer we put it there. In a hefty layer of ice.
A shift followed our lead, freezing our stuff. Both shifts were guilty, and we both had those 'kids' that just couldn't seem to pick up after themselves. There was always something left out, so just about every shift, something got a little chilly treatment. Then A shift had to escalate the battles; they started going into our gear lockers and personal lockers to get things to freeze. The war had gone too far.
The Captains met. The warnings were given. Thou Shalt Not Freeze Another's Belongings. Or Else. It just so happened, I was on leave the day this was handed down from on high. Didn't get the memo. So, in to work comes yours truly, like nothing has changed. I got the word from my guys not to mess with the A-shifters' stuff. Fine, I can deal with it if those crybabies don't want to play nice. Eff 'em. Doesn't mean I can't have a little fun with my own guys, right?
Come mid-morning, one of my guys left their ID card on the desk in the computer room. GAME ON! I snatched that sucker up, popped a metal bowl under the tap, and filled it half way. I put the ID card on the surface of the water, and into the freezer it went. Now, for the uninitiated, the method is this: fill a bowl half way, and put the item in it. Freeze it. Then come back and fill it the rest of the way. Freeze that. The item is now solidly frozen in the middle of two thick layers of ice, clearly visible for the misery of the owner. Works like a charm.
Here's where our 'hero' gets in trouble. I hear my Captain announce, in a pissed-off tone, "All personnel to the kitchen". I was the last to arrive, and took a seat at the table with my guys. Cap stormed in and threw the bowl on the table. My hand was up before it even came to a rest. I knew. "My office. Now." was all the Cap said. I went, knowing I was in deep. He was PISSED.
I got yelled at for at least five minutes. I apologized. I got yelled at some more. I had to promise I wouldn't do it again. I did.
So, what's the point? I screwed up, I knew it, and I owned it. Personal responsibility is huge, and we tend not to trust those who shirk their mistakes. If I can't trust you to be honest about your mistakes, how can I trust you to have my back when the stakes are truly important? When my life, our lives, are hanging in the balance? How can I trust that you actually put the work into learning your job, checking that truck, or that SCBA? Do I want a dishonest person backing me up? How about on an EMS call in someone's home? Should I have to worry that you might pocket their belongings when no one is looking? Hell no, to all of the above.
I've heard that the definition of integrity is doing the right thing in a difficult situation, even if no one else will ever know. I absolutely agree. I also think that it's doing the right thing by owning your mistakes. Case in point, a guy came to work for us and on his second shift he made a mistake. He failed to close and latch a compartment door on the side of the truck. We took the truck from the station up to the training academy, a couple of blocks, and on arriving, I noticed the compartment open. No big deal. However, the 'Hot Stick' electric current detector was missing. We knew this guy was the last one to touch it, last one to touch the compartment. He could easily have just said, "I thought I latched it" and we'd have forgotten it by the end of the day. Instead, he tried twenty different ways to blame the open compartment on "someone else". This mysterious "someone else" had opened it, had failed to latch it, had come behind him in the fifteen seconds between his closing it and us leaving the station, and undone his work. Sure. And I'm the proud owner of ocean-front property in Utah. Mmm Hmm. I've questioned his work ever since. I love the guy like a brother now, he'll give you the shirt off his back and ask what else you need. But I ALWAYS double check his work. I just have that doubt. Had he simply owned up to not properly latching the compartment, it would have been over. It was his second day on the job, for Christ's sake. He'd have caught a break. But deny it? Blame someone else who couldn't have done it? Guilty for life.
In the Fire Service, we place a very high value on trust and responsibility. It's much easier to keep that trust by owning up to a mistake, learning from it, and teaching others how not to make it themselves. Own it. Don't let it own you.
By the way, for those worried, the Hot Stick was returned by a kind Samaritan. Just about the time we were pulling back into the station to start our search for the missing item. Oh, and that shift war? We got over it eventually. A shift never did grow up, B shift just proved the truth; B stands for Better. We were the better people, and let it go. They still don't empty the trash all the time, still leave the dishwasher full going off-shift. The driver opposite me still leaves the tank-to-pump and tank-fill valves open when the pump packing is leaking like a sieve. We just let it go. We owned up to the fact that we are responsible, professional adults, and we do stupid stuff now and then ourselves. Better to just let it go than have them point the finger right back at us. We own our mistakes.
Stay safe, take care of each other, and take care of the job. In that order.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Some things just never go away, like a bad rash and a bad politician...
I'm just back from reading Chris Kaiser's "rant' over on Life Under the Lights. I responded there, but thought it would be good to bring it here, too. I touched on this topic a while back. So, I'm giving you a reading assignment: Go to Chris's blog, read his 'rant', then come back and tell me your thoughts. I've experienced lots of petty crap in my professional life, whether Fire, EMS or Military. There's always some napoleonic little bastard (Roach, I'm looking right at you, pal. You know who you are.) that wants to rule with an iron fist, but lacks the basics of leadership and charisma to motivate people without fear. We all hate those people. Likewise, I'm sure we feel equally as strong about people who want to be in charge just because it strokes their egos, and have little regard for the overall welfare of the organization or the customers we exist to serve in the first place. So, below is the rant I left on Chris's blog. Not that it solves any problems, but at least MY pressure-relief valve has operated for a little bit;
I came out 'here' from California. That means I came from an all-paid, professional (don't even go there, I'm not debating that term here) EMS system with Paramedics on every ambulance on 9-1-1 response. I learned EMS as an EMT, Firefighter and Paramedic, and I learned that if you don't value the patient FIRST, you're not going to be around very long.
That said, 'out here' is the East Coast, Jersey to be exact. I was horrified to learn that a vast majority of this state (the nation's most populous per square mile) is covered by VOLUNTEER EMS. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing, if properly managed. Volunteers can, and do, provide excellent EMS in many places. I didn't work in one of those places. I worked fire-based EMS on a military installation, surrounded by volunteer EMS squads. All of their little fiefdoms and petty kingdoms fought, both internally and amongst each other. No one went to calls- too many petty arguments over who was senior, who's doing what to whom, which squad is better, whose area a call is in... and many many more BS little things.
We, the full-time, staffed Fire-based EMS crew, sat in the station and listened. We listened as calls for dyspnea, chest pain, unconscious subjects, vehicle accidents with injuries, trauma, and yes, total crap calls too, went unanswered. I distinctly remember listening to the dispatch as this call went out:
"Attention *town first aid, respond to * care center for a person choking"
no response
TWO MINUTES PASS
"Attention *town first aid, respond to * care center for a person choking, second request"
no response
ANOTHER TWO MINUTES PASS
"Attention *town first aid, third request, respond to * care center, CPR in progress, requesting mutual aid"
I didn't hear the outcome of that call, but it's blatantly obvious to those of us in the business. That patient died. Not because there was no ambulance available, not because other calls had taken the volunteers away from their town. Because no one bothered to respond. The petty bullshit ran all the potential responders away long before this call came in, and too many egos were involved. This is a town that has significant tax basis for a full-time, paid EMS division. They get well over a thousand calls a year. There are major roadways going through town, a very large industrial area with numerous high-risk processes, a number of convalescent/care facilities, a very busy rehab hospital... they have the need for staffed EMS. So, why not go paid? Because someone would have to give up control of their little piece of the kingdom, and that means they wouldn't be the "big boss" anymore. That simple. They don't want to let go of control.
I know, I know. Why doesn't the public do something? They don't know, don't care, don't want to bother with it, don't want to pay more taxes, don't think it's necessary because THEY don't need the EMS right then and there. AND, NJ has a law preventing litigation against the volunteers. AND, the state "First Aid Council", an all-volunteer group that... well, I don't really know what they do besides prevent forward-thinking and progressive EMS from coming into NJ. It goes on and on and on... what it boils down to is exactly what your rant is based on- a lack of concern for patient care as the primary reason for existence.
So, all that to say, "I agree with you, I feel your pain, and I hope everything gets better soon." I don't see that happening here in Jersey. Too many people have to keep their little kingdoms, have to exercise power because they can, are afraid of change because it's "change".
Stay safe, take care of each other, and take care of the job. In that order.
__________________________________________________________
So, there it is. I'd really like to hear your thoughts on the subject. I'm bound by my limited experiences in life, and everyone has a slightly different perspective to offer. That's how we learn and grow, something I would think all of us need to continue doing.
As some friends of mine would say, "Y'all c'mon back now, Y'hear?"
I came out 'here' from California. That means I came from an all-paid, professional (don't even go there, I'm not debating that term here) EMS system with Paramedics on every ambulance on 9-1-1 response. I learned EMS as an EMT, Firefighter and Paramedic, and I learned that if you don't value the patient FIRST, you're not going to be around very long.
That said, 'out here' is the East Coast, Jersey to be exact. I was horrified to learn that a vast majority of this state (the nation's most populous per square mile) is covered by VOLUNTEER EMS. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing, if properly managed. Volunteers can, and do, provide excellent EMS in many places. I didn't work in one of those places. I worked fire-based EMS on a military installation, surrounded by volunteer EMS squads. All of their little fiefdoms and petty kingdoms fought, both internally and amongst each other. No one went to calls- too many petty arguments over who was senior, who's doing what to whom, which squad is better, whose area a call is in... and many many more BS little things.
We, the full-time, staffed Fire-based EMS crew, sat in the station and listened. We listened as calls for dyspnea, chest pain, unconscious subjects, vehicle accidents with injuries, trauma, and yes, total crap calls too, went unanswered. I distinctly remember listening to the dispatch as this call went out:
"Attention *town first aid, respond to * care center for a person choking"
no response
TWO MINUTES PASS
"Attention *town first aid, respond to * care center for a person choking, second request"
no response
ANOTHER TWO MINUTES PASS
"Attention *town first aid, third request, respond to * care center, CPR in progress, requesting mutual aid"
I didn't hear the outcome of that call, but it's blatantly obvious to those of us in the business. That patient died. Not because there was no ambulance available, not because other calls had taken the volunteers away from their town. Because no one bothered to respond. The petty bullshit ran all the potential responders away long before this call came in, and too many egos were involved. This is a town that has significant tax basis for a full-time, paid EMS division. They get well over a thousand calls a year. There are major roadways going through town, a very large industrial area with numerous high-risk processes, a number of convalescent/care facilities, a very busy rehab hospital... they have the need for staffed EMS. So, why not go paid? Because someone would have to give up control of their little piece of the kingdom, and that means they wouldn't be the "big boss" anymore. That simple. They don't want to let go of control.
I know, I know. Why doesn't the public do something? They don't know, don't care, don't want to bother with it, don't want to pay more taxes, don't think it's necessary because THEY don't need the EMS right then and there. AND, NJ has a law preventing litigation against the volunteers. AND, the state "First Aid Council", an all-volunteer group that... well, I don't really know what they do besides prevent forward-thinking and progressive EMS from coming into NJ. It goes on and on and on... what it boils down to is exactly what your rant is based on- a lack of concern for patient care as the primary reason for existence.
So, all that to say, "I agree with you, I feel your pain, and I hope everything gets better soon." I don't see that happening here in Jersey. Too many people have to keep their little kingdoms, have to exercise power because they can, are afraid of change because it's "change".
Stay safe, take care of each other, and take care of the job. In that order.
__________________________________________________________
So, there it is. I'd really like to hear your thoughts on the subject. I'm bound by my limited experiences in life, and everyone has a slightly different perspective to offer. That's how we learn and grow, something I would think all of us need to continue doing.
As some friends of mine would say, "Y'all c'mon back now, Y'hear?"
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Why can't we all just get along?
Rodney King asked that question in a press briefing after his videotaped beating at the hands of LAPD and the CHP. (I'd love to post the video, but the owner charges, and I'm cheap)
King had it right...sort of. A united front, working together against a perceived threat, can accomplish much more than divisive actions. Now, before you start thinking I'm taking King's side, let me be perfectly clear. Rodney King had it coming, and he's lucky to be alive. There's A LOT more to that video, and the whole situation, than most people know. And that goes to our own situation in the fire service as well. Let's take the South Fulton, TN scenario for example. I'm sure you're aware of what happened. (If not, you should be. Just Google it, there's a wealth of info, and I don't feel like putting up links. I'm having a lazy day.)
The news reports focused on the fact that firefighters let a home burn to the ground, refusing to take action, because the homeowner hadn't paid a $75.00 annual fee. A black eye for the fire service.
The news of this incident went national, with sound bites and video showing the fire department's refusal to act. Another black eye for the fire service.
The fire service quickly responded, internally, on blogs, forums and chat rooms. Every person with a keyboard seemed to weigh in, either pro or con, taking sides on the very polarizing issue. We proceeded to beat each other up, call each other names, defame the firefighters involved, ridicule the South Fulton Fire Department, and generally act like asses. And I do mean WE. Everyone, save for a tiny few, added to the monumental volume of chatter. A couple of people kept their level headedness (Mick Mayers, for instance) in the fray, but even old friends went at each other over this issue. Dave Statter and Rhett Fleitz had a little feud going on for several days, and in the end I think they just agreed to disagree.
So, what's my point? The public sees all of this... no, not all of it, just the sensationalized snippits the media reports. I am a firm believer in perception.You wouldn't show up to your first day on a new job wearing crappy clothes (unless told to do so), so why would you let the public see your worst side? If we, as a professional service, can't organize and present a unified front, how do we expect to overcome issues like the lack of funding and support in our towns and cities?
It seems to me, in my own humble little opinion, that what the fire service needs right now is for all of us to get along. To look at the bigger picture, to put our best uniform on and go forward to the public as professionals. Screw the arguments about who's professional, to hell with paid vs. volunteer crap, safety vs. aggressive arguments can pound sand. If we, as brothers and sisters in service to our community, can't come together and agree to show the public that we are worthy of their support, then maybe we don't deserve to ride the shiny red trucks any more.
For me, the fire service has never been about being cool. Or about being a social organization. I got into this business twenty-three years ago because I wanted to serve my community. The cool part was an added bonus. The social aspect of my job is also an added bonus. But, twenty-three years later, I still get fired up to go on calls, to aid my fellow human beings, and to make a difference in someones day. That's how I measure my success: Did I do something that made another person's day better, at that moment when they truly needed the help. What about you? Why do you wear that uniform, that pager, carry that radio? If you don't do it for the good of the public, maybe you're doing it for the wrong reasons. And maybe that's what's wrong in the profession. The emphasis on community service, on the greater good, isn't what it was when I was 17. But that's a rant for another post.
So until then, stay safe, take care of each other, and take care of the job.
In that order.
King had it right...sort of. A united front, working together against a perceived threat, can accomplish much more than divisive actions. Now, before you start thinking I'm taking King's side, let me be perfectly clear. Rodney King had it coming, and he's lucky to be alive. There's A LOT more to that video, and the whole situation, than most people know. And that goes to our own situation in the fire service as well. Let's take the South Fulton, TN scenario for example. I'm sure you're aware of what happened. (If not, you should be. Just Google it, there's a wealth of info, and I don't feel like putting up links. I'm having a lazy day.)
The news reports focused on the fact that firefighters let a home burn to the ground, refusing to take action, because the homeowner hadn't paid a $75.00 annual fee. A black eye for the fire service.
The news of this incident went national, with sound bites and video showing the fire department's refusal to act. Another black eye for the fire service.
The fire service quickly responded, internally, on blogs, forums and chat rooms. Every person with a keyboard seemed to weigh in, either pro or con, taking sides on the very polarizing issue. We proceeded to beat each other up, call each other names, defame the firefighters involved, ridicule the South Fulton Fire Department, and generally act like asses. And I do mean WE. Everyone, save for a tiny few, added to the monumental volume of chatter. A couple of people kept their level headedness (Mick Mayers, for instance) in the fray, but even old friends went at each other over this issue. Dave Statter and Rhett Fleitz had a little feud going on for several days, and in the end I think they just agreed to disagree.
So, what's my point? The public sees all of this... no, not all of it, just the sensationalized snippits the media reports. I am a firm believer in perception.You wouldn't show up to your first day on a new job wearing crappy clothes (unless told to do so), so why would you let the public see your worst side? If we, as a professional service, can't organize and present a unified front, how do we expect to overcome issues like the lack of funding and support in our towns and cities?
It seems to me, in my own humble little opinion, that what the fire service needs right now is for all of us to get along. To look at the bigger picture, to put our best uniform on and go forward to the public as professionals. Screw the arguments about who's professional, to hell with paid vs. volunteer crap, safety vs. aggressive arguments can pound sand. If we, as brothers and sisters in service to our community, can't come together and agree to show the public that we are worthy of their support, then maybe we don't deserve to ride the shiny red trucks any more.
For me, the fire service has never been about being cool. Or about being a social organization. I got into this business twenty-three years ago because I wanted to serve my community. The cool part was an added bonus. The social aspect of my job is also an added bonus. But, twenty-three years later, I still get fired up to go on calls, to aid my fellow human beings, and to make a difference in someones day. That's how I measure my success: Did I do something that made another person's day better, at that moment when they truly needed the help. What about you? Why do you wear that uniform, that pager, carry that radio? If you don't do it for the good of the public, maybe you're doing it for the wrong reasons. And maybe that's what's wrong in the profession. The emphasis on community service, on the greater good, isn't what it was when I was 17. But that's a rant for another post.
So until then, stay safe, take care of each other, and take care of the job.
In that order.
Monday, October 4, 2010
The cash cow has run out of money-colored milk...
A city near where my children reside with their mother (don't get me started about "her") recently addressed the topic of PPE purchase at their city council meeting. While the majority of those present seem to get it, there were two in attendance who feel the firefighters should have to purchase their own turnout gear. Here's the link to this story over on The Fire Critic. Xenia, for those who aren't familiar, is a medium-sized city in central Ohio, about 20 miles west of Dayton.
This, just as the Oak Brook, IL fiasco recently posted, is a trend we need to be prepared for. Any chief officer, firefighter or purchasing agent who is faced with this sort of situation needs to be exceptionally well-informed and prepared to defend themselves. What we're missing is the comparisons made by the dissenting council members. "Die makers buy their own tools, carpenters buy their own tools..." Neither of those are safety equipment. Instead, why don't they propose the firefighters buy their own hoses, axes, nozzles, hell, even fire apparatus? That's what they just said!!! People who don't understand our profession are making decisions that directly affect our jobs, our safety, our lives. It's up to US to educate them, show them where they're wrong and why. No one else is going to do it, nor are they equipped for the task. I am not going to rely on some 'bean counter' to adequately justify my safety gear, just like I wouldn't try to justify their "Count-O-Matic 3000 Automatic Legume Processor System". Hell, I couldn't begin to explain what the damn thing does, just like they can't explain how turnout gear gets damaged by known carcinogens, or how hydraulic fluid is very bad for the fibers. Or how crawling through a run-down, vacant (is it REALLY vacant?) house searching for the squatter whose campfire spread to the structure, can cause some pretty significant wear-and-tear on bunker gear?
Let's face it. We are no longer the sacred, the untouchable. The "warm and fuzzy" of post-9/11 support has worn off, and municipal administrators are starting to see our budgets as over-inflated cash cows. How many firefighters have been laid off, how many houses closed or 'browned out'? Xenia's chief, at the meeting I mention, says the city has laid off six firefighters. That's two per shift, based on their website. So the department is running with 11 fire suppression personnel to cover 21 square miles, and 24,000+ people. Now, those 11 people have to cover 4,500+ calls annually, 75% being EMS-related. Do you think there's some increased wear-and-tear on the firefighters' turnout gear? Give them a few good fires, and where's that gear at now? Think it'll last the full ten years NFPA allows? How about the recommended five years for replacement? What are the chances several sets will need to be replaced inside that five-year window? At a cost of $1900 each, as quoted in this meeting? I, for one, don't have the liquid assets to just run out and buy new gear... and what about the three months required for delivery? Are the firefighters supposed to 'make due' with damaged gear for those three months while they wait for their new gear, putting themselves at an increased risk? Putting the City at an increased risk of liability? I applaud the Mayor of Xenia for pointing out that the police officers in her town don't pay for their own vests, and she seemed rather incensed at the suggestion her cops had to pay for their vests. The measure of purchasing firefighter's turnout gear passed, with only the two dissenters voting against, but what does it really tell us? This city is not unique. In fact, I hold that it is quite probably the norm in terms of administrative "get-it"ness. The people who make the choices about budget tend to look at the paper side, the numbers, and don't equate the human aspect of their decision. How much would it cost the city if one of their firefighters was burned because of old, shoddy gear? Or if the gear failed because the firefighter purchased cheaper stuff? I can assure you, if we have to pay for our own gear, someone is going to find the absolute cheapest stuff they can, and spend the extra money on something else... like bills, a mortgage payment, anything. There's guys out there who WILL do that. We all know one or two. But, that's a topic for another day.
I know we all get it. The issue here is how do we make the OTHER PEOPLE get it? Education, education, education. We have to be the advocate, we have to speak up loudly, clearly, and concisely in support of our profession. That's the only thing that's going to save our 'cash cow' hides from losing more positions, losing more houses, and putting the public and our Brothers and Sisters at an increased risk. WE have to be the educated ones, so that when we're approached in the supermarket and asked by Joe Citizen why his taxes are going up to pay for our budget, we can do more than just shrug. That's a teachable moment, folks, and we have got to start capitalizing on every one of them if we want our jobs to survive this economy.
Well, enough out of me for now. Thanks for reading, and until next time, don't forget to make the most of every public contact you have.
Stay safe, take care of each other, and take care of the job.
In that order.
This, just as the Oak Brook, IL fiasco recently posted, is a trend we need to be prepared for. Any chief officer, firefighter or purchasing agent who is faced with this sort of situation needs to be exceptionally well-informed and prepared to defend themselves. What we're missing is the comparisons made by the dissenting council members. "Die makers buy their own tools, carpenters buy their own tools..." Neither of those are safety equipment. Instead, why don't they propose the firefighters buy their own hoses, axes, nozzles, hell, even fire apparatus? That's what they just said!!! People who don't understand our profession are making decisions that directly affect our jobs, our safety, our lives. It's up to US to educate them, show them where they're wrong and why. No one else is going to do it, nor are they equipped for the task. I am not going to rely on some 'bean counter' to adequately justify my safety gear, just like I wouldn't try to justify their "Count-O-Matic 3000 Automatic Legume Processor System". Hell, I couldn't begin to explain what the damn thing does, just like they can't explain how turnout gear gets damaged by known carcinogens, or how hydraulic fluid is very bad for the fibers. Or how crawling through a run-down, vacant (is it REALLY vacant?) house searching for the squatter whose campfire spread to the structure, can cause some pretty significant wear-and-tear on bunker gear?
Let's face it. We are no longer the sacred, the untouchable. The "warm and fuzzy" of post-9/11 support has worn off, and municipal administrators are starting to see our budgets as over-inflated cash cows. How many firefighters have been laid off, how many houses closed or 'browned out'? Xenia's chief, at the meeting I mention, says the city has laid off six firefighters. That's two per shift, based on their website. So the department is running with 11 fire suppression personnel to cover 21 square miles, and 24,000+ people. Now, those 11 people have to cover 4,500+ calls annually, 75% being EMS-related. Do you think there's some increased wear-and-tear on the firefighters' turnout gear? Give them a few good fires, and where's that gear at now? Think it'll last the full ten years NFPA allows? How about the recommended five years for replacement? What are the chances several sets will need to be replaced inside that five-year window? At a cost of $1900 each, as quoted in this meeting? I, for one, don't have the liquid assets to just run out and buy new gear... and what about the three months required for delivery? Are the firefighters supposed to 'make due' with damaged gear for those three months while they wait for their new gear, putting themselves at an increased risk? Putting the City at an increased risk of liability? I applaud the Mayor of Xenia for pointing out that the police officers in her town don't pay for their own vests, and she seemed rather incensed at the suggestion her cops had to pay for their vests. The measure of purchasing firefighter's turnout gear passed, with only the two dissenters voting against, but what does it really tell us? This city is not unique. In fact, I hold that it is quite probably the norm in terms of administrative "get-it"ness. The people who make the choices about budget tend to look at the paper side, the numbers, and don't equate the human aspect of their decision. How much would it cost the city if one of their firefighters was burned because of old, shoddy gear? Or if the gear failed because the firefighter purchased cheaper stuff? I can assure you, if we have to pay for our own gear, someone is going to find the absolute cheapest stuff they can, and spend the extra money on something else... like bills, a mortgage payment, anything. There's guys out there who WILL do that. We all know one or two. But, that's a topic for another day.
I know we all get it. The issue here is how do we make the OTHER PEOPLE get it? Education, education, education. We have to be the advocate, we have to speak up loudly, clearly, and concisely in support of our profession. That's the only thing that's going to save our 'cash cow' hides from losing more positions, losing more houses, and putting the public and our Brothers and Sisters at an increased risk. WE have to be the educated ones, so that when we're approached in the supermarket and asked by Joe Citizen why his taxes are going up to pay for our budget, we can do more than just shrug. That's a teachable moment, folks, and we have got to start capitalizing on every one of them if we want our jobs to survive this economy.
Well, enough out of me for now. Thanks for reading, and until next time, don't forget to make the most of every public contact you have.
Stay safe, take care of each other, and take care of the job.
In that order.
Friday, September 24, 2010
How did it get to be like this?
I left a certain waterborne 'military' service's operational ranks because they 'risk-managed' everything to death. A call would come in for rescue, something of a time-critical nature, and we'd have to spend the victim's precious moments by having a 'touchy-feely risk management assessment session' down on the dock before even heading out to attempt the rescue. The State Police's Marine unit inevitably got there first and did OUR job for us. No way to run an emergency service! Back in "my day", when we got the call, we ran for the boat and headed out in the general direction immediately. We did our risk assessment on the way, planned on the way, and got on scene quickly. I saved a number of boats that would have sunk or capsized if not for a rapid response. That means the people on board would have been in the water- usually without life jackets- until we got there... how many of you can swim with all your clothes on, much less with gas, oil and lots of other crap covering the surface of the water? Trust me, it really sucks getting a mouthful of gas and oil covered water when you're trying to breathe!
The discussion over on Backstep Firefighter brought this up, because it worries me that the fire service is headed that direction. If we allow the 'risk managers' and legal worries to drive our decisions, we're going to end up just like that waterborne organization: ineffective and untimely, fighting fires from the outside when we could have made a rescue with minimal risk. This profession is inherently dangerous. Face it, that's what drew a lot of us to it. We are mostly all adrenaline junkies in one form or another. The answer to our LODD problems is not the blanket refusal to enter a burning structure just because it's vacant, nor is it to fight all fire from the outside. Our real problem is education and experience. We need a lot of both, and it seems they are in short supply these days.
For experience, we're simply not getting the number of fires our elders did. Sprinklers, detection systems, public awareness, no-smoking laws, inspections and proactive fire departments have all served to diminish the likelihood of fire. Consumer protection laws have advanced enough that many products don't burn as readily as they did years ago. We are just not going to fires like we did "back in the day". This means experience in real-world conditions is scarce among the younger generation of firefighters, so they must rely on their education and training to get them through.
And that brings me to the other point; education. Budgets are slim at best, training money is a dried-up trickle in most departments, and shortages in manpower means its' difficult to get time off to attend training- even if you're paying for it out-of-pocket. In house training is good, but it's dependent on the motivation of the officers and crew, their level of experience and expertise, and the availability of 'stuff' to train with. Five guys who don't want to be there can make it pretty hard for a probie to get anything out of the company drills. Sure, there's all kinds of underlying issues in that one scenario- management, leadership, mentoring, personal motivation, dedication, professionalism. That's a post for another day... or many other days. I love doing training; it gets me out of the station, refreshes my memory, keeps me sharp, and makes the day go by. Plus, good training is excellent for camaraderie and esprit de corps. We always 'gel' better as a crew after a good day of training, similar to how a crew is after working a good job together. Education is an integral part of our job.
So, you're wondering, what does that rant have to do with the topic at hand? If we're not training, we're not gaining experience. The two together make up the base for how we operate on scene. If we've never been exposed to real fire conditions, real heat, and real life-or-death situations, we're not going to have a base to pull from when true emergencies come up. How's a young firefighter going to know what the smoke is telling them, if they've never experienced it before? Up to that point, it's all theory and conjecture. Do they know how to read the building? What kind of construction they're looking at, and how the fire's progression is affecting that building? How likely is the structure to collapse in the next five minutes? Ten minutes? Is there enough time to mount a rescue attempt, or conduct a primary search for victims? Are they going above the fire, and what do they know what that means in terms of risk?
The changes in the fire service can be positive, or negative. It's up to us to push them in the right direction, and to shape the future of our beloved profession. So get out there and train like it's the real thing! Teach your probies the right way, the safe way. Not the shortcuts, not the 'I just do this instead' methods. Their lives depend on it, and so does yours.
Stay safe, take care of each other, and take care of the job.
In that order.
The discussion over on Backstep Firefighter brought this up, because it worries me that the fire service is headed that direction. If we allow the 'risk managers' and legal worries to drive our decisions, we're going to end up just like that waterborne organization: ineffective and untimely, fighting fires from the outside when we could have made a rescue with minimal risk. This profession is inherently dangerous. Face it, that's what drew a lot of us to it. We are mostly all adrenaline junkies in one form or another. The answer to our LODD problems is not the blanket refusal to enter a burning structure just because it's vacant, nor is it to fight all fire from the outside. Our real problem is education and experience. We need a lot of both, and it seems they are in short supply these days.
For experience, we're simply not getting the number of fires our elders did. Sprinklers, detection systems, public awareness, no-smoking laws, inspections and proactive fire departments have all served to diminish the likelihood of fire. Consumer protection laws have advanced enough that many products don't burn as readily as they did years ago. We are just not going to fires like we did "back in the day". This means experience in real-world conditions is scarce among the younger generation of firefighters, so they must rely on their education and training to get them through.
And that brings me to the other point; education. Budgets are slim at best, training money is a dried-up trickle in most departments, and shortages in manpower means its' difficult to get time off to attend training- even if you're paying for it out-of-pocket. In house training is good, but it's dependent on the motivation of the officers and crew, their level of experience and expertise, and the availability of 'stuff' to train with. Five guys who don't want to be there can make it pretty hard for a probie to get anything out of the company drills. Sure, there's all kinds of underlying issues in that one scenario- management, leadership, mentoring, personal motivation, dedication, professionalism. That's a post for another day... or many other days. I love doing training; it gets me out of the station, refreshes my memory, keeps me sharp, and makes the day go by. Plus, good training is excellent for camaraderie and esprit de corps. We always 'gel' better as a crew after a good day of training, similar to how a crew is after working a good job together. Education is an integral part of our job.
So, you're wondering, what does that rant have to do with the topic at hand? If we're not training, we're not gaining experience. The two together make up the base for how we operate on scene. If we've never been exposed to real fire conditions, real heat, and real life-or-death situations, we're not going to have a base to pull from when true emergencies come up. How's a young firefighter going to know what the smoke is telling them, if they've never experienced it before? Up to that point, it's all theory and conjecture. Do they know how to read the building? What kind of construction they're looking at, and how the fire's progression is affecting that building? How likely is the structure to collapse in the next five minutes? Ten minutes? Is there enough time to mount a rescue attempt, or conduct a primary search for victims? Are they going above the fire, and what do they know what that means in terms of risk?
The changes in the fire service can be positive, or negative. It's up to us to push them in the right direction, and to shape the future of our beloved profession. So get out there and train like it's the real thing! Teach your probies the right way, the safe way. Not the shortcuts, not the 'I just do this instead' methods. Their lives depend on it, and so does yours.
Stay safe, take care of each other, and take care of the job.
In that order.
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