Keeping up this blog is harder than I thought it would be. I'm always too busy, too tired, or there's too many other things I need to attend to. I should be polishing my boots now, but I decided to wash all the cloths and rags so I'm also doing laundry... so I'll do it in a bit, while watching the hockey game. So now it's Blog Time!
There are some things that are givens that come with a career in Emergency Services. Some of the stereotypes hold true, some are past traditions, some are negative/positive, some are mystical, some are downright legendary... Police or Fire, when you work under stressful conditions with a bunch of Type-As banging heads, some interesting stuff comes out. Having had the unique experience of being a cop, then switching to fire, has unveiled some interesting observations. The hard part is trying to figure out where to start!
Let's start with the things we have in common. Cops and Firefighters are public servants, to serve the community, make it a better place, to protect and serve. Blah blah blah. Whatever slogan you choose, it's all the same. We are city employees, overworked and grossly underpaid for the amount of skills required to do our jobs effectively. But for both of these professions, you don't get into it for the money. You do it because you possess an innate call to duty. I can't explain it, and if you really need to ask, you won't understand. We who wear the uniform as protectors willingly enter situations when the shit hits the fan, everything is going sideways, and there is a risk of death or bodily harm. But we have tools of the trade, and we learn to use them – whether it be a gun, baton, firehose, or set of irons... We walk in when everyone is running out, and we do it not because we have to, but because we want to.
Now because of the nature of the job, the personalities of the people who choose to do it, and the darkness that often surrounds the calls we go to as cops or firefighters, civilians sometimes don't understand how we deal with things. That creates stress, and it's no coincidence that the divorce rate in the Police and Fire Services are amongst the highest of all professions. I guess that's why during our first week, our Training Officers asked how many of us were married – half put up their hands. "Good luck", they laughed, and proceeded to give us the name and number of the best divorce lawyer in town. Yikes!
Camaraderie. Brotherhood. Fraternity. Join the police or fire service, and you have a ready-made family. That's what I was looking for when I first became a cop. I figured we all wore the same uniform, had the same goals to serve and protect the community and make the world a better place. Riiiiiigggghhhttt! But the duties of a police officer require clear independent thinking, and the ability to adapt to a changing situation which is often stressful. So it's quite feasible to work alone much of the time, or if you are an RCMP officer in a one-Mountie town, you are alone ALL of the time. So police officers, unless you have a long-term partnership, are quite self-sufficient. Firefighters are opposite. We train together, eat together, sleep together (NO, not in the same bed!) and fight fires – together. This is exactly what they are instilling into us during Recruit Training. When the situation gets dicey, we don't start freelancing. We fall back on our meticulous training... hours of drills, repeating the same Job Performance Requirements (JPRs) over and over, until it becomes second nature. Of course, I have yet to put my training to task in the real world, and I have yet to even meet the crew I have been assigned... but I know that THEY WILL BE THERE FOR ME.
A major drawback to belonging to such a closed-off world in Police and Fire is the Beehive. Buzz, buzz, buzz... lots of activity, looks like a gigantic clusterfuck, and if you disturb it, look out! One of my TOs gleefully admits to enjoying the aftermath – he just gives the beehive a whack, takes a step back, and watches the shitshow that results! Yes, that's another little something cops and firefighters have in common. They love to gossip. It's ridiculous, actually. On the outside, macho-man-superhero-defender-of-justice. On the inside, it's high school locker talk of "he-said-she-said". Police are bad, but firefighters are worse. They don't even try to hide it. Telephone, telegraph, tellafirefighter. It's a time-honoured tradition that will not go away, so my choice is to try to fly under the radar, or just duck and cover. Kinda hard when you are the 4th female on the floor, and a visible minority to boot. Great.
Next post we'll look at some of the major differences between Police and Fire. Friendly rivals? Foes? Colleagues or competitors, hmmm. But I'm starting to fade so that's my cue to sign off...
TD
There are some things that are givens that come with a career in Emergency Services. Some of the stereotypes hold true, some are past traditions, some are negative/positive, some are mystical, some are downright legendary... Police or Fire, when you work under stressful conditions with a bunch of Type-As banging heads, some interesting stuff comes out. Having had the unique experience of being a cop, then switching to fire, has unveiled some interesting observations. The hard part is trying to figure out where to start!
Let's start with the things we have in common. Cops and Firefighters are public servants, to serve the community, make it a better place, to protect and serve. Blah blah blah. Whatever slogan you choose, it's all the same. We are city employees, overworked and grossly underpaid for the amount of skills required to do our jobs effectively. But for both of these professions, you don't get into it for the money. You do it because you possess an innate call to duty. I can't explain it, and if you really need to ask, you won't understand. We who wear the uniform as protectors willingly enter situations when the shit hits the fan, everything is going sideways, and there is a risk of death or bodily harm. But we have tools of the trade, and we learn to use them – whether it be a gun, baton, firehose, or set of irons... We walk in when everyone is running out, and we do it not because we have to, but because we want to.
Now because of the nature of the job, the personalities of the people who choose to do it, and the darkness that often surrounds the calls we go to as cops or firefighters, civilians sometimes don't understand how we deal with things. That creates stress, and it's no coincidence that the divorce rate in the Police and Fire Services are amongst the highest of all professions. I guess that's why during our first week, our Training Officers asked how many of us were married – half put up their hands. "Good luck", they laughed, and proceeded to give us the name and number of the best divorce lawyer in town. Yikes!
Camaraderie. Brotherhood. Fraternity. Join the police or fire service, and you have a ready-made family. That's what I was looking for when I first became a cop. I figured we all wore the same uniform, had the same goals to serve and protect the community and make the world a better place. Riiiiiigggghhhttt! But the duties of a police officer require clear independent thinking, and the ability to adapt to a changing situation which is often stressful. So it's quite feasible to work alone much of the time, or if you are an RCMP officer in a one-Mountie town, you are alone ALL of the time. So police officers, unless you have a long-term partnership, are quite self-sufficient. Firefighters are opposite. We train together, eat together, sleep together (NO, not in the same bed!) and fight fires – together. This is exactly what they are instilling into us during Recruit Training. When the situation gets dicey, we don't start freelancing. We fall back on our meticulous training... hours of drills, repeating the same Job Performance Requirements (JPRs) over and over, until it becomes second nature. Of course, I have yet to put my training to task in the real world, and I have yet to even meet the crew I have been assigned... but I know that THEY WILL BE THERE FOR ME.
A major drawback to belonging to such a closed-off world in Police and Fire is the Beehive. Buzz, buzz, buzz... lots of activity, looks like a gigantic clusterfuck, and if you disturb it, look out! One of my TOs gleefully admits to enjoying the aftermath – he just gives the beehive a whack, takes a step back, and watches the shitshow that results! Yes, that's another little something cops and firefighters have in common. They love to gossip. It's ridiculous, actually. On the outside, macho-man-superhero-defender-of-justice. On the inside, it's high school locker talk of "he-said-she-said". Police are bad, but firefighters are worse. They don't even try to hide it. Telephone, telegraph, tellafirefighter. It's a time-honoured tradition that will not go away, so my choice is to try to fly under the radar, or just duck and cover. Kinda hard when you are the 4th female on the floor, and a visible minority to boot. Great.
Next post we'll look at some of the major differences between Police and Fire. Friendly rivals? Foes? Colleagues or competitors, hmmm. But I'm starting to fade so that's my cue to sign off...
TD
1 comment:
I'm looking forward to your next entry, when you have the time and energy to translate it to text. I've heard stories, and heard opinions about fire and police, and I've only just begun my training! I think things are getting better with the new recruits and probies working as a team, despite apparent differences in policies when it comes to handling a scene. Maybe i'm just way out of the water here. But the "old-timers" still hold the old tradition of cops and "bucketheads" don't get along. It's a shame really. I think it's just downright silly.
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