In the fire service we are always stressing speed. Tones go off and we run. Flying down the road the radio squawks out “Step on it, fire is progressing”. On scene we hear “hurry up and stretch that line”, “get that ladder up quickly”. Working an accident where there is entrapment the captain yells “hurry up, get that roof flapped”.

It seems that everything we do revolves around speed and quickness. But is speed and quickness helping or hurting us?

Our body is governed by hormones. Our nervous system is comprised of the sympathetic and parasympathetic system. The Sympathetic nervous system governs our fight or flight response. When we are presented with a stressful situation hormones are pumped through our body to prepare us. It secretes acetylcholine, which activates the great secretion of adrenaline (epinephrine) and to a lesser extent noradrenaline (norepinephrine) from it. These hormones affect the cardiovascular system and raises our heart rate.

So what does that mean to us as firefighters? We have all seen the firefighter whose eyes seem to gloss over when the tones go off. They get so excited and only have one thought on their mind . . . must get to fire! They get tunnel vision to the point that they see or think of nothing else. If you haven’t worked or responded to someone like this yet you may want to look in the mirror because it could be you.

To let ourselves become so caught up in the adrenylin and excitement of the call is nothing but an invitation to disaster. What we do is dangerous and as such dictates that we must have our full mental faculties intact.

So how do we slow ourselves down?

To begin with we must have knowledge, training and experience. The more comfortable we are doing a job the less stressful it is. Take a couple seconds to take a few deep slow breaths. Calm yourself down and think for a second about what needs to be done and how you are going to do it. Yes speed is important, but only if you are doing the right thing. There is no benefit in doing the wrong thing no matter how quickly you do it.

There have been many discussions regarding exceeding the speed limit while responding to the station or scene verses the amount of time gained by doing so. In most cases you are only talking just mere seconds. Does this miniscule amount of time give you as a responder that great of an advantage that you need to jeopardize the safety of yourself, your crew and the public?

Most times things can be done faster and better by doing them at a slower more controlled pace. Try this experiment at your next training session. Set up a simple EMS call where you need to set up a NRB w/ oxygen. Have one crew work as fast as they possibly can to get everything opened and hooked up and have the other team work at a nice controlled pace and see who gets done faster. I think you may be surprised.

The crew that is working like a bat out of hell will have jerky spastic movements and will probably drop the NRB a time or two trying to rip the package open and get it stretched out. The crew working a little slower will be smooth and methodical and get it done in the same amount of time (or sooner).

Now as you are standing back looking at this, which one presents a better, more professional image to the patient and bystanders? How much does your demeanor affect the patient? If you are calm and reassuring that will be transferred to the patient and they will not be as stressed out either, but if you are frantic the patient will pick up on that vibe too which will elevate their stress level to the moon.

Then try the same experiment with either catching & hooking up a hydrant or pulling a line. Does speed gain us any advantage? Will it cause us to fumble around or mishandle equipment? Will we forget to open a value or grab the right tools? Doing things quickly is great, but first and foremost should be doing things competently.

In our endeavors to provide the best possible service to our patient and community, we may want and need to slow down just a little. Get the training to make us comfortable with what we are doing so we can work at a smooth and methodical pace. Professionalism will increase as will public perception of us.