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Honor, rather than blame the victims
While scrolling through the tributes on several blogs for the fallen brothers in Bridgeport, CT, I encountered more than one entry blaming the fallen for not monitoring their air more closely. I had to step away for a bit so I didn't put my fist through my monitor. Has anyone else seen these comments or felt similarly?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Norm Tindell on
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You are right. We should honor the fallen and then learn from what happened rather than criticize them. If we don't learn this lesson then we certainly deserve criticism ourselves.
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Permalink Reply by Paul Secker on
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Thanks Norm. There's a time to grieve and a time to learn from a tragedy. I certainly hope we're still in the grieving stage. Rest in peace to our Bridgeport brothers.
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Permalink Reply by Ernie Scheinert on
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I saw those comments on FB and was irritated as well, Paul. It seems awfully ignorant to assume that the air wasn't being monitored when there are so many things that can go wrong on any fireground. I am only a probie of about a month and a half and understand this. We should indeed honor these fallen brothers!!
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Permalink Reply by John on
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We were never in their shoes at the time of the tragic event so no we should not throw any blame, we should honor their sacrifice. They are our fallen Brothers and deserve better than that.
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Permalink Reply by Brittany Deweese on
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i have seen quite a few of these..it happenedwhen we lost two brothers from one of the surounding counties...automatically all the blame went to them.. i think people do it so they dnt have to pay out of there pocket for anything..
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Permalink Reply by Roy Walker on
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There are a thousand questions which will only be answered at the end of the investigation. Until that time speculation will be on the minds of some. Until we know the answers we should refrain from trying to out guess each other on this issue. Now is the time to honour the fallen and respect their sacrifice saving our questions until the truth is revealed and then learn from what has transpired do not criticize.
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Permalink Reply by Derek R. on
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ya beat me to it Roy.
As it was said, they died of smoke inhalation. Period. Why? Who knows for sure. We'll have to wait on that one.
Until then, keep doing what you do, and be safe doing it.
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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Unlike an apparatus rollover, where it has been determined that the driver and passenger were not belted in and some judgment or blame might be made, or at least commented on, there is insufficient evidence so far to begin to know what happened in Bridgeport.
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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I'm going to go with yes and no here.
First, I do agree that there is a time to mourn and a time to question. However, what one may see as a question/concern can be easily misconstrued as blame by another. (I'm speaking in general terms here, not just this incident specific) The notion of questioning is a natural reaction to try and answer the "WHY" and in most cases it is pertinent. Incidents such as this where a LODD occurred in a fire deserves the respect to await an official report before asking some questions, because many of those question may most likely be answered, whereas asking them now leads to speculation.
Now I agree that one should wait for an official report before asking such questions, but let's be honest here, by the time the NIOSH report comes out, this incident may not be as fresh. Such a report should be the time to question, but again, there will be some who feel the questioning is rehashing "blame". So to me it is a no win situation. What should be done is to look at all LODD incidents and learn from them.
As for the no part, goes into the second pair of LODD this week. When responding to a call claims the lives of FF's, I do think there is a good reason to question the "WHY". In a fire situation, conditions can change, unforeseen factors can come into play, and sometimes things just go wrong. In a LODD with it driving/response related, this is something that can be questioned because a response is going to occur much more often than a fire. Factors can come immediately to play there, seatbelts weren't worn (not that they may have prevented the deaths) and speed is a factor considering the times the rig rolled.
I do believe that like previous, blame should not be placed, because like a fire, the vehicle systems are checked, the accelerator could stick, brakes not work etc, but there are definate factors to learn from immediately, such as seatbelts. Such an event should also spark a memory immediately into all of us tto drive with Due Regard, and to simply understand, we are no good to anyone if we can't get to the scene safely.
(case in point, just look at how many threads popped up after the vehicle LODD)
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Permalink Reply by Brian Mackie on
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Right Paul.
Who are we to lay blame when we have absolutely no clue what exactly took place. Plenty of time for blaming after the investigation reveals what is to blame. There are certainly better people than us to handle the blaming part. Those who can get it right.
For now, we do have to, and will in fact honor the fallen. In many different ways, like talking about it, but the best way - in my opinion, is to do just like in the movie...
" by getting back on the god damn trucks " next time the alarm comes in, and doing the job we are expected to do. Only the next time, in honor - don't make the mistakes we THINK were made this time. Lets not be complacent with our tools, lets buckle the fn seatbelt, and lets not over react and lets just get there this time!
Lets all do that in honor of the fallen. Pretty simple concept if you ask me.
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Thanks Brian....I suppose that's why we are all part of the brotherhood...we get it!
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