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The No Fail Mission
The risk is great, the cost high, and the task is your responsibility. Ron Ayotte
I recently saw a picture that was posted on Facebook that came from an article that was on the Stars and Stripes website. For those who don’t know, Stars and Stripes is the military’s version of USA Today, featuring news and information from all branches of the armed forces. It operates from within the Department of Defense but is editorially separate from it.
The picture was of a severely wounded Marine who had a tattoo on his right side that read “for those I love I will sacrifice”.
The story was about a medevac rescue mission in Khandahar Province, Afg.... The crew of the Blackhawk medevac helicopter, codenamed Dustoff 59 had made three attempts to land under heavy fire to evacuate the wounded, they were successful on the fourth attempt while under fire from small arms and rocket propelled grenades. Their tenacity saved the lives of those warriors defending out freedom. They potentially sacrificed their own lives to save others.
“It is a no-fail mission. If we don’t fly, they don’t live,” pilot and Chief Warrant Officer 4 Stephanie Truax said. “When it’s your time, it’s your time. I don’t think any of us worry about dying. It’s what we see, day in and day out. War is hell.”
In 2009, Defense Secretary Robert Gates issued an order that all military medevac crews transport critically wounded personnel from the battlefield to a military trauma center within the “golden hour”. Today’s crews have an average flight time of 39 minutes. How did they get to this point? Performing the mission and training.
We can look at these actions and draw a comparison to the fire service. When the bells ring or the tones go off, we are a lot like the crew of Dustoff 59. If we don’t respond within a timely manner, lives and property can and will be lost. Although we do our best to avoid injuries on the fireground and go home to our loved ones at the end of the tour, there are times where, unfortunately, it is our time.
There are those in the fire service who have made the statement that “it’s not our emergency”. They look at firefighter injuries and LODDs and say that we are far too aggressive, that we should write off potential victims and property based on observations, or that we should just fight a fire from the outside and just protect exposures. They may think this is fine and dandy, but what does this do for the family trapped above the fire, or the businessman seeing his life’s work go up in flames? What does this do for our profession’s image? Are we going back to the days of the fire marks, just protecting the lives and property of the insured?
There are times that we can do everything right and the outcome will not be good. Taking the attitude that “it is not our emergency” doesn’t cut it. It became our emergency the moment the box rang in or when the 911 call was made. We swore to protect life and property the day we took the oath to get on the Fire Department, whether it is career, call or volunteer. Nobody goes to work and says “I think I’ll go out injured or be a LODD today”.
We have to be vigilant, keep an eye out on our brothers and sisters and realize our limitations. We are not supermen and superwomen, neither is anybody else. Nobody goes to the firehouse with the intention of getting hurt or dying.
A couple of years ago, FDNY Lt. Ray McCormack stated at an FDIC conference that “the best way to saves lives and property is to put the fire out”
What are my own thoughts to add to Lt. McCormack’s statement?
Every fire incident should be looked at as a “no fail mission”. Lives depend on it.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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Bill, there is one critical difference between evacuating wounded soldiers and fighting fires. EVERY wounded soldier's life has intrinsic value.
The same cannot be said about the fuels at every fire response. "No Value Occupancies" exist. Taking extreme risks for well-involved fires in No Value Occupancies makes no sense on any level.
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Permalink Reply by Bill Carey on
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The article was written by Ron Ayotte and does not call for members to take "extreme risks for well-involved fires in No Value Occupancies."
Bill Carey
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Permalink Reply by Wade Seely on
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I think that there is a misunderstanding of the phrase,"not our emergency". To me it means to keep a cool head. What do most people do in an emergency situation, they freak out, hyperventilate, and make poor decisions. When responding to help someone with their emergency we can not afford to have these problems. Hence, the it is not our emergency scenario. It does not mean that we don't care or are going to just stand back and watch a building burn down. It just means that we are going to to everything we can in a controlled, well thought out manner.
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Permalink Reply by Moose on
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Well Said Wade and I agree. "Its not our emergency" means exactly what you said, there is no need for us to get upset, excited, worried or angry because its not our house burning, its not our car wrapped around the tree. Saying this allows us to maintain a cool head and approach the scene in a capacity that will allow us to do something to help instead of just being one of the bystanders running around and causing distractions.
I also agree with Ben. Every fire needs a good size-up and a good understanding of risk benefit analyses. Risk nothing to save nothing, risk little to save little. Its a tough decision to make when someones home or business is burning to the ground but once the fire progresses past a certain stage there is no saving a building. In todays world thats what insurance is for, 9 times out of 10 the insurance companies total the building anyway, even after we go in and kick ass and save the building, so why put our lives on the line to save a building that will be leveled by insurance companies anyway???
There has to be a line drawn, safety must prevail over property and limits need to be set. Im willing to lay down my life to save someone but not to save a building that will be in a landfill in a week before I am even burried...its not worth it.
All my best to the armed service members everywhere, you guys and gals are the true heros and I respect you all for what you do everyday. Thank you all.
Brian Jones
Captain, Carlise Fire Dept.
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Bill, I understand who wrote it, but I responded to you since you posted it.
I also understand that the article doesn't call for anyone to take "extreme risks for well-involved fires in No Value Occupancies." The problem is that the article doesn't specifically exclude that, either. A lot of people who read the articles here and elsewhere will see this along with the national debate and conclude that based on Ron's advocacy for protecting property, this is another of those "go inside no matter what" articles. I understand that it is not, but does every reader? I wouldn't want to be their lives on it.
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I agree. It goes with the "Garbage collectors don't get excited when they see a pile of trash on the sidewalk" mentality.
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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I can agree with the article and the comments about a good size-up etc, but my bet is Bill wanted to show a contrast in thinking as well. This thread was submitted at the same time as the thread on the address at the Volunteer Chief Officer Synposium by Ken Farmer found here... http://my.firefighternation.com/forum/topics/those-fires-maybe-andy...
On one end you have a push for a good size up with proper interventions and on the other, what could equate to a sit back and watch, so you really have completely different mindsets.
If such is the case, I do have to side with Ron. After all, and as my comments on the other thread note, it is one thing to talk about education and so forth, but then take an approach of sit back and not utilize that education. Whereas here, you do have a fire service educator and firefighter looking at the picture of what our job truly does entail....and does go beyond the "disposable buildings" and sit outside approach as Farmer wants to take.
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