“Hero”

As a firefighter I have always been extremely uncomfortable when someone referred to us as heroes. People say it out of respect or gratitude. But in fact very few of us are ever a hero. This label was assigned all of us that wear a uniform after 9/11. On 9/11 there were many that were truly and undeniably heroes. After 9/11 the public was so thankful for first responders that the title was bestowed on all of us. A hero is not someone that puts on a uniform, any uniform. For us that are firefighters, we are trained and equipped to deal with unusual and intense situations. It is our job to use our training, equipment, team work and communications to mitigate these situations. While many are challenging, few require a hero. The truth of the matter is that it’s our job and our duty to train, pursue and strive for perfection in our knowledge, skills, team work and communications so that a hero isn’t needed.?

A hero is a person that in spite of overwhelming odds and the very real possibility that it is an unsurvivable situation, then given the choice to flee or to selflessly, against overwhelming odds to go forward to attempt to save another. Making the choice to go, when every survival instinct is to flee.

On 9/11 there were many heroes both in uniforms and civilians. As an example of these true heroes I’ll use Captain Terrance Hatton to illustrate. The Captain was one of FDNY best and bravest, but we know he was a hero because he paused for a moment to say goodbye to his best friend an FDNY Lieutenant in the lobby of the World Trade Center, then lead his crew up the stairwell knowing they would most probably not return, but deciding to go because there was no one else. He or anyone of his crew could have turned and walked away or assisted the fleeing people leaving the lobby. This is just one of many heroic stories from that day.?

We all hope that if we are ever put into a situation of having to decide to go or flee, that we will have the character and fortitude to go forward, but in fact no one can ever say what they will do until that moment.?

I am not a hero, however, I have been blessed to work with some over the years. The heroes I have known would deny being a hero, saying they did what needed to be done and that they acted as anyone else would have in that situation.

I would caution responders to not get sucked into the hype. When someone starts to believe they are a hero, they will in fact put themself and their team at additional risk.

It’s also extremely dangerous to the mental state. If you raise your own status in your mind. In a short amount of time you will feel disappoint in yourself and unable to rise to the expectation placed on oneself. It is important to stay grounded and not get caught up in the hype. I’m not talking about pride. Pride is important. As responders we are highly trained professionals. We are expected to deal with and mitigate crisis continually and at times moving from one situation to another. It’s important that we stay focused and strive to do our best. “Our best” is not perfection. We are part of a team. A team is only as strong as it’s weakest member and this varies day by day, hour by hour and call by call. Our team preforms at its optimal efficiency when no one is operating as a Hero. I heard a Navy SEAL say that the US Navy SEALS are effective because they are highly trained, learn and adapt on the fly, they operate as a team with each member preforming a specific task on the team and above all else they are very good at communicating within the team.

Wellness, physical and mental is a choice. It is also a responsibility. Work to be your best and operate effectively in the team. We aren’t heroes. We are a highly trained professional team, that could be called on to do something heroic.?