Scapegoating the fire service - the tragedy of Grenfell.
In a sickening but not surprising set of circumstances, a report on Grenfell has placed the burden on the emergency services, especially the fire service. To steal a comparison I saw somewhere else, that's like blaming the midwife for the birth of Katie Hopkins.
Maybe, as the report states, there were lapses in leadership and more preparation and training could have been done. But is that the benefit of hindsight talking? Most of us will never know what it's like to operate at a senior leadership level for an emergency service. And they probably weren't prepared for the highly flammable cladding no one wants to take responsibility for.
The ground response was to a terrible disaster that never should have happened, and everyone involved did their best to prevent the loss of life. Sadly, not everyone could be saved.
Those fire fighters and other emergency responders will carry that day and its consequences with them for the rest of their lives.
These are people who go to work every day without knowing whether they'll come home again, or what mental or physical wounds they might sustain. Not only does this report fail to recognise them as the heroes they are, it tries to damn them. Scapegoat them for someone else's negligence.
Instead of passing the buck and conveniently relieving themselves of responsibility, the people who make the political decisions that caused this disaster have a better choice. They could work in the voluntary services like the retained firefighters, special constabulary or NHS volunteers and learn what they have to contend with, taking action to educate and listen to their communities and critics, preventing further tragedies in the future by working as a team.
Instead of sitting in a leather chair behind closed doors, they'd learn from the vastly different perspectives of being on the front line, by walking in the shoes of the people they're supposed to represent.
Maybe then, they'll start to truly understand what our services are up against. And maybe, they'll start being accountable for the toxic decision making that risks lives.
Maybe.
Director - Loftingh.nl
5 年Where is the blame for the Government, who keep allowing building upwards but giving no consideration on how to rescue people if anything goes wrong the council building inspector(s) who should have realised that the builders were cutting corners,? the builders,? the final signoff inspectors, where it seems like there were brown envelopes being passed around But you NEVER, EVER blame the emergency services, who put their lives on the line every day keeping us safe . Lets hope one day the house of Wasteminster catches fire and all the rubbish MP's in there are trapped. Their self serving opinions might change then. Waar ligt de schuld van de regering, die blijft toelaten naar boven toe te bouwen maar geen aandacht schenkt aan het redden van mensen als er iets misgaat de gemeentelijke bouwinspecteur (s) die zich hadden moeten realiseren dat de bouwers hoeken aan het snijden waren, de bouwers, de laatste signoff inspecteurs, waar het lijkt alsof er bruine enveloppen worden rondgeleid Maar u geeft NOOIT, nooit de schuld aan de hulpdiensten, die hun leven elke dag op het spel zetten om ons veilig te houden. Laten we hopen dat op een dag het huis van Wasteminster in brand vliegt en alle afval MP's erin zitten. Hun zelf dienende meningen kunnen dan veranderen.
Exploration Consultant - Copper, Gold, Lithium, Anything
5 年a disaster 15 years in the making, but 99% of the blame put on the firefighters over a period of minutes to hours.
Key Account Technical Manager @ Dar | IEng, MIMechE, PGDip, AIOSH
5 年LFB Supermen sensitive to lessons learnt and constructive criticism Tim ?
Director at Vitale Digital
5 年As a father of a 22 year old firefighter I am extremely proud of the work our emergency service do every day. I wonder who these politicians will call when they are caught in a fire ?!