When I do conference presentations I ask my attendees to pause, take a step back, and really take a moment to look at our profession from the outside. I ask them to leave the stations and the lifestyle we take for granted behind and really give some retrospective thought as to what we do and who we are.
For this article, I will ask the readers to do the same.
Moral and ethical decay. You see it every time you watch or read the news; another person of apparent good character and moral strength has fallen to the media wolves that seem bent on proving heroes, and people of pure intent and goodness, are nonexistent. If they cannot base such an angle on pure fact then they can skew the story in such a manner so as to contort reasonable doubt.
Tom Brady and deflate-gate. Josh Duggar and Subway’s Jared Fogel in their sex scandals. Roger Clemens and steroids. Mel Gibson’s Antisemitism. General Petraeus and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s infidelities. Pope Benedict XVI was a Nazi. Even Mother Teresa’s legacy has not been immune to public attack after her passing. I am betting as the Ashley Madison “Life is Short. Have an Affair,” scandal develops, more will fall. This writing is not to proclaim the guilt or innocence in any of these cases, but to illustrate the larger problem we face as a fire service and individually as firefighters.
No longer do we, or our children, have John Wayne, the Lone Ranger, Neil Armstrong, Roger Staubach, Roy DeSoto, Johnny Gage, and other "heroes" to look up to, to value, to emulate, to strive to become. No longer does the media shield or strive to portray individuals in the most positive light to give audiences examples of the American spiritual nature, tenacity, character, and strong moral-ethical fiber. I challenge any of you to find more than just a few photos of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States who mobilized a world and led our nation to victory in World War II, sitting in a wheelchair, or in any state that would make him appear weak or fragile (he suffered from Polio). You won’t. The media worked to preserve the honor and image of our President knowing the importance of doing so and what it meant to our nation and our enemies. Back then media ethics dictated that to do any less would be considered unethical, unpatriotic, and to which readers and viewers would become outraged. This has all changed very dramatically.
Today's mainstream & social media
Why this change? The age-old media adage “if it doesn’t bleed it doesn’t lead” plays a role here. Media outlets compete for viewers, readers and followers, so they look for stories that will generate attention; who hasn’t slowed down to rubber neck a traffic accident? They are just providing the customers what they want, or more simply put, supply and demand. That is the problem—the customer—our citizens. Our nation is seemingly growing more faithless and cynical every day as we are no longer shocked and dismayed at what the headlines exhibit, thus the media must then dig deeper and expose more, whether based in total truth or not, to generate such a following. In essence, the more numb we become to moral decay the more that is needed to get our attention.
Our nation is dying. We are no longer surprised when a person of faith, strong family values, solid sportsmanship, strong ethics and morals, is supposedly exposed as being false. Today all it takes to achieve this is an accusation, regardless if that accuser is credible or the evidence circumstantial. If such an accusation proves baseless then that headline story slips to a news brief on page 99. It has become a blood sport, a virtual type of lion’s den coliseum where people flock to attain a personal gratification that is achieved when a strong inner belief and drive are satisfied. “See I knew it! I knew he/she really wasn’t that good!” and then the news link gets clicks, the news channel is selected and the periodical purchased; now enter the spread of this cynicism via social media and it’s no wonder why many feel the United States of America has lost its way in the world.
The trust is there
So how does this play into the fire service? Because even in such an apparent fallen world—when our citizens are asked to choose people or professions they most value and trust, the fire service and firefighters are always at the top of that list. Even though our great profession has suffered its share of scandals; from child abuse, sex in the stations, drunken firehouse brawls, theft, assault, etc. the public has chosen to honor us by categorizing those events as isolated incidents that involved individuals who did not represent our profession or the masses of firefighters wearing a badge. What other profession gets that trust? Now take that step back and really give that some thought.
This same trust and value displays itself to us when we come to work or answer the page, yet we too have become so obtuse to our duties that we no longer see the specialness in who we are and what we do, nor the honor and trust we are given by those we protect; we simply shrug it off as “It’s our job,” or “It’s what we do.” No! No! No! Take a retrospective moment and really process this.
When was the last time you remember a parent restraining their child from hugging you as a firefighter—a stranger? When was the last time a parent stopped you from putting your hands on their child to lift them into the cab of your fire truck? How many times has a parent thrust their ill and possibly dying child into your arms believing they are safe with you? In this fallen world of Internet porn, sex trafficking, pedophilia, and child abuse; coupled with the very strong, natural, internal instinct parents have to protect their young, this happens daily and without pause or thought.
Our citizens drop money in our boots without asking what we are raising money for. They don’t modestly cover up when we come into their homes even though they are in a vulnerable state. They try to find ways to support us on the political stage, and never seem to believe or challenge that our requests for funding and support come from anything but the pure desire to serve and save. These are just a few highlights of the many ways our citizens honor us and to the highest degree with which they hold us.
In this fallen and cynical world people have become so destitute that they no longer believe anyone can be as good as they appear, and are becoming less and less appalled and shocked when those beliefs come to fruition. But not when it comes to firefighters! Even though we have had our share of scandals people continue to hold out hope and belief in the firefighter and trust us when all else in their world seems to fail them daily. They frantically hold out hope that we are who we appear to be, and that they desperately need us to be.
Remember this as you go about your professional and personal lives, and keep this in mind as you conduct yourself in both public and private venues, and when making the moral or ethical decisions you face. You are a firefighter and with that comes great expectations and responsibility that goes beyond dashing through the flames and crawling in twisted metal, because that type of physical bravery is at times much easier than decisions that challenge your internal character and fortitude. We need to remember who we are and what we really mean and represent to our community, and we must try to live our lives to meet these expectations in everything we do.
Our nation and communities need us more now than ever and not because we simply mitigate emergencies. Think about what you mean and represent to your families, your neighbors, your community and all those who identify you as a firefighter. Think about that and the positive impacts you can make every day in the world around you, and think about the opportunities you have to make a difference in the world, as well as a difference in all those you come in contact with daily.
Take the time to define what this all means to you, what being a firefighter means to you, and try to live up to that every day. Our citizens need us to do that, and we cannot afford to fail them in this endeavor any less than we can afford to fail them on the fireground.
You’ve been given an honor, now earn it every day and make the most of it. We can’t let them down. They are counting on us.
DANIEL BYRNE, a Firehouse.com contributing editor, is a firefighter/paramedic, with the Burton, SC, Fire District. A 20-year veteran of the emergency services, he holds both an associate and bachelor’s degree in fire science, is a National Fire Academy Alumni, and a veteran of the Desert Shield/Storm war with the U.S. Marine Corps. Byrne is the recipient of local and state awards for public educations and relations. He is moderator of the Fire Prevention and Life Safety forums on Firehouse.com. You can reach him by e-mail at [email protected].
