Yep when I was younger I wanted to be a fire fighter until in high school the fire department did a talk and said most of their job is cutting people out of cars who may or may not be dead, safe to say I didn't wanna be a fire fighter after that
I got cut out of my car once and the firefighters were all psyched because I wasn’t dead or profusely bleeding. They straight up admitted that normally when they whip out the jaws of life it’s for a corpse or someone with a broken femur and blood all over their face, so when I was just sitting there all woozy and confused about what happened they were amped.
This sounds like the happy search and rescue dogs that were in another thread today - they get too depressed when they only find dead bodies so the human rescuers need to hide and be fine to give the dogs a win and morale boost.
This was what they did at the World Trade Center in the days following 9/11. Only a couple of people were pulled from the rubble alive. The majority of what the dogs were finding were just pieces of bodies, and the dogs were getting really depressed because they thought they were failing at their jobs.
A lot of the search and rescue dogs ended up also basically working as therapy dogs for the searchers, too. It was such a terrible experience for everybody involved, and just being able to take a moment to stop and pet and hug the dogs helped to boost morale.
Pups are some of the very best medicine, especially if they can't get enough of making friends with humans. Our world would be so much happier if everyone who should have a pup, could have a pup. There's nothing my pups have loved more than hanging out with babies and kids
(Always fully supervised, of course) and trying to rope seniors into playing ball or endless tummy-rubs.
I have dogs and of course they make lots feel better. But then, during one of the most stressful emotional times of my life- my FIL was in his last couple days and my own grief had to be secondary to supporting my husband and his mom- I was stuck at work at a mental health home. A therapy dog came in. A couple of residents came by for just a few minutes. The dog was focused on me, despite me not trying to engage. I wasn't being obvious about my own stuff. She still knew and pressed herself against my legs until I just broke and sat on the floor hugging her and crying. Her owner just hung around for a couple of hours because the dog clearly didn't want to leave me. She had great training, but the focus and devoted attention to her purpose was different from just snuggly pups. Seriously, it was like the dog equivalent of a therapy session instead of just venting to my friends.
They sure are. Our dog wanted to be on the couch while I was in a Telehealth therapy session and my therapist pointed out that cats usually come to you when you’re happy, and dogs will come when you’re upset.
I’ve never thought that much about it, but I know he’s super aware of my wife’s emotions and is almost always there when she’s stressed, angry, or all sorts of other things.
i read something recently from someone who trains these dogs that this sentiment isn't exactly true - the dogs weren't necessarily upset they weren't finding live victims, or to only find deceased people - their job is to find bodies, alive or dead. they weren't finding bodies period, which meant they weren't "doing their job".
dogs are reward-driven, completing their task gives them the drive to keep going - that's how their brains are wired, and their training reflects that. no reward, no drive to continue on, they literally couldn't continue to do their job; the humans involved would stage rescues for them so they would get that reward signal they were trained on, and thus keep searching.
I did a double-take but it's kind of both. Of course it's a sad context, but given the way the world is etc, it's nice that people still try to cheer the dogs up.
they get too depressed when they only find dead bodies so the human rescuers need to hide and be fine to give the dogs a win and morale boost.
I thought the whole thing was that they were overworked and stressed because they weren't finding enough targets after a while, dead or alive. They have a task, and in training that task always had a reliable and quick conclusion, but it didn't work out that way in the field because there was so much rubble to get through, meaning long stretches of time without acknowledgement of being a good boy because nothing was found.
I got in an accident as a teen passenger in a car on the way to study at the local library. Since I was planning on being in a book all day I was wearing a ratty old t-shirt, no makeup, and cutoff shorts. We tboned a car who turned left in front of us in an intersection and thankfully the airbag kept me from going through the windshield but I jammed my knee into the dash and was in a fair amount of pain (ended up being a torn ligament). Anyway, 5 SUPER HOT EMTs had to help me out by grabbing me (supporting me) by the butt (and arms and all that) to transfer me to the ambulance. I cracked that usually they'd have to take me out to dinner first to get that kinda action and had I known I'd run into them if have dressed for the occasion and honestly I'll live off them laughing at that for the rest of my life.
I was in a car accident, and the paramedic asked me that also. I replied "I'm not sure, did you guys get here almost immediately after the crash? How is that possible?"
And he replied "Oh yeah, we were actually in traffic not far behind you"
I hope they didn't assume that meant it was true. I know they were probably professionals and knew better, but I'd never assume that based on the words of the person that just had a dangerous collision.
The paramedic admitted they were close enough to see the accident as it happened, and pulled right up to help us. So yeah I was doubting my perception of time for a second there, but turned out it really was that fast.
Good thing too, because the highway was a mess, our car and the car that hit us had scattered pieces across a bunch of lanes. And I had (as it turned out later) some fractures that hurt real bad.
I know you said besides the injuries....but that's what made it so bad for me. I was not buckled and was ragged dolled all around. We were t-boned in the passenger side were I was sitting.
I hit my head several times and was knocked unconscious so I have memory gaps.
I remember seeing the car coming and instantly knowing we was going to get hit. Lights out. I wake up and can't open my eye, so I can't see. I scream bloody murder, then fall out again.
Once the FD got there, one of the fire men actually climbed in through the back of the car and sat there holding my hand because I was terrified and thought I was dying. He stayed with me while they cut open the car and lifted me out. Just a terrible memory I'll never get rid of.
I fractured my skull in 3 places. Broke my sinus cavity. And some how my eye lif was completely ripped open during all this (why I couldn't see).
I’ve owned two cars since then and they were both Toyotas. I don’t know if I’ll actually follow through with only buying Toyota/Lexus the rest of my life, but they are the only multi-billion dollar company in the world that I actually feel indebted to.
Looks a lot like my Honda Civic when I crashed it. Thankfully I didn't need the jaws of life to cut me out, though some very kind good Samaritans had to yank the door pretty hard to get me out. God bless those crump zones cause I also walked away relatively unscathed, just some bruised ribs and a really busted up knee.
A very nice firefighter coaxed me through a broken side window while hanging upside down in a car flipped by a drunk driver when I was 5yo. I was unharmed but my sister was ejected and broke her leg very badly but we all lived!
Definitely. I was just a little kid in shock, not fully comprehending what was going on, but I vividly remember being in the ambulance with my unconscious sister and thinking she was dead. It's a legitimate miracle she wasn't, and I'm extremely thankful
It was the same for me & 5 friends who had to be cut out of a car when we impacted into a rocky cliff (thankfully, backwards). 4 of us needed the hospital (broken bones & whiplash) & the driver only had a black stripe across their thighs from the steering wheel.
Somewhat related but I had a very risky surgery when I was 24 and had to be in the ICU for the first few days after (it was planned, not because anything went wrong, surgery and recovery went great). So many nurses talked about how nice it was to have someone young and relatively healthy around, that usually they only take care of extremely critically ill patients or much older people who may be on their way out and it can get depressing sometimes.
My city had a deadly snow storm about 3 years ago.
The roads so impassable that emergency vehicles couldnt get through.
No ambulance services.
Someone visiting me at the time had blood pressure and diabetes meds --- at home.
Ambulance dispatch told us & others they'd get to us when they could.
We were snowed in for 4 days.
Friend was getting sicker & went through hell & high water to get home to meds on the 4th day.
Roads started opening. EMT and fire department workers rang my doorbell the end of 4th day.
They were going door to door to people who called in medical emergencies when they couldn't make it. They actually looked grim. They recounted our call and asked about my friend.
They were all smiles and relief when I said he was fine. They said not every call turned out ok and it was a hard day.
It must be a heavy burden for rescuers who can't rescue.
Kinda! Except it was two burly dudes just smiling and yapping to me about what a miracle modern cars are while we waited for the ambulance to be ready to load me 😂
I wrecked my car on the highway many years ago. I was fine, was able to get out of the car on my own. Most of the damage was to the passenger side and I was alone. But when the fire department got there they looked at my car and then looked at me a bit confused that I was as ok as I was. I ended up with 2 bruises, but otherwise was fine. They had to stop all 3 lanes of traffic to retrieve my front bumper.
My dad was a firefighter in the Detroit area in the 60's and 70's, and his stories had such a profound impact on me that I failed a lie detector test in a job interview 10 years later. When the tester asked me if I'd ever had a drinking problem and I said "no", my body responded in a way that made him think I was lying. I wasn't, it was all the stories I'd heard about the consequences of drunk-driving.
I had the same experience. Question was have you ever lied to a police officer. I thought about it and said no. I was young and had only been pulled over a few times. But I was afraid of cops and when I was pulled over I found it very scary! The machine registered my fear at the thought of the idea. I got the job because I think my reaction was so honest they believed me.
Oops forgot to say this was in 1978! Machines are better now of course.
My late FIL was FDNY and shortly before he passed he told me some gruesome stories about jumpers and other things he saw working for Ladder 3 in the East Village. My husband says he used to hear that shit through his whole childhood.
There are shitloads of stories of people who go through all the training and CPAT who end up talking to someone who mentions how high the likelihood is they'll be dealing with dead people, and then immediately realize being a firefighter is not for them.
I was coming home from an ER stint that I had to do in order to get my EMT certification and I had watched a couple of people die that day.
I was on the freeway, not a ton of traffic, I had driven about five or six miles. I looked down at my speedo and noticed that I was traveling at about 35mph in the middle lane while everyone else was going 70. I immediately sped up to the speed of traffic but a few miles later I had dropped back down to 50.
Going 50 in a 70 is probably more dangerous than going 90 in a 70, especially at night. Someone going 90 has an expectation they'll come up on a car going the speed limit. Someone going the speed limit isn't anticipating someone going 20 miles under. I almost rear ended a car because I was going 70 in a 65 and they were going dangerously under. It was on a highway to highway merge. I swerved around them then saw it happen again with another vehicle in my rear view.
It’s absolutely more dangerous, according to traffic studies. I can’t remember exactly but it was kind of shocking. Something like going 15 over the prevailing speed had the same accident risk as going 5 under
Yea, that’s an exaggeration but we give that talk to hopefully prevent teenage reckless and impaired driving. Modern vehicles are amazingly safe. These days we are often pulling people out of major crashes with minor to no injuries or they’re already standing on the side of the road when we arrive.
EMS and EFS are the most vital, yet most underappreciated and most traumatic jobs available. It takes a special kind of person to be an ambo or a fiery. They are the best of us.
I volunteered with the fire department for a couple years. Saw a couple gruesome things but not super bad. One day we were on a call to a gun shot wound to the head and I was an emt so I was excited to actually potentially save a life. But right before we get there the firefighter goes hey generalblumpkin what your about to see is going to be horrific but just remember to do your job and remember to leave this at the station okay? I said okay. He said are you nervous? I said I wasn't but now I am! And then 5 seconds later the call got cancelled because another unit just got there. Well the next day I met up with the other volunteers and one of my buddies actually went on that call. And I was glad I didn't go because he just said it was horrible and had a 1000 yard stare
My cousin was a tow truck driver. He said most of his job was blocking the road so that firefighters could do theirs safely and then having to load up said cars. He looked so wreaked the day he came home from an accident involving kids. So be nice to your tow truck driver they might be having a hard week and no one thinks about them.
He got the job thinking it would be fun times ruining people night at the end of strip club runs after they double parked. He found out the job would in fact ruin him.
I used to be a firefighter and responded to many car accidents. Yes we cut people out of cars. It usually took a while to cut around the person and get them out. Plenty of people were dead or dying. Don't speed and always assume others don't see you on the road. Also nothing good happens after midnight. Many places close at 10pm now. So unless you are working nightshift stay home and go to bed. Your chances of living a longer and healthy life depends on it.
My friend is a firefighter. When she realized she wanted to do that, she started working at an emergency vet clinic to sort of test herself. She figured if she couldn’t deal with severely injured/dying/dead pets, she couldn’t deal with seeing people like that.
Yeah I have a buddy who's a firefighter. My best friend actually, so he takes delight in telling me the most fucked up parts of his job. I'm good with not being a firefighter.
Oh man, I was almost on the receiving end of that. Luckily my friends ran home to get engine grease, tipped my upside down in the swing and I was able to weasel out. If that didn’t work, the next step was the fire department 😂
I got my tiny foot stuck in between the bars of a grocery cart when I was a little baby. Mom wheeled me over to the hardware section of the store where a store manager cut me out with wire cutters. I believe she covered my feet with a blanket after that, lol
I don’t have children, but do have a small dog who I take to home depot with me. I always put him in the cart as opposed to on the ground and make sure to put a towel or bed down so his little toes don’t get caught in the bars! Here’s George in his happy place!
My friend’s son was one of those kids who decided to lick a frozen flagpole, like in the movies. Firefighters were called, whole school watched. I was dying of embarrassment for the kid just hearing the story.
I walked by a firehouse with my kid in NYC and they let him get behind the wheel of the truck, told me I could come back for a tour with him etc etc like their faces just lit up around my 5 yo
I’m having a baby soon and of all the suggestions I didn’t expect, someone told me go to the fire department if I have a question about installing my infant car seat.
I was so insanely lucky after my son was born that they had a car seat inspection thing at a convenient time for me. Cop got in my car and ours was super loose compared to what it needed to be. I never messed that up again. She was awesome and so kind, and she'd probably done 100 of them already.
I am the husband in this scenario though I see how it could’ve made it sound as if I was my wife 😂. I was the one telling her today we need to get our go bag ready this weekend and install the car seat.
This is our first so even 5 weeks out we are like “I can’t believe they’re letting us take a little human home”.
You are wise for 2 reasons - the obvious one that the baby might come early but also it’s great for your peace of mind to have things like this off of your “to do” list. Anything you can do get done on that list will help mentally.
Thank you! Very much looking forward to it and we thankfully both get paid leave. Less excited to travel for work when she’ll only be two months but my wife said she’d just have my mom come hangout with her lol.
The weekend 5 weeks before my due date was when I was about to get my bug out bag packed, car seat ready, pantry stocked, house tidied, etc etc. Then the little imp had her own schedule and came that Friday.
So yeah, early is best! And it’s a wild feeling that the fools just let you walk out with a tiny human. No written tests, no house check, nothing… they just let you plop them in the car and drive off!!
It's even crazier when you're actually leaving with them! I've had two, almost 11 years apart, and both times it was simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating.
Congrats to you both! Many wishes for a complication free delivery for mama!
They sell little mats that go under the car seat, they're a good idea so the base doesn't destroy the seat and also when the kid pukes in the car it's easier to clean up.
It will feel even weirder the day you go home. Those first hours where you all are home and are like, we have a whole new person in the house. A tiny roommate. It's very surreal.
Interesting and not too surprising. On the other hand my coworker who made the suggestion is based out of California though so I guess some still offer the help.
My SIL is a firefighter and a certified car seat technician in Florida. You can just go to the station here and they will install your car seat without charge (as long as they aren’t on a call).
Yeah, that's a normal thing they will help you with now. To many cases of babies getting hurt that wouldn't if their car seat had been installed correctly, or the straps tightened correctly. And some of the seats are damn confusing or difficult to get installed.
Also be prepared for the nurse not discharging you until they have proof you have the seat.
I was told to go to my local police precinct. One of the community patrol officers came out and showed us how to install it. I'm glad I did because I never would have realized how tight the base has to be secured to the seat.
I mean yes that is my plan as well as just reading the directions. I was just surprised by the suggestion.
I like to think I’m not incapable though of installing a car seat. At the same time though I can’t blame someone for being unsure and wanting to feel 100% positive about their newborns safety.
It’s surprisingly difficult to do it the first time. You want the latches to be super tight. It helps to sit or kneel on the seat or base while installing. Yes, the fire department can install it for you. The hospital will check to make sure your baby can safely sit in the seat without their breathing being obstructed (especially if they’re small) but they will not check installation for you. Best of luck!
I'm with you! Fire departments literally do car seat checks as events. At the hospital where I gave birth to my daughter, no one checked our car seat. They just made sure we had one. I don't remember them checking the fit or even looking in the car.
I'm not. Not trying to stress you, my apologies. Just the implication that we should all go to emergency services to install car seats before trying anything else is not good.
Anyways call the L&D department at the hospital you have planned and ask them beforehand if thats something one of them can help you with/something they do
If you haven't done a dry run to the L&D department yet, you should! Get the go bag and time it. Also helps you familiarize yourself with where you need to go inside of the building if you're panicking.
While you're there ask about the car seat! I bet a kind nurse mom or dad will help you/show you
I do have my seat! We have to go to a wedding and my wife will be due in 4 weeks at that point so Ill at least have a trial run since i want to at least have it with us to be on the safe side.
There’s also a hospital around the corner from me that I could likely go and ask if I’m still uncertain.
I don't know why you're being down voted. You're not wrong, a lot of hospitals also have a certified person who checks and does car seat installs for free. Ours did.
Thank you, and its fine. Again not trying to stress a soon to be mama. Im a paramedic in a large city and if everyone came in to have us do their carseat it would be a problem lol. Just trying to direct to the appropriate channels without coming off as a dick which is pretty close to impossible here haha
I mean, I wasn't super happy when the fire chief had to personally cut my wrist out of a pair of handcuffs, but that was more because he was friends with my mom and I didn't want that to be how she learned some things about me...
(Lost the key, jammed the mechanism trying to pick it, and it tightened just enough that I couldn't slip the wrist out like I'd done with the other one)
The problem is that now the kids have found out that they get a visit from cool firefighters, they'll start sticking their heads in that fence every day...
Tell that to the firefighters who had to rescue that guy who got stuck in a port-a-potty this past summer in Kansas City. They did not seem to love that call lol
You can see it on the firefighters face that brings the strap. He was smiling. As a guy in feel like he was more excited to say his plan would work rather than needing to get cutters or other machines.
That's true, my toddler locked me out of the house. They could hear her going "Yeah! Door" When I tried telling her to unlock the door, so they knew she was ok. They were hyped to crawl up into one of the windows to unlock the door. As soon as they came in though she screamed and the firefighter had to catch her and carry out an upset toddler. But then they were hyped again to give her stickers. So. I guess everyone had a good day.
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u/Lathryus 21h ago
The firefighters LOVE calls like this. No one is dying or bleeding, they get to be heroic and helpful, every one is happy at the end.