Today in America we have a lot of problems in the accident and first responder fields in that often these folks are so overly careful and trained to protect themselves that they slow the rescue process. Let me give you an example because quite frankly I am not taking anything away from all those folks who do risk their lives to help the public good. In fact I as are most Americans extremely proud of them all. Now then for my example let me give you a true story of an armed bank robbery that occurred and two people in the bank were shot and killed during the take over and later on as they left they killed yet another person. The police officers were very close and received the call that shots were fired. The police went to a parking lot two-blocks away from the bank and opened their trunks and put on their bulletproof vests. Five minutes later they then went to the scene. Within that time period two unarmed people were shot and killed. The police did not have their vests on as they were suppose to because it was very hot that day. Interesting, but their protocol was to put on the vests before going to a shots fired call. The big problem here is they had made a choice that day to not follow one procedure due to the discomfort of the heat wearing a vest. Next the rule to stop and put the bullet-proof vests on meant two people innocent bystanders died that day; you see. If ones job is to serve and protect, who are they protecting; them selves or the public? If we want to speed up and accelerate our first responders then we need them to be able to make calls as they see them on the fly and deviate when necessary in order to get the job done and save people; and we must realize sometimes you have to take risks to succeed. It is not an easy job, but that is the job they do and they must be able to do it based on the situation. Consider this in 2006. Yes, I knew one of the people who was killed in the story thru a close friend. I do not like mediocrity or bureaucracy and I like it even less when people die from it. |
