Opinion
OPINION: Why Every Call Should Be Treated as a "Good Training Opportunity"
A lieutenant defends the most hated phrase in the fire service.
4 weeks ago
Chud Johnson News Staff
Look, I know what you're thinking. You just ran your fifth consecutive nursing home lift assist at 3 AM, you haven't eaten since yesterday, and here comes your lieutenant saying "Well, that was a good training opportunity."
But hear me out.
That call where the patient weighed 400 pounds and lived on the third floor of a walk-up? Training opportunity. The MVA that turned out to be two shopping carts that bumped into each other? Believe it or not, training opportunity. The fire alarm at the high school that was actually just someone burning popcorn for the 47th time this semester? You guessed it.
Some might say I'm just trying to find silver linings in a job that's 90% waiting and 10% chaos. Those people are absolutely correct. But if I don't call it a training opportunity, I'll have to admit that we just drove Code 3 to help someone who couldn't figure out how to change the battery in their smoke detector.
And frankly, that truth hurts more than any training opportunity ever could.
But hear me out.
That call where the patient weighed 400 pounds and lived on the third floor of a walk-up? Training opportunity. The MVA that turned out to be two shopping carts that bumped into each other? Believe it or not, training opportunity. The fire alarm at the high school that was actually just someone burning popcorn for the 47th time this semester? You guessed it.
Some might say I'm just trying to find silver linings in a job that's 90% waiting and 10% chaos. Those people are absolutely correct. But if I don't call it a training opportunity, I'll have to admit that we just drove Code 3 to help someone who couldn't figure out how to change the battery in their smoke detector.
And frankly, that truth hurts more than any training opportunity ever could.
Disclaimer: This article is satire. All content is fictional and intended for entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to actual events or persons is purely coincidental and hilarious.