Give firefighters a helping hand, not the finger

By: Gordon Sinclair Jr.

8/12/2009 1:00 AM

NEVER MIND WHERE'S THE FIRE, WHERE ARE THE MANNERS?... There's public behaviour that's annoying: Transit riders who neglect to offer their seat on the bus to obviously pregnant women comes to mind.

And then there's public behaviour that goes beyond boorish to dangerous.

That brings me to today's topic.

One of the things that gets my blood pressure pumping while I'am in traffic is watching the way drivers react to approaching emergency vehicles that are in what could be a life-and-death hurry to get by.

More correctly, it's the way drivers don't react that gets to me. The way they're seemingly oblivious to screaming sirens and big honking horns on their bumpers.

They just keep driving. Or they freeze in their lane at a red light.

That's why I wasn't surprised to see a letter from a firefighter who only wanted to be identified as Greg H.

The letter, sent recently to the Free Press, referred in part to what he believes is the greatest day-to-day danger faced by firefighters.

It's not fighting fires.

"I believe that the greatest danger is in the response to the call," he wrote.

Just to make sure there's no misunderstanding:

What the firefighter means is wheeling through the often icy roads, hurrying to put out a fire or, more commonly, to help someone who's just had a heart attack or been in a motor vehicle accident.

What he means is the greatest danger to firefighters is the way you react when you see or hear an emergency vehicle coming.

The way you react. Or, as I was saying, the way you don't react.

This, according to the firefighter, is how you should react:

"Pull your vehicle as far to the RIGHT as you can and come to a full STOP. Wait for the emergency vehicle to pass and then carry on."

But he has more instructions for vehicles in oncoming lanes.

"If you see emergency vehicles coming from opposite directions please pull over and stop as well. We sometimes have to turn, or go against traffic and this would help greatly."

Then there are the things that don't help, including one or two that surprised me.

"There has been many a time people refuse to pull over..."

That, as I said, I've seen.

"Or race us..."

That I haven't.

Here's what really surprised me:

"Or stick their finger out the window and let us know that they are not going to move."

I'm not sure why I'd be surprised to learn that working firefighters sometimes get the finger, given the general state of rudeness in this friendly Prairie city.

However, it does surprise me.

The firefighter who wrote the letter seems more understanding about all of this than I am.

"I understand that rush hour pushes all of our patience to the limit, but please try to remember that the call we are responding to could be to your house or family. Please understand that we are only human and are subject to the same stresses and problems that we all face as human beings.

"This may be increased by the fact that some days we see more than our fair share of death and mayhem. We handle this by sticking together and moving on to the next call."

Then he added this: "I expect no special treatment from anybody because I am a firefighter. I am not a 'hero'. I am just a man trying to make a difference day-to-day."

If I might add, they're also a bunch of people who deserve our respect.

People who deserve a helping hand in traffic.

Not a finger.