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Envisioning Service

10/17/2017

Watch enough action/adventure shows on television or sit through enough thrills-and-chills movies, and you might get the impression that First Responders are heroic, risk-taking automatons devoid of feeling.

What about real life, though?

Heroic? Very often.

Risk-taking? Goes with the job.

Automatons? Only in the sense that they live for the challenges and do what they’re trained to do.

Unfeeling? No. I repeat: No. Not even close.

Such was the message that a group of Collegiate 8^th graders received yesterday as they listened intently to presentations at the Henrico County Public Safety building, Fire Station 8 (corner of Patterson and Forest), and the Tuckahoe Rescue Squad facility on Horsepen Road.

The venture off North Mooreland Road was part of Envision Richmond, a capstone program, now in its fifth year, that enables students to immerse themselves in the Central Virginia community and focus on leadership and civic engagement.

The plan over the week is to identify problems that affect those in their area of study – in this case First Responders – and work collaboratively to identify solutions. Friday, each of the 13 groups will present the results of their work.

“Hopefully, this was an opportunity for the students to have a face-to-face interaction with a police officer and realize that not everything they see in the media is necessarily true,” said Sgt. Doug Galindo, the supervisor of the HCPD personnel office who presented in collaboration with Officer Aliese Alter and 9-1-1 dispatcher Teri Wootton. “Officers aren’t bad bogeymen. We’re actually here to assist them and bring a sense of normalcy back to them and their families.”

Throughout their travels to the three venues, the group studying First Responders heard personal stories and received numerous messages. Among those messages…

Every time 9-1-1 operators takes a call, they have to be fully prepared. Sometimes, it’s like “listening to a horror movie.” The reward is knowing you’ve helped.

Some calls are routine. Others aren’t and take time – sometimes much time – to process.

Henrico 9-1-1 dispatchers field approximately 500,000 calls per year.

For police officers, danger always lurks. Even routine traffic stops can bring peril. Officers are expected to deliver “customer service,” but they must always be on guard. They go to work each day knowing that life-or-death situations are a reality.

Officers strive to bring a positive presence to the community.

First Responders see people on the worst day of their lives. People don’t call the police or fire department or rescue squad when they’re having an amazing day.

First Responders have lives outside their jobs and try to “leave their work at the office.” Families worry enough. Telling them what they (the responders) really see only exacerbates the worry.

Officers want to be viewed as strong and capable. While conveying that air, they need to find healthy ways to deal with their stress and their emotions.

The job of First Responder is truly a calling and draws a “certain type” of person. The excitement is definitely a draw, but the intangible reward of serving the community is the common theme that permeates the profession.

“You do this long enough, and you see the good, the bad, and the ugly. We don’t need a ‘thank you,’ but when we get it, it feels great.”

Though the media reports sensational and often painful stories of police-community interaction, those examples are the exception.

The toughest calls are those that come when tragedy has befallen a child. They change the paradigm, the natural evolution of life.

The public is happy to see firefighters arrive because they’re there to help people.

First Responders can’t solve every problem. “People are machines. Machines break. Sometimes, we can’t fix them.”

That said, First Responders often find themselves being comforters and counselors to those who have just experienced a trauma, often on very short notice.

“It’s always good when you can bring kids into our world, tell them what it is we do, and how we do it,” said David Calvert of the Tuckahoe Rescue Squad. “Hopefully, in all three of their stops, they’ve learned how we can help them, but also how they can help us.”

-- Weldon Bradshaw

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