WHAT TO DO IN ANY EMERGENCY: A ZEN FIREFIGHTER'S WISDOM
ON ANY EMERGENCY SCENE, I want to be calm. I want to be present, and I want to be creative. I want to be composed so that I—we—can see the problem and all possible solutions. I sometimes need out-of-the-box ideas, like how to disentangle a car from a bridge abutment or how to get a large man with intense back pain out of his bathroom and down three flights of stairs.
Being a firefighter has taught me that being efficient, curious, and creative are often as important as following the book.
To that end, firefighters have all sorts of tools—mental ones—to help find the “sweet spot” when we respond to an emergency scene.
I think you will find these tools useful in all sorts of situations when the goal is to stay calm and creative when everyone
