Small Town Death and Life

Chapter 7

Things that many people take for granted are often luxuries for firefighters.  Even though we are volunteers, we work on a platoon system each platoon works at the firehall one day out of every eight.  During our duty day, we staff the fire hall, respond to calls, and do everything a career fire department does, but we don't get paid for it.  So right off the bat, we are away from our families for 3 or 4 days a month.  Emergencies tend to happen at the same times every day, so it was rare for us to get through a breakfast or a dinner without an interruption.  We very rarely went a holiday weekend without a full page-out, where not only the duty platoon, but also any other available firefighters were called out to a call.  Even a long, hot shower was often denied to us simply by virtue of the fact that we had to be geared up and out the door within 90 seconds of the tones dropping.

So, the chance to stand in the station showers for almost half an hour was something that I definitely wasn't used to, but needed badly.  As the scalding hot water rains down on me, I feel not only the dirt wash away, but a lot of the tension as well.  As I stand there, I take the opportunity to process some of the night's events, knowing that I will shortly have to give some kind of coherent recounting of the night to parents who don't want to hear about the bad things that can happen to their kids.

After I have my thoughts in order, I step out of the shower, dry off and put my station blues on.  The long navy pants and short-sleeved shirt aren't quite as formal as our dress uniform, but were still formal enough for the Rangers to know that something was up.

As I walk out into the apparatus bay, the day shift platoon has their vehicle checks under way, and most of the Rangers have already arrived.  Word had gone out to the day shift that they are to say nothing to the Rangers about the events of last night, so most of them were actively recruiting the Rangers to help them with the vehicle checks.

I move into the briefing room, where one of the day shift crew has thoughtfully laid out coffee and a plate of baked goods I recognize from our bakery.  The parents have all gathered here, and after seeing that none of the Rangers are in the room, I begin to relate the events of the past few hours to them.

"Last night, we responded to an MVC at Kelly's Corners where a transport truck struck a car.  Inside that car were Sean, Nicole, Adam, Aliesha, and Kayla."

I pause for a moment to let that sink in before continuing.

"There were some serious injuries and some fatalities.  I would like to have all of the Rangers find out at the same time and in the same way.  That way no one gets wrong information, and every one of your children get the all the support that we can give them."

The door opens in the back of the room and I see Paula, one of our counsellors with the Critical Incident Team enter.  I point towards the back of the room, "Our Critical Incident Team is mobilizing to provide support to the department and all of our extended family, including you."

Paula walks up to the front of the room and explains what the Critical Incident Team does, and how they can support not only the Rangers but all of their families.  The CIT is a group of volunteers from the community who are trained and experienced in helping people who have been involved in a Critical Incident can receive the help they need.  Paula is one of two psychologists on the team that also includes Social Workers, leaders from the three major faiths, other emergency responders, and members of the general public.  They will provide counselling, social support, financial support, and even arrange for child care if someone needs it.  Because of the size of this incident, our local CIT has called in other teams from the surrounding area to spread the load out a bit.

After Paula has finished, I bring all the Rangers into the board room where the parents fan out around the edge of the room and the Rangers fill in the seats.

"Last night at about one-thirty, we were toned out to a motor vehicle collision.  We responded with all the trucks as usual, but that was about the only usual thing that happened.  Sean, Kayla, Nicole, Adam, and Aliesha were all involved in the collision.  Kayla, Nicole, and Adam were all taken to the hospital here with serious injuries, but they're going to be okay eventually.  Aliesha was flown into the trauma centre by LifeAire." 

I pause, trying to consider how best to word the news I'm about to break to them.

"Aliesha died at the trauma centre, and Sean died at the scene."

I stop there as the Rangers burst into tears and quiet grief-filled conversations.  Some of them turn to their parents, while others turn to each other and talk in groups of two and three.  Pain is etched on the faces of every person in the room, no matter where I look the faces all share the same grief-filled look. 

I look up as I see the door in the back of the room opening and see the men and women of Delta Platoon file in and stand along the back wall.  Behind them are the other members of the CIT who have all volunteered to be here to look after our Rangers.

After a few minutes, I introduce Paula to the room and explain the role of the CIT to the Rangers.  As she takes over the conversation to start the CIT process, I head out into the apparatus bay to pick up the keys to my assigned departmental vehicle.  Delta platoon gives me a few words of encouragement as I go by, and it feels good to know that these men and women have my back in every way.

I locate my vehicle in the parking lot and drive back to the hospital where the three families have joined Kayla, Adam, and Nicole in the observation room.  A couple of the parents are on cell phones, updating family and friends with the events of last night and the injury reports the've received so far.

Chief Whitehead is in the room and hands me a package that includes information about our insurance policy, which covers all of our members including the Rangers.  Also included is information about the CIT, and some business cards with my pager's number on them as well as numbers for headquarters, Father Dave, and other key people who can support them during this time.

After a few minutes, the cell phones are away, and everyone is talking quietly.  I ask for their attention for a minute so that I can introduce myself.

"Hi everyone, most of you know me in my role as advisor to the Rangers.  For the next week, I am your immediate contact person for any questions that you might have of the department.  No matter what time of day or night, I am available to you twenty-four hours a day for the next week."

I pass out the business cards with the phone numbers on them before continuing.

"Some of you may remember the paperwork we had you sign when you signed up to be Rangers.  Included in that paperwork was insurance information.  Because you're all Rangers, your medical bills are covered by our insurance company, and the department will work with you to look after anything that isn't covered.  If you need anything over the next week, please don't hesitate to get a hold of me through the pager, and after that the department is here to look after all of you, including the rest of your family."

I pass out the packages to each of the families and answer a few questions before heading towards the door.

"Mike." Nicole's voice stops me before I get through the doorway.

"We need you to do something for us.  We, the three of us, were talking about it and we want to be in the same room.  We want to be together for as long as we're in the hospital."

Kayla's mom, Sheilagh jumps in. "They talked to us about it, and if the hospital is okay with it, then we're okay with it too.  They've been through so much that we want to make it as easy as possible for them to get better.  If having Adam in the same room with the girls will do that, then we want to make that happen."

I smile to myself and wonder at the maturity and empathy shown by these kids, to want to support each other when each of them will be working hard just to get themselves back together.  

"I'll see what I can do."