By Ray McCormack
Detractors are always swimming just below the surface of what seem to be calm waters , depending on which group is upset with firefighters this week–either expressing how great we have it or how little we do. It can be politicians once they’re finished praising our sacrifice, business people who think our idle time could be better spent with a paint brush, advocates who dismiss the level of消防活动ty, or preventionists who think we’re not making enough progress. They are all wrong, of course, and there is probably a study somewhere to prove it.
The fire service, although expensive to run, is a staple that every community needs. Some fire departments adopt models that place them into other lines of work because someone has decided that their value is not high enough because of downtime. Our critics should work to shine that narrowly focused beam on other lines of work; they will find that others are not as efficient and dependable as the fire service. We are unique in that our response is time sensitive and that being available and not tied up in extraneous matters is critical to assisting others in need.
无论我们的批评者来自我们的组织内部还是外部，消防员都不会过莱利的生活。我在某个地方听说，消防员沉迷于加热的熔岩岩石治疗方法，将石头放在背部和刺下刺，同时躺在300个螺纹计数棉花板上。听起来不错，但这可能只是一个老酋长的故事。
Firefighters are suffering from sleep deprivation! Really? What an amazing discovery. And they are probably tired, too…can you imagine? So sleep on your day off. Yes, this business takes a toll on your health and you need to manage your life, but sympathy and loathing come at a cost, too, especially in tough economic times. Maybe another study can get us some neck rubs from hoods that are too tight. Firefighters should enjoy luxuries on their time off and care about things that can harm while at work, but if you think the public’s support of firefighters has waned, just wait. It is not about being macho; it is about realizing that although all studies have some point to prove, not all of them are worth proving.
Being careful what you wish for is a phrase that we don’t always see coming. Consider your studies wisely. Maybe we need to better monitor the grant process so that studies that are done in and for the fire service do not become the latest example of wasted tax dollars on the nightly news. This just in: A seven-year, seven-million-dollar federally funded study found that firefighters who were denied Web access missed nearly six beats per minute while taking patients pulses. Or maybe it’s just a case of bad math.
为了纠正所有错误（真实和感知），消防部门可能是垃圾科学的受害者。如果测量值有故障或主题太狭窄而无法获得明显的结果。将结果与Fireground性能相关联是困难的，尽管这使得阅读很有趣，但我们必须小心，结果可以采取进一步的审查，并实际上努力进行改进。
Even without department budgets or taxpayer largesse approving in-house spa treatments for firefighters, your tactical safety level should stay reasonably balanced (although I don’t have a federally funded study to back that up), even if the closest you ever got to a mud bath was a plaster and lath shower.
Next Tactical Safety – Blind Dating Toxic Twins
Thank you for reading.
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RAY McCORMACKis a 30-year veteran and a lieutenant with FDNY. He is the publisher and editor of UrbanFirefighter杂志. He delivered the keynote address at FDIC in 2009 and he is on the Editorial Board of188金宝搏是正规吗杂志.
