Training Scars Potentially Fatal Wounds

BY BOBBY HALTON

Tragically, performing the difficult and dangerous work of firefighting often results in scars and sometimes fatal wounds. This is the reality of our profession. We sometimes receive scars from our training, from both the formal settings and our on-the-job training. It is difficult to recognize these scars, as our training is often crafted to make us successful in the context of the training. Our on-the-job training often provides us with tricks of the trade, so to speak, or behavioral patterns that enable us to get our work done when under extreme time pressure and stress. The problem occurs when the context of the training does not mirror the reality of our work or the ingrained behavioral pattern is incorrect and has not yet resulted in a tragedy.

A tragic example of formal training that fatally wounded occurred on April 6, 1970, when four young California Highway Patrolmen lost their lives in a shootout. The law enforcement community learned several lessons in a review of the intense four- and-a-half-minute shootout. The report identified the fact that the officers were issued .357 Magnum ammunition, which has a significant reaction when fired. The officers had been trained using .38-caliber ammunition, which has much less reaction. Additionally, all of the officers had only two years of service time, and they were either 23 or 24 years of age. The lack of an experienced officer on scene was also identified as potentially contributory.