Last Night A Prospecting Pick Saved My Life

[gambler]

58 minutes ago, tboykin said:

Build the coil. Defeat I.R.O.N. Bring gold back to the American people. #MAKE DETECTING GREAT AGAIN.

 

awesomeness personified!!!

[Guest Jennifer]

On 8/18/2016 at 2:05 PM, 1515Art said:

I spent 30 years in the fire service and have worked alongside thousands of other emergency workers, spent a large part of my career running the show so I know the issues and problems from more than one side,  I  think I'm pretty well qualified to answer this...

every man and woman out there is in the field working in their profession because they want to make a difference and genuinely care about the  public they are trusted to help. when the alarm sounds no matter the circumstance these men and women willingly put their lives on the line without question depending only on their high level of training and expertise and the resources on hand and make no mistake although they do the job safely... it is in the worst of possible conditions and while the adventurer has the choice that day on the degree of risk they may choose to expose themselves to, emergency workers when called to duty must in an instant go to work and frequently are called to take the risk and working conditions to the edge of safety.  yes that is their hired profession and they know the risk and the reason for proper training and having the best equipment. they are paid well as the fire service is interested in and responsible to put the best people possible in the field to insure your safety in almost any emergency, hazardous materials, confined space rescue, vertical rescue, heavy rescue, swift water rescue, all fire situations, auto accidents, every medical situation you can imagine and sadly more than a few you can't. these men and women are all trained and continuously certified under strict regulations and standards, they are well paid because they earn it and because the cities and departments would be unable to provide staffing and employees that live a reasonable distance from the cities and citizens they are assigned to protect. 

I've been in a room with other distraught police and firefighters to many times after witnessing  horrific accidents with children and adults as emergency workers must process and deal with the trauma they see every day, frequently the victims are the same age as your children or others you care greatly about and their is a price to pay and the effects of post incident stress are very real.

starting salary for a firefighter in most major city in the US is somewhere around $80,000. dollars a year and the benefits are also very good compared to many other workers nowadays, total compensation package with all benefits can run almost double the base salary in combination. while this is pretty good pay, still i doubt anyone would think giving up their life for the salary a firefighter gets would be a great tradeoff.

now please don't get me wrong and I am not saying what tboykin did in this case applies as at times situations around us change unexpectedly, I think what Jennifer is talking about and asking all to be aware of is the thoughtless exposure to unnecessary risk endangers more than just the person deciding to jump at a chance for fun, some emergency worker may not make it home the next day and a family destroyed unnecessarily.

when you are smart enough to plan great adventure, please be smart enough to consider all of the possible consequences and ramifications of your decision and in the event your best laid plans go wrong rest assured trained emergency workers will respond, do their best and risk their lives to help.

Beautifuly spoken sir... thank you... and thank you for your service.

Jen

[EZMoney Bob]

Tom,

Great adventure and also a well written narrative, I was on the edge of my chair while reading it.