Sheepdog Tip of the Day, Before Combat tip 182
A fire service warrior must approach life-threatening situations that would cause fear in any normal person with a focused calm. In religious ceremonies, a key concept is to induce an alerted state of consciousness, that is, a mind-set in which the ordinary, day-to-day thoughts are set aside and people allow their spiritual and existential self to emerge. Anyone who has been moved by a religious ceremony, the performance of a symphony, or the sight of dawn breaking over the mountains has experienced that kind of altered state of consciousness. Firefighting should be an altered state of consciousness. Preparing for your shift should be done with the same attention to detail a minister gives in preparing to preach. The alert of the station alarm or the pager on your belt should mentally trigger your understanding that something outside of your normal existence is about to occur, like the swelling of an orchestra during Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. If you ever find yourself having to call a Mayday, it should be with the same sense of calm heard in the voice of Sully as he guided his aircraft into the Hudson.
Christopher Brennan, The Combat Position: Achieving Firefighter Readiness
Sheepdog Tip of the Day services:
Follow SheepdogTip on Twitter Tip Memorization Songs
Other killology services:
Bullet Proof Mind for the Armed Citizen Seminar
The Killology web site
Additional Resources
For PTSD, Shepherd Resource Group.