Firefighting

One of the most dangerous tasks involves battling fires, which exposes workers all the time to significant dangers of both injuries and fatalities. Therefore, these risks must be controlled at a level that is essentially realistic (Scarborough, 2017). For a fireman, however, comprehending the acceptable danger is a huge barrier. Since nothing can be completely risk-free, achieving zero risk levels is not attainable in the real world. Therefore, as there is no chance of completely eradicating all incidents related to fire dangers, there is no such thing as zero risk in the firefighting profession. An acceptable risk means that after observing all reasonable precautions, there is still a notable possibility that the firefighter might be injured or die in the process of firefighting.

Life-and-death firefighting decisions involve a risk/benefit analysis based on two primary goals: the protection of the life of a civilian and the firefighter, and property preservation. The minimum risk accepted in firefighting is that associated with saving things. It is advisable to take only a moderate risk as far as protecting property is concerned. Though defining the acceptable risks has always been a challenge, these threats are those in which the benefit has a higher value than the negative possibilities posed by the risk. The acceptable level of danger is directly related to the potential interest of saving a life (Scarborough, 2017). Three critical statements are frequent when dealing with acceptable risks. “Risk a lot to save a lot” - the acceptable risk here is only a potential lifesaving situation; ”risking a little to save a little” - the acceptable risk applied when there is a chance of protecting any property, and ”risking nothing to save nothing” There is no risk acceptable to the life of a firefighter when there is no possibility saving property or life (Scarborough, 2017). Therefore, emergency responders in fire tragedies are only to take an acceptable risk to their lives when forced to save lives of others.

Reference

Scarborough, R.C. (2017). Risk a lot to save a lot: How Firefighters Decide Whose Life Matters. Sociological Forum, 32(2), 249-456.