HOUSTON, Texas – Following an incident where a man pulled a gun on two firefighters responding to a call of a person having seizures at a southwest Houston apartment complex, a question comes up: do firefighters have any sort of protection when they respond to calls?
It’s a question KPRC 2 asked Houston Mayor John Whitmire and President of the Houston Professional Firefighters Association Patrick ‘Marty’ Lancton on Sunday.
The two spoke about the incident and answered questions related to it.
While incidents like a patient pulling a gun on firefighters is an extreme example of violence towards first responders, the Houston Fire Department faces more acts of violence than you would think.
Gage Goulding: “Is this a far and few between incident, or are our firefighters and EMS workers being faced with dangers? Maybe not exactly like this, but are they being faced with dangers on a daily basis?”
Patrick “Marty” Lancton:”The answer is yes, they are. I think this incident highlighted it because of the nature of having to jump off a second floor balcony. We’ve had incidents over the years, that are not unique. Our job is to save your life. And so we go out there every day hopeful, that, we come home to our families. But I can tell you it’s not a unique incident. It’s something that we have to always focus on every day we go to work. And I can tell you that, your training is is something that we have to rely on.”
Many calls that firefighters and paramedics respond to, they do so without the assistance of law enforcement. Routines calls like a seizure would seem like a low risk, but can take a turn quickly.
Other than the tools on their truck and the water in the tanks, what other protection do Houston first responders have?
Gage Goulding: “Do firefighters in Houston, do they have any form of protection when going to these calls? Do they have any weapons? Do they have any even pepper spray?”
Patrick “Marty” Lancton: “Listen, the firefighters role is to is to help. I can tell you, after 23 years of being in the fire service, being a paramedic, I’ve been in some very, very precarious situations. But what the mayor said, I think is critical. Our job is to, number one, save lives, to try to de-escalate the situation. But our function and role in the public safety arena is different when it comes to that. We carry medicines. We carry our tools to get you out of a fire, to rescue you or to save your life. If you’re having a heart attack or you’re in a car wreck, to get you out. But, the answer is, no. We don’t carry the weapons and our focus is on preserving and saving lives.”
“When they leave to go to work, the first responders, fire and police, they know when they leave their family that here, that they’re putting their life on the line,” added Mayor Whitmire. “When they leave the station, they know that they’re putting their life in jeopardy. And that’s a special calling.”
Lancton said ultimately the role of a firefighter is to help save lives and thus they are equipped with the tools to do that.