The Wheels Are Spinning

Maybe it's too much caffeine or just a conversation I had today with people who just get where I am coming from, but I feel like my wheels are spinning and I'm not going anywhere for some reason.  There are so many things that I want to do to make sure that a disaster is easier on other families so that they can not have to worry about what happens next.

By nature I am an impatient person.  Never really grasped that "delayed gratification" at an early age.  When I am excited about something I want it immediately, but I want it done a certain way. Probably why I fit in well as an underwriter.  

Guidelines are just that, a guide to follow in order to make sure that the final decision was made without haste and that all possible scenarios have been accounted for.  Nothing important should be decided on in an instant, and yet sometimes that is all the time that you have.  There should really be a manual with updated guidelines for jobs with a high risk of death/injury/dismemberment.  If only there was an agency of some type that makes companies have emergency protocols (like OSHA).

When there is an emergency you have to make quick decisions which are not always the best.  You don't have the time to think out all of the possibilities.  That's why there are practice drills for fires, tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, death....Wait what?

There aren't any death drills that the average person does. Spouses of first responders do these drills in their heads just about every day though. Possibly in a discussion once a year with their spouse.  I know we did.  Every February (Happy Valentines Day) we would discuss what would happen if the doorbell rang and I saw a certain first responder standing there.  My answer was always, "Well, I won't open the door and then he can't give me the bad news".  My answer was always ignored and I was told that I was to let him in, usher our child to another room, put the bottle of Irish whiskey on the kitchen table with 2 glasses, and remember that I and our son would be taken care of.  When a family member is on duty and the news says there has been another death, a significant other walks over to the tv to make sure it isn't their person.  Then they go hug the rest of the family without ever saying why.

If you were really on fire would you remember to Stop, Drop, and Roll?  Or would you panic and scream and run which only makes the fire burn faster?  Begging someone to pour water on you and make the pain go away. What if that person meant to carry water but never got around to filling the bucket? You did these drills growing up but would you remember or would fear take over? 

The reality is that we can practice all of the drills but if one caveat is missed, the entire scenario will go to shit.  One single unexpected detail, like what if the one person who was supposed to be the bearer of bad news is on vacation and someone else comes to the door?  What happens if you are out of whiskey?  What if you never practiced telling a 10 year old child that their parent is dead, I mean how do you even attempt to train for that? 

What happens if the reality of the drill actually happens?  

We need to have a survival manual and better than adequate life insurance.