The Road to Burnout

The profession of a first responder, whether a police officer, fire fighter, or ambulance attendant, is usually a thankless one. We don’t do it for the recognition or the money, both of which are very minimal anyway. The reason is usually more complicated than we admit.

Sometimes, what lures us in turns out to be an insignificant reason for why we stay. “Helping people”—you’ll hear that a lot. It turns out there are very few people we can actually help. “Saving lives”—you’ll hear that too, but statistically, the odds are not in favor.

No, if we manage to stay with it long enough, those reasons aren’t enough to keep us going. There’s a subtle transition most of us don’t notice, but ultimately, the job becomes about our partner and the people we work with; most of us see them as a second family. It’s also about holding on to a single feeling: hope.