“Compassion can’t be understated. Sometimes that’s all a patient is looking for in their greatest time of need.”

Deputy Chief Ian Emmons

Why did you become a firefighter?

Deputy Chief Ian Emmons wishes that he had the traditional story of his father being a firefighter who encouraged him to enter the fire service. However, his unique journey gives him the passion he needs to give it everything he’s got.

Mr. Emmons wrestled growing up, all the way into college until he suffered a career-ending injury. Without being able to pursue his lifelong passion any longer, Emmons needed something to devote his drive towards in his career.

Mr. Emmons’s neighbor and lifelong friend piqued his interest when he recommended that Emmons take a course at a nearby firefighter training facility. It didn’t take long before Mr. Emmons saw that firefighting could fill his needs that he had lost with wrestling.

“[Firefighting] gave me everything I didn’t have when I lost wrestling.”

Chief Ian Emmons

Today, fire service is woven into the fabric of his life and family. Emmons now has a daughter and he has a son on the way. Much to his wife’s chagrin, his daughter loves firefighting and he’s hopeful that she’ll have the traditional story of why she became a firefighter when she grows up.

What advice do you have for other firefighters?

“Most of the time, the fire service will not live up to the expectations you picture when you first consider being a firefighter,” Chief Emmons noted. “Hold onto those images, but be flexible in knowing that every day won’t be like that.”

Chief Emmons also wants other firefighters to keep perspective in mind. This is a lesson that last week’s Featured Firefighter, Casey Jones, highlighted at the end of his article.

“If you have a fire to fight, there’s an equal and opposite reaction… Usually it means that someone is having the worst day of their life.”

Chief Ian Emmons

The third and final piece of wisdom Chief Emmons wanted to share with other firefighters is to establish a core set of friends that can provide support in good and bad times.

From responding to a young fatality to delivering a child or saving a life, having a core group to go to can help a firefighter cope with and celebrate these events.

“Celebrate both wins and losses with them,” Chief Emmons emphasized. “You don’t want to create that core group on the fly.”

What changes do you foresee in the fire service?

“Technological innovations for the betterment of health and safety.”

Chief Ian Emmons

As technology advances, there are more ways for firefighters to carry out their duties more safely and efficiently. For information on innovative technologies coming to the fire service, check out Smart Firefighting’s list of resources.

Aside from technological changes, Chief Emmons expects diversity and inclusion efforts to increase in the coming years. He pointed out that a lot of public service areas have lagged behind in diversity and inclusion but the fire service is working hard to remedy this.

At age 21, Emmons and his crewmate, Chris Oakes, were new to the fire service. On one of their first shifts ever working together, they responded to a patient who was suffering a STEMI (ST-elevated myocardial infarction, a.k.a. heart attack).

During the transport, the man suffering the heart attack was less concerned with his heart attack and more concerned with the experience (or lack thereof) of Emmons and Oakes.

Emmons and Oakes made sure to comfort their patient by assuring him that they knew how to treat him. They couldn’t promise him that everything would be fine but they could promise him that they would take care of him and give him the best chance of survival possible.

The man survived and was grateful for the compassion that they provided.

“Over the years, we’ve realized that compassion can’t be understated. Sometimes that’s all a patient is looking for in their greatest time of need.”

Chief Emmons

Emmons and Oakes could’ve approached the patient’s pointed questions in many ways but they chose compassion. Compassion takes energy and it’s not always easy, but it means so much and goes such a long way.

Ever since that day, Chief Emmons has continued to carry that level of compassion with him in all of his interactions with patients and colleagues. He credits this, among his hard work and dedication to the fire service, as why he has excelled in his career.