05/20/2026
Disassociation. Its definition implies lack of caring, not wanting involvement, no connection or contact.
In this business of firefighting, often, quite the opposite is more true.
Lately, I have had to think about recent events and what must have been involved to get the job done. Sometimes we get into incidents that are difficult to handle emotionally, mentally or physically. For firefighters to do the job they must sometimes disassociate themselves from the reality of what’s happening or what is so horribly bad, that to think about it would prohibit them from getting the job done. There will be time later to reflect. Training, muscle memory, and true dedication takes over and lives are saved. Heroics happen, the unimaginable gets done.
True caring and dedication and commitment and the desire to help others is in the heart of every firefighter and with this, so is disassociation, enabling them to be all of the other things…