My grandfather was a Philadelphia (PA) firefighter for 20 years—a career unfortunately cut short by an injury sustained when he was thrown from the back step of a fire truck.

After retiring from the department to the suburbs, in what was then still largely countryside, he found work at National Foam and worked there until his official retirement. I recall as a very, very new firefighter talking to him about the fire company and being nervous about knowing what to do when coming upon my first fire, and he said, “You won’t think. You’ll act.” I didn’t question his wisdom, but at that time I really didn’t know how exactly that would work. I often announce to my wife and kids when we are planning a vacation, a party, or some family function, and I start to overthink it, “I’m not thinking!” Today I was reminded of how important not thinking can be.

In the publishing world, we work a bit ahead. This editorial is for our November 2017 issue, and I am writing it on October 2, 2017. Today, the worst mass shooting in modern United States history occurred in Las Vegas, Nevada. As everyone is certainly aware by now, a lone gunman shot at a crowd of concertgoers from the 32nd floor of a nearby hotel. I’d be remiss if I didn’t comment on this tragedy.

More than 50 people were killed, and hundreds more were injured and brought to area hospitals. One hospital worker was quoted as saying that the patients just kept coming. One law official said that although the crowd at the concert was large, it was not the largest the city had ever hosted and that public safety personnel are well accustomed to handling such events.

As we’ve all come to expect, a variety of television networks sought out and found eyewitnesses to recount the events of the evening leading up to the tragedy. We can argue all day the wisdom of this practice, forcing people likely traumatized in some way to relive over and over for the camera what they just went through, but what struck me during many of these interviews was how concertgoers helped each other.

One story came from a couple who was leaving the concert as the gunfire started, and instead of speeding away, they helped the injured get to a hospital. Recordings of law enforcement transmissions revealed one stating in a calm voice that he was heading to the hospital with wounded and requesting assistance shutting down roads so he could transport theml unimpeded.

What do these stories have to do with how I started this editorial? The connection is that in all instances, people didn’t think. They acted. As the patients kept rolling into the hospital at a pace those on duty in the emergency room had never experienced before, they did not think. They acted, and they saved lives.

The first responders, none of whom had ever experienced a mass shooting of more than 50 people with hundreds injured, all acted.

And, there were also countless civilians who didn’t stop to think. They grabbed people—wounded or not wounded—and moved them to safety as quickly as they could. They brought injured to the hospital. There was no hesitation.

No doubt, one of the most recognizable recordings from this incident will be the sound of law enforcement on the radio calmly announcing, “Breach,

My grandfather was a Philadelphia (PA) firefighter for 20 years—a career unfortunately cut short by an injury sustained when he was thrown from the back step of a fire truck.

After retiring from the department to the suburbs, in what was then still largely countryside, he found work at National Foam and worked there until his official retirement. I recall as a very, very new firefighter talking to him about the fire company and being nervous about knowing what to do when coming upon my first fire, and he said, “You won’t think. You’ll act.” I didn’t question his wisdom, but at that time I really didn’t know how exactly that would work. I often announce to my wife and kids when we are planning a vacation, a party, or some family function, and I start to overthink it, “I’m not thinking!” Today I was reminded of how important not thinking can be.

In the publishing world, we work a bit ahead. This editorial is for our November 2017 issue, and I am writing it on October 2, 2017. Today, the worst mass shooting in modern United States history occurred in Las Vegas, Nevada. As everyone is certainly aware by now, a lone gunman shot at a crowd of concertgoers from the 32nd floor of a nearby hotel. I’d be remiss if I didn’t comment on this tragedy.

More than 50 people were killed, and hundreds more were injured and brought to area hospitals. One hospital worker was quoted as saying that the patients just kept coming. One law official said that although the crowd at the concert was large, it was not the largest the city had ever hosted and that public safety personnel are well accustomed to handling such events.

As we’ve all come to expect, a variety of television networks sought out and found eyewitnesses to recount the events of the evening leading up to the tragedy. We can argue all day the wisdom of this practice, forcing people likely traumatized in some way to relive over and over for the camera what they just went through, but what struck me during many of these interviews was how concertgoers helped each other.

One story came from a couple who was leaving the concert as the gunfire started, and instead of speeding away, they helped the injured get to a hospital. Recordings of law enforcement transmissions revealed one stating in a calm voice that he was heading to the hospital with wounded and requesting assistance shutting down roads so he could transport theml unimpeded.

What do these stories have to do with how I started this editorial? The connection is that in all instances, people didn’t think. They acted. As the patients kept rolling into the hospital at a pace those on duty in the emergency room had never experienced before, they did not think. They acted, and they saved lives.

The first responders, none of whom had ever experienced a mass shooting of more than 50 people with hundreds injured, all acted.

And, there were also countless civilians who didn’t stop to think. They grabbed people—wounded or not wounded—and moved them to safety as quickly as they could. They brought injured to the hospital. There was no hesitation.

No doubt, one of the most recognizable recordings from this incident will be the sound of law enforcement on the radio calmly announcing, “Breach,

Two people suffered smoke inhalation after their condo unit caught fire late Wednesday night in Edmonds. Crews arrived at about 11:30 p.m. at 7510 208th St. SW to find a fire in a unit on the second floor of the condominium complex. Initial investigation showed the fire may have started in the kitchen, damaging the unit from both the flames and smoke.
- PUB DATE: 11/9/2017 3:53:26 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000

The Fire Department no longer will be able to have firefighters fill in for colleagues who call in sick, a move that City Manager Sharon A. Addison admits violates the union contract. Ms. Addison directed Fire Chief Dale C. Herman on Wednesday morning that firefighters cannot be called into work to fill in for their colleagues who are absent because of illness.
- PUB DATE: 11/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Watertown Daily Times

After a weekslong investigation, Anchorage fire officials still can't say for sure what caused a firefighter to fall more than 70 feet from a fire truck ladder in June. No one, not even security cameras, saw the fall that left 29-year-old Anchorage firefighter and paramedic Ben Schultz hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury.
- PUB DATE: 11/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Alaska Dispatch News