Full transcript
0:01What's up, guys? So, you want to be a
0:04firefighter, right? And I get it. Being
0:07a firefighter looks like the dream job
0:11when you look at it from the outside,
0:12right? The the public loves you. Kids
0:15want to take pictures with the truck.
0:17They want to get in the truck. They want
0:18to put on your helmet. People bring food
0:20to the station.
0:23You're in parades.
0:25We're the good guys of every story,
0:26right? Compare that to police that
0:29unfortunately are always always going
0:31through massive scrutiny, EMS going
0:34through low pay and tough work
0:36conditions, right? And firefighting.
0:40We're the the golden kids of of public
0:43safety. But here's a truth and kind of a
0:46dark side that no one ever really talks
0:49about in any recruitment videos when
0:51when they're hiring. So, and I need you
0:55I want you to hear it because I want you
0:56to know before going in, right? So, if
0:59you're into public safety, please take a
1:01moment and subscribe to the channel
1:02because I put videos out every week
1:03about fire, EMS, and tactical medicine.
1:08All right, so let's get into this video.
1:10All right, so first and foremost,
1:14a couple things that I'm going to go
1:15over. Right, so this job will will wreck
1:17you. It can wreck your health if you if
1:20you let it. And people think that
1:24firefighters sleep all the time. You get
1:26issued a payload when you get hired and
1:29you play video games all day, right?
1:31I've never worked in a station like
1:33that. So that's wrong. So even if you
1:36don't get a call at night, you just
1:39don't sleep the same as you would at
1:40home, right? Your body's always in that
1:43ready state, waiting for the tones to
1:46drop. All right? So you're always got
1:47that adrenaline and cortisol building
1:50up, right? And here's one that hit me
1:53personally, right? I was officially
1:55diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea
1:57in March of this year, 2025.
2:00But the truth is, I probably had it for
2:02years. Uh I just thought I can't sleep
2:05at the station or I it's kind of made
2:08its way into I can't sleep at home,
2:09right? I toss and turn. I dreaded going
2:12to sleep. I was always the last one to
2:14go to sleep at work because I knew it
2:15was going to be like a a long night of
2:17not sleeping if we slept. But fun fact,
2:19I had a sleep study done in 2009 and
2:23they said I didn't have anything. And in
2:252009,
2:27uh, five years into this job, I got put
2:29on blood pressure meds, right? So, it's
2:31all those broken nights of not sleeping
2:33while you're on shift and always running
2:36on that adrenaline.
2:3816 years of poor sleep, you know, turned
2:41for me into full-blown obstructive sleep
2:44apnnea. And I'm not unique, right?
2:47Because I know a lot of guys on the
2:49department that are thin, they work out,
2:51they do jiu-jitsu, brown belts, purple
2:53belts, lanky guys, and they're toading
2:56around the seat machine to the station
2:58so they can sleep. So it's not an
3:00overweight problem. It's a it's a
3:03problem in the fire service. All right.
3:05So since getting on that mask on that
3:08CPEP, it's changed my life. Right. My
3:10blood pressure has dropped where my
3:12cardiologist lowered my medication. Um,
3:15and I don't need four cups of coffee in
3:18the morning to to just to get going and
3:21and another two in the afternoon just to
3:23not pass out on the couch, right? I
3:26didn't realize how bad it was until I
3:27fixed it, right? Because I was miserable
3:29at home. Like, I was a miserable person
3:31to be around at home. I know it. And
3:33then there's the cancer thing. According
3:36to the International Association of
3:37Firefighters, we have a 9% higher chance
3:42of being diagnosed with some type of
3:43cancer and a 14% higher chance of dying
3:48from it than than compared to the
3:52regular general public, right? And that
3:54and that's big. That's big to get into a
3:56job that you have to worry about this,
3:58right? So, think about that. We we train
4:00to put out fires. We do all these other
4:02dangerous things, but it's the smoke,
4:04the toxins over long-term
4:06exposure to it that's killing us in the
4:09fire service. That's why cleaning your
4:12gear, deconing, wearing your SCBA, and
4:16having yearly screenings, they aren't
4:18optional anymore. It's it's survival.
4:20It's you need to do these things
4:23to survive because you want to be able
4:25to retire and have a healthy life,
4:27right? And also the international agency
4:30of research on cancer has found that has
4:34classified
4:35that night shift work
4:38which significantly impacts your
4:41circadian rhythm, right? They've
4:43determined that that could be a possible
4:46carcinogen that we're stacking on top of
4:49the already high incidence of cancer in
4:51the fire service. And then there's and
4:54then there is the the the dark side. And
4:57I don't want to be doom and gloom, but
4:59here is one of the dark truths about
5:00this job. All right, everybody knows
5:03about the physical dangers, hanging off
5:05buildings, fires, things like that. But
5:09the real danger is the things you don't
5:11see, right? And those those images that
5:15you carry after many years of doing
5:17this, right? That behavioral health. Too
5:19many of our brothers and sisters are
5:22fighting these silent battles. And it's
5:24not just us, it's also police, right?
5:26But we lose more firefighters to these
5:28invisible injuries than than we do to
5:31the dragon to the fire, right? And
5:35that's that's deep, right? That's it's
5:38not just one bad call. It's the
5:41accumulation of calls, right? It's the
5:43sleep deprivation, the tragedies, the
5:46the strain at home. you know, you see a
5:49a child lost in a crash or somebody that
5:51you pulled out of a fire just a little
5:53too late or a drowning and it stays with
5:56you, right? And then you go back the
5:58next shift, rinse, wash, repeat, and and
6:01do it again. It's a death by a thousand
6:04cuts, right? So, this is a danger that,
6:08like I said, nobody puts in a
6:10recruitment video and tells you that
6:12this could potentially affect you. And
6:14these are the hardest things in the
6:16career to prepare for. And the other one
6:19is near and dear to my heart is the wear
6:22and tear on the body. So on top of all
6:25the other things, there's that physical
6:26wear and tear and firefighting can break
6:29you down, right? Getting in and out of
6:30that truck, with all that gear, with
6:32your air pack, with the life pack, with
6:34the airway bag. And over in over 32
6:37years of public safety that I've been in
6:39now, I've had one shoulder
6:40reconstruction, a total hip replacement.
6:43And I was just nursing another hip
6:45laboral tear. And I'm not unique, right?
6:47So you ask around any firehouse,
6:50back surgeries, blown out knees, torn
6:53shoulders, and the one that I've been
6:55seeing a lot now is hip replacements,
6:56right? They're everywhere. It's not it's
6:58not if, it's when your body is going to
7:01pay that price of all those years. So I
7:07know what you're thinking. So Chad, why
7:10why did you stick around? Why have you
7:12done this for so long? All right. So,
7:14with all that, why do we do it? And I
7:17I've done this now, like I said, 22
7:20years in the fire service because I
7:22would I've loved nothing more than these
7:26two jobs, right? Specifically fire,
7:28right? Full stop. And and I would do it
7:31all over again. All right. And between
7:33police and the fire service, I feel and
7:34I I know it's cliche, but I haven't
7:37worked a day in 32 years. I don't feel
7:40like I've worked a day in 32 years. And
7:44yeah, the job can steal your sleep, your
7:47health, your mental health, and you
7:50know, peace of mind and all that, but
7:52but it also gives you purpose and it
7:54gives you camaraderie. All right? And a
7:57chance to save lives and and affect
8:00people in a positive way and show up on
8:03people's worst day of their life and
8:05make a difference, right? And you might
8:07not even know what difference you made
8:09in somebody's life, but you do. And even
8:11with all those dangers, man, I would do
8:12it all over again. What this career has
8:16given me, I I can't put a value on it.
8:18All right? And I'm super grateful for
8:20it. I love it. And I hope that in your
8:25wanting to be a firefighter
8:28that that you love it that much, too,
8:31and that you get into it, albeit knowing
8:35what I just said. And that's why I
8:36wanted to make this video to to not give
8:39you all the hoopla of the fire service,
8:42but to show you the reality. You just
8:45got to take care of yourself and know
8:46that these things are possible, right?
8:49So, if you are a veteran firefighter and
8:53you watch this video, I want you to
8:55comment down below things that you
8:57didn't know coming in to into the job
9:01into this profession so that
9:04so that somebody that's pursuing this
9:06career can read it in the comments and
9:09have another perspective other than mine
9:12and set them up for for success. If you
9:16would do that for me, leave a comment
9:18and let me know things that you didn't
9:20know getting on this job. And if you
9:22would have done it again, if you would
9:24have if you would have done it all over
9:27again, because I know I would have. All
9:29right, till the next video, be safe out
9:32there. All right, stay frosty and peace.