#YourStory – Peering into the life of a fireman
“My dad was a traffic officer at the time and was well-known by the emergency services. He introduced me to the fire department and under the guidance of professional firemen, I was raised and taught."
Spending time with a firefighter makes one realise there is more to the jobs than what the title implies.
Acting shift manager, Eric Bothma from the Edenvale Fire Department, qualified as a firefighter in 2003 and was employed full-time at the Edenvale Fire Station in 2008. He has also furthered his studies to be an intermediate life support paramedic and he specialises in rescue.
Mr Bothma said he started off as a teenager with an interest in emergency services.
“My dad was a traffic officer at the time and was well-known by the emergency services. He introduced me to the fire department and under the guidance of professional firemen, I was raised and taught. I also studied part time and did home schooling. In between I used to visit the fire station to wash the fire engines, clean the tyres and in so doing, my passion grew for the emergency services,” he said.
Eric said being a fireman does not mean only attending to fires.
“Instead of just doing firefighting, I realised although there are a lot of fires, people do not just get trapped in fires, they also get trapped in cars and get stuck in elevators. A lot of those skills, especially with situations like building collapses, require being more than a normal fireman. Once you get to disasters such as flooding or building collapses, then you need special training,” said Mr Bothma.
In addition, he said many years ago firemen were seen as the guys who wouldn’t go to school and did not want to study.
“Nowadays firemen, at least two to three that you come across, have degrees in fire technology. As firefighters, we constantly have to study, whether it be fire or medics, we have to keep up with the medicine and health profession council rules,” he said.
Eric there are a number of good and bad moments as a fireman, but memorable moments include reaching someone who is stuck or injured in a space where there is no contact with other people.
“To put yourself in a box underneath the ground best explains how the victims are feeling. Reaching them and to calm and reassure them means the world to me. Whether victims are stuck underneath rubble or trapped in a car, I cannot isolate any of them because each rescue is so different. Therefore, it is telling them I am there for them that makes all these moments memorable,” said Eric.
He said as a fireman, changing into uniform, the world’s responsibility becomes his own.
Being prepared and well trained is an important aspect of a firefighter’s job.
“Skills and training is vital and we train at the station so that when we go out, we have rehearsed our actions as far as possible because every scenario is different. We attempt to mitigate hazards,” he said.
Eric said he would encourage individuals to become firefighters because not everyone can be doctors.
“If children enjoy doing something different everyday and don’t like sitting in the office, then being a firefighter is the job for them,” he said.
