On a cold January morning, we were dispatched for a report of an unconscious male, not breathing, with CPR in progress. My crew of three, including myself, arrived on location alongside the BLS unit and immediately began gathering the necessary equipment. It wasn’t until we approached the front door that we were met with screams, barking dogs, and an odor that knocked this city boy right in his mouth. Once the care was initiated by the extremely capable and confident crew, I took a step back to gather some situational awareness and start to anticipate their next moves, as I’ve done as the company officer countless times before. It was at that time that I realized that the male subject’s dogs were in their respective cages out in the living room, covered in feces from all the excitement the early morning hours had descended upon their home. Channeling my inner detective, I had located the source of the odor…
We further assisted the medical personnel with patient packaging and movement to the awaiting ambulance and saw them off to the receiving facility. As the dust quickly settled, the police officers on scene had departed with the patient’s girlfriend and looked to us to lock up the house before departing; a task we were more than capable of performing.
It was at that moment, I gathered with my crew; disheveled and exhausted from their herculean efforts to revive this man. We each looked at the dogs in their present state, silently glanced at each other, and with the most wholesome of nonverbal cues, immediately knew what the right thing to do was. We easily located cleaning supplies, readily available on the kitchen counter and got to work right away. While I choked back the desire to add last night’s dinner to the cleanup efforts, my stoic chauffeur and nozzleman worked diligently to remove any sign that the event had occurred from the home. I joined the Great Dane puppy in the back yard where I was able to locate a hose and rinse him off. EMS towels made quick work of drying him off and getting him back into the warm confines of his dog bed.
A silent nod, a sense of goodwill, and locking of the front door was how we departed. Upon arrival back at the station, I thanked the members for being so like-minded and so committed to the cause of truly taking care of people. Their efforts reaffirmed my desire to empower our staff to explore the above-and-beyond.
Fast forward a few months later. Through some networking and discovery, the girlfriend of the unfortunately now-deceased male patient reached out to me. She submitted a letter of thanks to the crew for their “profound kindness” and for giving a bright spot to one of the worst days of her life.
It was at that moment that Unreasonable Hospitality came into my life.
From Optimism Press, the 2022 book by Will Guidara, Unreasonable Hospitality, chronicles the author’s real-life journey from hospitality management student to having a four-star Michelin rated restaurant that was voted #1 in the world in 2017. The tag line for the book reads, “The remarkable power of giving people more than they expect.”
It wasn’t the first, nor the second time that I read the book that I was able to truly synthesize what the correlation between the hospitality industry and the emergency services was. They were both, after all, service-oriented industries with the common medium of our most valuable asset; people. That January morning, I bore witness to these two stalwarts embracing what, to them, just felt like “the right thing to do”, when in fact, it was a visionary representation of what many of us having been living our entire careers. My journey in life has afforded me some extremely humbling events – from the marriage to my soulmate, the birth of my children, combat overseas, triumph, and tragedy – quite literally life and death- has given a perspective born from the ashes of failures and shortcomings. One of empowerment and support. This combination of enablement and vision made something as basic as cleaning up dog poop into the precipice for real change. These members of the vanguard have encouraged our other members to look for what Mr. Guidara refers to as “legends” in his book; opportunities to make the experience that much better for someone. The idea has caught on like wildfire. Chief Alan Brunacini pioneered the idea of going above and beyond for our customers, but this sentiment of Unreasonable Hospitality extends its reach back into the firehouse as well! I watched as the more the crew took amazing care of those out on the street, the better and more engaged they would become as a contributing member of the team inside the station! The hit of dopamine a member received after returning an elderly patient’s trash cans back into their garage after collection day and receiving a tearful wave and a smile from the window was contagious. Despite the fact that we were there to assist the person off the floor and back to their chair by the window, the moment transcended a mere transaction and underwent a butterfly-like metamorphosis into a true human experience. Mr. Guidara says in the book, “…the human desire to be taken care of never goes away.”
It is easy to slip into apathy as we venture to the same address for the same reason for the third time in as many days, but living life with intention and a thirst for making the day better has yielded incredible results. An elderly man falls with such regularity that crew after crew would venture out, pick him up, and ensure he was uninjured. Patient refusal signed, and the crew was on their way; only to return hours later for the same thing. Lather, rinse, repeat. It wasn’t until we did some collective brainstorming that we detached from the situation while out on a subsequent EMS assist, realized it was the slick hardwood floor that had been giving the World War II veteran such a hard time in his daily gravity-avoidance routine that the cartoonish “light bulb” appeared above our heads. A $6.00 pair of orthopedic socks with some light tread on the bottom alleviated about 90% of our responses to this gentleman’s home. During our final visit, shortly before the man passed away, his son had tearfully conveyed what a difference that had made in his father’s life.
Thoughtful action is not limited to the medical services. During overhaul of a fire, a ceremonial, triangular-folded American flag was removed from the home and given to the grieving homeowner in the front yard – connecting two humans and their dearly departed Grandfather – in a moment they’d not soon forget. Mindfully removing family photos or heirlooms presents opportunities to connect an organization with the community they so passionately serve.
Encouraging one another to hunt these moments of opportunity doesn't seem so natural anymore. As stated in the book, “The way you do one thing, is the way you do everything.” Dividends are realized on the bay floor with members looking for ways to care for one another. Whether it’s folding their laundry, researching and preparing someone’s favorite meal for their birthday, or encouraging and supporting them in pursuit of their ambitions, a sense of community and tribe is the basis for which any organization can thrive, regardless of industry.
I invite you to discuss amongst your crew and your peers to highlight moments when someone went above and beyond. Recognize them, validate them, and inspire each other to do. To be more than they could ever expect. You may be surprised with some of the results, but you won’t be disappointed.