MONTEGO BAY, St James — While most Jamaicans hunker down in safety and wait for Hurricane Melissa to arrive, essential workers know they will have to leave their families and run towards danger if that is what it takes to save lives.

One firefighter who is stationed in Montego Bay still remembers how difficult it was for him to be away from his family last year as Hurricane Beryl raged.

“I had to be at work. I was worried when I saw things blowing along the road, and kept wondering if things were okay back home,” said the firefighter who asked not to be identified by name.

He knows it is the nature of the job but this does not make it any easier.

His worst moments were when the electricity went and there was no mobile connectivity, so he could not contact his family.

“I was worried, because the storm was raging at the time and it’s not like you could go home, because you would be putting your life at risk. But, things turned out okay for me in the end,” he said gratefully.

He is bracing for whatever Melissa will bring. So too is St James fire chief, acting senior superintendent in the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) Ricardo Hibbert who knows all too well what his team members have to endure.

“It’s a lot of sacrifice; many might say it comes with the territory,” Hibbert told the Jamaica Observer last
Friday.

“You have firefighters who leave their homes for as long as maybe two, three days, leaving their families, leaving their loved ones behind for the sake of the service,” the fire chief added.

Hibbert explained that firefighters are urged to ensure everything is in order each time they leave home as there is always the possibility they will not be able to return for a while. He noted that situations which require firefighters to remain on active duty until normality returns can be particularly hard on their families. The fire chief said it can be especially challenging for team members who have specialised skills that are needed during major events.

“Say, for example, [you are] a firefighter who is needed at home at a time like this… and you have the requisite skills to treat with situations like this and have to leave home for the sake of your duty. That in itself is tremendous sacrifice, not only for us as first responders but our families as well,” he said.

“It just goes to show how committed firefighters are on a daily basis — especially in situations like this where we are having disaster conditions with a hurricane pending and so on,” added Hibbert.

It falls to the brigade’s leadership, he said, to make sure firefighters called upon in these cases get as much support as possible.

“We try our best to ensure that we get them as comfortable [as possible] — even though comfortable in a situation like this might be relative. But, for example, we would seek to provide some amount of rations for them which will last for several days, depending on how protracted the storm system is,” he said.

“We provide them with the necessary tools and equipment as well to treat with whatever eventualities that may arise out of this,” Hibbert continued.

The fire chief stressed that these are challenges faced by many other first responders such as those who work in the security forces and the health services.

One nurse assigned to Noel Holmes Hospital in Lucea knows exactly what Hibbert means. She has an ailing relative at home and has to rely on other family members to step in when her job keeps her away for prolonged periods.

Like firefighters, she and her colleagues in the medical field know that in times of crisis she may not be able to get back home any time soon. She has accepted that it comes with the territory.

“Depending on how things happen, I will try and bring enough food and change of clothes because I might be there for a while,” she said.

HIBBERT… [it] is tremendous sacrifice, not only for us as first responders but our families as well.