PMS 600 A Preparedness Guide for Wildland Firefighters and Their Families.
Let’s talk about the PMS 600, A Preparedness Guide for Wildland Firefighters and Their Families document available through National Wildfire Coordinating Group. When my husband first brought me this, I was like oh finally something that pertains to families! I got pretty excited, then I got to reading it. Reading through it, I just thought, this is it? A mere 24-page document trying to prepare families for what it’s like to have a loved one in the wildland world, or their spouse. I wasn’t super impressed with it. To me, it’s a typical government issued document that someone was asked to write. I think there could be more help and detail within the document to truly make it helpful. It really should be split out into two separate documents. One that is just for the rookie firefighter and another that is just for families. Also, as a spouse is this really what you want your husband to hand you and say here read this… for me that ‘s a big no. There needs to be discussions and real talk! Maybe it’s something you look at together and can talk about and get your questions answered.
Now, this isn’t to say that it isn’t useful or that it doesn’t provide good information, I just thought it was lacking and honestly if I was new to the Wildland Fire world and my spouse handed this to me, I don’t know that I would really read much of it. I also don’t like just being handed a document to read to help me understand what my husband does, or what to expect, things like that. I like real conversation and discussions with him and others who have experienced the life. I’m also coming at this from a different perspective. I have been involved with fire since I started working for the Federal Government in 2015. I have a much deeper knowledge of the life than many wives or family members do. Someone completely new to this life would find this document helpful.
This document does do a good job on giving you an idea of what it means for your significant other to be a Wildland Firefighter. It provides information on what the physical demands are, the personal protective equipment they need, different jobs, schedules, and it also goes through a day in the life of a wildland firefighter while out on assignment. This is actually helpful if you have no idea what they really do out there.
This document also talks about the risks of the job. This is one thing I really like about it. Not only does it go into detail on the physical risks, but it talks about the impacts that being a wildland firefighter can have on one’s mental health as well. Both mental and physical risks are a major part of the wildland world. They are risks that you as the family member, spouse, whatever, need to be prepared for. Even though you can’t always be prepared for everything, it’s better than nothing. There are some really good links and resources within this section. Some are also listed in the resources page on this blog!
One difficult topic that PMS 600 discusses that I felt was a huge importance and one of the reasons why I liked it, was Line of Duty Death. As hard as it may be, this is something that every couple and family NEEDS to discuss! I’m going to go into depth on this subject in another post, because it is that important!
All in all PMS 600 is just another tool in the toolbox. If nothing else it at least provides some information and it’s a place to start. I just wanted to share my feelings on it and provide an insight into what it’s about and let you know that it does exist. If anything, it can help you get those conversations going with your loved one.
There is a link to the document in the resources page! Or find it here: https://www.nwcg.gov/publications/pms600