A Family Liaison - Have You Assigned One?  Which one of the
following situations makes you feel the most uncomfortable?  1.
Being the first arriving company on an occupied single-family
dwelling fire.  2. Arriving on scene of an auto/pedestrian
accident and finding a child has been struck by a car.  3.
Talking with the family of a seriously ill or dying patient.  If
we look at it from the "comfort zone", most responders will
probably agree that talking with the family of a seriously ill
or dying patient presents the greatest challenge. Do you agree?
Think about your training programs. As fire and EMS responders,
we invest a great deal of time learning how to handle structure
fires and trauma emergencies. There are courses and classes that
are specifically designed to prepare us for those emergencies.
However, as (fire) company officers and fire service EMS first
responders, we get very little training on communicating with
families of the seriously ill and dying.  Statistically, as a
society, America is getti