[zx10guy]

Hazards that firefighters/EMS workers experience:

In addition to the expected fire/smoke hazards with working a fire, the unknown about the construction of the home/building. The use of engineered I-beams in new home construction is a huge hazard for responding personnel. Those things can give way without warning when exposed to heat.

Hazmats in the home, business, and crashed commercial vehicles.

Attacks by random people because of the uniform. There was an incident quite a few years ago where a unit on scene was treating a GSW (gun shot wound) patient in SE DC. While stabilizing the patient for transport, the gun man went back to finish the job. He entered the vehicle and shot the patient and in the process one of the crew members of the unit.

Car wrecks. Idiots that don't pay attention to driving and just want to gawk. I was almost hit by one of these brain dead motorists while pulling a long board and KED out of the side compartment of my rig. In addition, working with cars with the numerous air bags is a constant hazard with the potential for those things going off at any given moment. Bumpers. Depending on the crash and deformation of the bumper, they've been known to snap back out releasing energy and severely injuring who ever is in its path.

Patients. Some patients have displayed and acted on hostility towards responding personnel. I was on a call where we picked up a homeless person. The guy gave his history as a IV drug user and is HIV positive. The medic on my crew was trying to establish a line on the patient and as you can expect it was difficult with the patient's history. The patient got irate with the medic poking around with the catheter needle and took a swing at the medic. We had to restrain the patient while he was bleeding out...remember his HIV status? And a loose sharp...again remember his HIV status? Another call I was on, the patient was under the influence of PCP. He blacked out and we had to wake him up. He got combative with us in the back of the ambulance enroute to the hospital. It took two of us in the cab to restrain him and tie his arms down with triangular bandages to the litter. He managed to break free from the triangular bandages at which time we had to restrain him and tie him down again.

Those are some of the things off the top of my head. Not sure how many jobs out there where you're exposed to all these diverse hazards. Just saying.