Okay, they’re not really “unsung.”
But we probably don’t sing their praises enough.
I’m talking (of course) about Westport’s Fire and Police Departments, and Emergency Medical Service.
Their lightning-quick, well-coordinated, extremely professional and exceptionally efficient response yesterday turned what could have been a mass casualty event — 27 teenage rowers and 2 coaches, in the frigid water off Compo Beach in gale conditions — into what Police Chief Foti Koskinas calls “a very good outcome.”
From the moment the first 911 call came, at 5:06 p.m. — from a young rower in the water — to an hour later, when the last victim was rescued, and on through the extra hour spent making sure everyone was safe, then into the very clear, direct and honest 8:30 p.m. press conference, with media from as far as New York, the incident serves as an important reminder that our first responders are even more than first class.
They are the best of the best.
We don’t often think about the training that goes into a response like yesterday’s. We don’t see the hours spent planning for every conceivable what-if, while knowing that not every conceivable situation can be foreseen — and the way that response plays out when a call arrives that 29 people are offshore, in 40-degree temperatures.
We don’t know how they do what they do: ensuring that mutual aid arrives from nearby towns; setting up a command post; coordinating efforts in a chaotic scene; getting an accurate count, then accounting for everyone.
We don’t understand the courage it takes to head out in dangerous conditions, or the emotional toll such an event takes on everyone involved.
We don’t give much thought to the men and women in our Fire, Police and EMS departments — the rank-and-file, and their leaders.
Nor do we give much thoughts to their annual budget requests, and how they use our tax dollars.
But — as yesterday proved — every penny they spend is well-deserved.
And well earned.
Westport gives grateful thanks to our Fire, Police and EMS first responders. Sung or unsung, they are our heroes — today, and every day.