‘Try as they might to destroy our lives, we will carry on’
Unity is key when faced with crisis, such as the terror attack at Westminster Bridge, as the London Fire Brigade’s Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Dr Sabrina Cohen-hatton explains
When I first joined the Fire and Rescue Service at the age of 18, I knew I wanted to help people. I was enthusiastic about giving back to society, improving lives and being part of a team who turned up to make things better. I began as a firefighter, and worked my way up through the ranks. Sixteen years on, the desire to make a difference remains as strong as ever. This year, London has been struck by immense tragedy, with more major incidents than I’ve ever encountered before. On 22 March, I was in a meeting when a call came through to say that there had been a terrorist attack at Westminster Bridge. I was asked to set up a major incident room to co-ordinate our response.
Police, medics and fire crews and our fire boat were involved in the rescue. High-stakes incidents need a calm and rational mindset. Fear and panic would only hinder our work. It’s about maintaining empathy, while detaching yourself enough to operate effectively in the circumstances.
Our job, day in and day out, is to deal with incidents that have a life-changing
impact on people. Undoubtedly, Grenfell Tower was the biggest incident I, and many of my colleagues, will ever work on. When a fire crew walks into a burning building, they are putting themselves at risk, facing perilous conditions to do a job that carries potentially life-changing consequences for those affected. The scale and enormity of Grenfell changed so many lives. I was involved in the aftermath, and seeing pictures of the missing posted on walls and lamp posts on my way home the next day really hit home. The Brigade’s crews were exposed to things that many had never seen before and most are never likely to see again. I also ran the Brigade’s welfare centre to make sure they had the psychological support to deal with everything they had seen. The dedication, steely determination and effort to do all they could makes me proud of what our fire crews did that day.
Dealing with human trauma is always challenging, but when you can relate to it on a personal level, it becomes even tougher. I’m fortunate that my husband is an operational fire officer, so we can confide in each other when we’ve found an incident difficult to deal with. Our little girl, Gabriella, is seven, and it does play on my mind when I work on cases involving children of a similar age.
Shortly after the Manchester Arena attack, I found Gabriella packing her bag with cuddly toys. She told me that the toys were for all the children who’d been hurt and were stuck in hospital. It touched me to know that this new generosity spans far beyond age, culture and background. Try as they might to destroy our lives, we will just carry on. In the face of atrocity, communities are united.
I feel proud of what our fire crews did that day