We’ve all seen movies like Ladder 49 and TV shows like Chicago Fire. The Herald had the chance to speak to a bona fide New York firefighter who is in town this week to provide training on the Incident Command Systems (ICS).
The training was organised and hosted by the NWU’s African Centre for Disaster Studies.
It demonstrated how to deal with incidents using ICS, a system that takes chaos out of the equation when it comes to managing various incidents.
Sean Johnson, a practising firefighter, was part of the team training delegates from the NWU’s protection services, Dr Kenneth Kaunda disaster management, Tlokwe disaster management, Afriforum and other NWU emergency services such as Ingryp.
From the word go, one can see that Sean has a passion for what he does, both as a firefighter and as a trainer. The time he takes to explain every detail of ICS to the trainees is a testament to this. “I don’t want people to walk away not understanding what we are trying to teach them,” he says.
Sean always wanted to be a firefighter, ever since he was a young child growing up in the Bronx.
It stuck with him, even when he moved to Long Island.
“I love being a firefighter; I love bringing joy to people in a bad situation Z even if it’s just to save a photo of a loved one. I love helping people,” he says.
Sean never thought he would end up travelling to South Africa as part of his job.
Yet, as a trainer in ICS, this was his second time in the country.
Tim Murphy, the father of ICS in South Africa got Sean on board after Sean was certified as a level 1 public information officer on the incident management team (IMT). His first trip out was when he met up with the guys from Working on Fire.
“I really love what these guys are doing, they’re not just learning about fires but also about life,” Sean says.
According to him, ICS is a system that has been proven to work every time. “During the 9/11 attacks, it was total chaos, until we started implementing ICS; then the situation could be managed properly,” he says.
The father of two daughters, one of whom he delivered himself, lost 26 colleagues during 9/11 and tore his Achilles tendon during recovery operations.
He believes in sharing his knowledge with South Africans so they can make a difference in their own way.
Quick fire questions for Sean Johnson
1. Democrat or Republican?
Neutral
2. Burgers or Pizza?
Pizza
3. Favourite sport?
Golf and Football
4. Favourite Team?
Dallas Cowboys
5. Favourite thing about South Africa
Diversity of the people
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