It's is a win-lose situation, but feels like a lose-lose.

tengolotodo(78)

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Please note this article is hypothetical and is my entry for the latest Weekend engagement post WE89 from @galenkp

As usual, there are four options and I shall choose option 2

Option two: If you could save

If you could save only one child from a burning house who would you choose to save and why? They are six-year-old twins, a boy and girl and the one you do not save will die. What is the logic behind your choice and possible implications moving forward.

When I worked offshore in the oil and gas industry, you were living and working on an isolated metal structure miles from safety and only surrounded by water. Everyone and I mean everyone took firefighting courses. The possibility of fire was the biggest fear, and the courses I took were very hands-on.

Imagine being in a burning structure wearing full breathing apparatus and fire-retardant suits. I did this for five days at a time. When a fire is in full burning mode you cannot see. It might sound bizarre, but it is dark, yes there are flames going left right and centre, but the smoke takes over and it blackens the air. Talking of air, smoke and burning debris stinks and it gets in your lungs, even with full breathing apparatus on.

_{source Image from Mateusz Wyszyński in Pixabay}

Back to the scenario given to us. I know that there are two children trapped in the house. A boy and a girl who happen to be twins.

I assume I know nothing about the house, so I will enter the property using the techniques that I learned from my courses.

One tip for any of you, who heaven forbid do come across a fire situation, never ever lead with your hands open and palms out. It is human nature to clench your fists at the touch of something. For all you know you could have involuntarily clenched a live wire and electrocuted yourself. So if you do touch a wall, to feel as you go, use the back of your hand, all that will happen is you will get cuts or burns but you can pull your hand away safer.

I have entered the house and most probably it will have next to zero visibility, The children may well have succumbed to smoke inhalation already, perhaps they are conscious perhaps not. I will search until I come across one of the children alive.

Which child to save?
There is no going into the house with the assumption that I will save the boy first or the girl first, it is a question of hoping to find at least one child alive.
Once a child has been found, I would get out as quickly and safely as I could. The scenario says I can only save one, so presumably, the flames have now made reentry into the house impossible.

The scenario is hypothetical and I can honestly say that I would not make a choice. The first child that I encountered would be the child that I would save.
If I entered the house with the preconceived notion that I will save child A, then the probable outcome would be that child A child B and myself would all perish. I would be scrambling around the house trying to find the child I had chosen to save, meanwhile, the fire would have progressed to such an extent that falling materials would have probably blocked access or the smoke become deadly.

What are the implications going forward?

I would be gutted and riddled with guilt.

Why did I not save both children?
Why was I not quicker?
What if, what if , what if.....

Those are some of the questions I would be asking myself numerous times daily. Would I be able to face the child? Probably not without being racked with guilt for not saving their sibling.

I would be feeling some form of survivors guilt and would need some sort of grief counselling, I know that.

This is not a situation I have experienced and I hope it is one that I will never experience.

I titled this article .... It's is a win-lose situation, but feels like a lose-lose.

I had saved one child hence the win and not saved the other child hence the lose. However, in my heart it really would seem to be a lose lose. I lost the chance to save a child to the fire and the surviving child lost their sibling and a twin at that.

Many thanks for reading, and thanks Galen for pushing us out of our comfort zones yet again!