It's OK to Be Selfish

When I was a little kid growing up in rural southern Mississippi, my mom was always telling my brothers and I to always think of others and not to be selfish. That was ingrained in all of us and it seemed to have worked because all of us went into the health professional realm so that we can care for others. However, as much as we, or you, may care for your fellow man, I’m here to tell you that there are certain circumstances which would permit, maybe even require, you to be selfish.

Am I contradicting myself? Not really. Why? It’s entirely situational.

Scenario 1: You witness a motorcyclist being struck by an automobile and you immediately want to stop and render aid but it’s happened on a busy stretch of road. What do you have to do? You’ve got to make sure the scene is safe and clear before you go running blindly into traffic.

Scenario 2: You’re in a grocery store with your kids trying not to buy every item in the store when you hear gunshots ring out up front and hear people screaming. What do you do? You have to ensure the safety of yourself and your kids and find a secondary exit from the store.

Scenario 3: You witness a car accident and the car is ablaze with the driver trapped in the wreckage, screaming for help. The fire is extremely hot and the car has struck a utility pole and there are live electrical wires. What do you do? Is there anything that you can do? It’s a horrible thing, but we have to make sure we stay safe.

Life is all about decisions and choices. Sometimes they’re easy and sometimes you find yourself in the middle of a moral or ethical dilemma. For those of us who find it our calling to be the ones to push through a crowd to a fallen individual, not being able to help when we want to help is one of the toughest things in the world to face. Why? Because it’s what we do. But…..look on the flipside. Because we had to make that tough decision, we’ll be here another day to take care of someone else for if we throw caution to the wind and say, “Consequences be damned.”, we’ll pay for it, possibly with our life and that’s something that our loved ones, our teammates, our friends and those others who depend on us cannot afford to lose.

In situations like those mentioned above, it all comes down to personal safety. Personal safety trumps everything else because if we’re not safe, we’re going down, too. If that happens, we’re no good to anyone. So, whether it’s a matter of personal protective equipment or a situation in which someone’s life is in grave danger and nothing you can do can change the outcome, we’ve got to make a good decision. We’re not saying to do nothing or to run from everything because there are inherent risks out there. We signed up for those and realize that they’re just part of everyday life. We’re simply saying that you need to recognize your limitations and the limitations of the situation and know when you can help and, more importantly, when you can’t.

Stay safe,

Pocket Doc