Is What Happens after “Thank You” Hurting Public Safety in YOUR Community?

Is your community’s level of public safety suffering because of how your employees respond when stakeholders say “Thank you?”

Consider this scenario: a family was involved in a multiple-vehicle crash that left them trapped in their burning car. Law enforcement officers took control of the scene and assisted with the rescue as firefighters put out the fire and extricated the passengers. EMTs and paramedics stabilized and treated the victims before rushing them to a hospital. When he tried to express his gratitude for the safety of his family by thanking the first responders, the father heard these replies: “No problem,” “It’s just my job,” and “It was nothing.”

What just happened? Unintentionally, the first responders both trivialized the father’s experience of the great value he had received and sent the message that, in fact, saving lives is no big deal.

Here’s why these outcomes are detrimental to public safety:

1. When first responders brush off attempts to thank them, they are being dismissive of individuals’ need to express feelings of gratitude for the value they have experienced. Their positive public image may be damaged because their self-effacing replies unintentionally de-value the service they provide.

2. Although the norm in public safety agencies is to downplay and even make light of individual and collective acts of courage and heroism, there is a real danger in doing so. First responders who continually refuse to acknowledge and “own” the value they provide begin to trivialize that value in their own minds. They lose sight of the fact that they do amazing things every day that literally change the course of people’s lives. They begin to take the value they provide for granted, and their perspective of the job may become skewed and jaded. If they don’t see the value they contribute to public safety, how can they help others see and appreciate it?

3. When first responders tell the public over and over again that saving lives is “Just my job,” after a while people begin to believe that there really is nothing to it. As a result, when tough decisions must be made about how to allocate scarce resources, cutting public safety budgets is much easier because the professionals entrusted with keeping the community safe consistently have insisted that what they do is no big deal.

So how can first responders repair the damage caused by years of publicly downplaying their value? Begin by changing the behaviors that cause them. For example, here are some suggestions about how to acknowledge people when they say, “Thank you:”

– Work on your mindset first. Instead of focusing on what you DID (e.g., put out a fire, solved a crime, treated an accident victim), consider the IMPACT your actions had on the other person (e.g., saved his/her home or business, brought closure by ensuring justice was served, allowed him/her to recover and resume normal activities quickly). This will help you see the stakeholder’s perspective.

– Take the time to listen to everything the person says, even when it makes you feel uncomfortable.

– Give the speaker your full attention. Even in a chaotic situation, unless there is threat of imminent danger, you can take a minute or two to be fully present and focused on the person in front of you.

– Accept the thanks and appreciation being offered. A simple “You’re welcome” or “Glad we could be here for you” will do.

The bottom line: communicating the value you provide to your community’s safety can be as simple as saying “You’re welcome.” Why not give it a try?

© 2013 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.

This article is adapted from an earlier version that appeared in Alignment Solutions in March 2010.