Negotiator: Usually handles hostage and suicide situations and use their negotiating skills to avoid potential fatalities.
Even though armed officers, tense crowds and confusion rule the situation, they are expected to keep their cool and create a “safe” environment for the hostage-taker/suicidal individual.
In hostage situations, the negotiator has to establish communication, find out the number of hostages taken, and their health status, as well as the demands and emotional state of the hostage-taker.
They should also find the right balance between being authoritative and understanding. If the hostage-taker will not bargain, the negotiator also has to determine the right moment to involve armed forces.
Fireman: Every time they report to duty, they could be risking their lives. Whether it’s rescuing someone from a burning building, extinguishing fires or providing medical support — it is no wonder they are often described as real heroes. Their duties vary from on-scene communication, pump operation, forcible entry, ventilation, locating victims and rescuing them, clean-up and equipment maintenance.
Paramedic: As part of the Emergency Medical Service and ambulance crew, paramedics are trained to provide on-scene medical attention or crisis intervention and transport patients to hospitals and trauma centres.
When necessary, they provide basic and advanced life support, including oxygen support, cardiac life support, therapy for seizures, trauma assessment and communication.
Peacekeeper: Often entering conflict zones across the world, peacekeepers are tasked with stabilising situations on the ground, maintaining ceasefires and resolving or preventing dangerous situations.
A peacekeeper’s assignment could vary from human rights monitoring, security and disarmament to humanitarian, legal and demobilising missions.
Conflicts can often be unpredictable and risky.
Bodyguard: Risks their lives to protect others. Bodyguards or security professionals can specialise in various areas — such as close protection, asset protection, surveillance, witness service, risk and threat analysis — and can be assigned foreign or domestic projects or form part of advanced security teams.
Field reporter: Not only are they under immense pressure to meet deadlines, field reporters, at times, must also investigate, research and gather information from risky locations.
Whether the story is of a country at war, a volcanic eruption, an earthquake or a hostage crisis — they often risk their lives and work long hours to keep people informed on the developments.
Crane operator: They need to have excellent hand-eye coordination to manoeuvre heavy machinery at construction sites, docks and railway yards.
Crane operators have to constantly stay alert to dangers, which include power lines and the prospect of their machines turning turtle.
Repairing hydraulic lines and changing the oil and filters when necessary are also all in a day’s job.
Fisherman: A fisherman’s job may not look dangerous but has many potential hazards.
These include unpredictable weather conditions that could result in the boat capsizing. Others involve the risk of injury while handling and maintaining equipment and fishing gear.
And if anything goes wrong, the nearest hospital or port could be hundreds of kilometres away.
Correctional officers: In a maximum-security penitentiary, they cannot let their guard down even for a second because most inmates feel they have nothing to lose.
Stress comes with the territory as they have to maintain security consistently.
They are also expected to file reports on any strange incident and security breaches.
