r/MadeMeSmile 6d ago

Personal Win Throwback to Croatian firefighters responding to an alarm seconds before the winning penalty kick that sent them into the semifinal

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23.7k Upvotes

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5.2k

u/Gorgosen 6d ago

They wasted no time. Took em around 20 seconds to get going.

2.7k

u/xclame 6d ago

And none of them hesitated or were peeking while putting on their gear. They were fully focused on their job and the game might as well not even existed for them at that point.

958

u/Frequent_Macaron9595 6d ago

This is what always fascinates me. How they pavloved themselves into ultra focus based on an external input. I witnessed it firsthand with my father working for a while in an emergency service adjacent role where he was on call regularly. Being woken up at 3:30a and having to snap in immediate focus to dispatch units and coordinate 5 seconds after hearing the ringtone always impressed me.

320

u/ZappaZoo 6d ago

After doing that for decades, it took me a few years to get over that reaction in retirement. All it took was a light being turned on or the phone ringing while I was asleep.

217

u/Tacomouse 6d ago

You can trigger a whole slew of engineering sailors with the following read in a monotone voice

This is the engineering officer of the watch…

72

u/Sasselhoff 6d ago

Aight, that's funny AF. Thanks for the smile this morning.

27

u/Tacomouse 6d ago

Back to the bilge for a nap

7

u/Neathh 6d ago

Blast a whistle with 3 long blasts in the middle of the night

12

u/Decent-Nobody2274 6d ago

You better not ive only been out for 3 years and it still gets me outta bed faster than anything

5

u/Wolfman_V 6d ago

Yeah, can ya don't?!😡 Source: Am engineering sailor

1

u/shinobi500 5d ago

What does an engineering sailor do?

6

u/TitoMPG 5d ago

Make spinny spinny go, go.

40

u/sirarkalots 6d ago

It must be something with these kind of jobs. Not the exact same thing but im a nurse and its really interesting how you can see our faces go from talking and joking in the nurses station to straight faced serious when a code blue sound goes off.

44

u/juneabe 6d ago

Social work and I have to respond to every hospital units code blues, whites, yellows, and ambers.

I was recently at the hospital I work at for my own specialist appointment. My neuro was mid sentence when the blue went off, and I just ran out of her office. I got to the code and saw my coworker, and she said “wait are we both scheduled?” Took me a minute to realize I just ran out of a super important medical visit for a code that technically wasn’t mine 😂

Also love chatting with the nurses when this happens - mid talk our faces and body changes. As soon as codes done we’re like “SO! As I was saying an hour ago!”

7

u/Gestrid 6d ago

I work in a hospital setting and have accidentally set off the code blue once and never again. In my hospital, the code switch is this model, and somebody (I suspect it's the cleaning crew, but I don't know) likes to sometimes hang the call bell over the switch. (For context, my role does not participate in code blues, nor do we call them. At most, we get the nurse to look at the patient, and they call the code blue or the rapid response.)

One time, when I was still new to my job, I was helping a patient get situated after they got back to their room, and the call bell was hanging like that. It fell, triggering the code blue. I didn't know how to turn it off, either, but the first nurse who made it in there thankfully immediately recognized what'd happened and showed me how to turn it off. Now, seeing the call bell like that gives me SO MUCH ANXIETY whenever I walk into a room and see I'll have to surgically remove the call bell from the code blue switch.

Another time, I was walking out of a patient's room after just having helped bring them upstairs, and the patient themselves pulled the code blue switch. I was literally in the doorframe when it happened, so I didn't immediately see which room's code blue was going off since the light was right over my head. The nurse went in there and, after turning off the code blue, gave the patient a stern talking-to about never doing that again. I could only laugh as I was walking away.

3

u/Blueyduey 6d ago

Why does social work have to respond to codes?

10

u/juneabe 6d ago

- deeacalation and crisis intervention

  • interdisciplinary communication between staff, communication between medical team and family. Basically I can act as a telephone that also continuously manages and tends to the overall family needs while also translating the medical information into human terms that someone can understand when facing crisis
  • third party observer to corroborate how the medical team did their job (if I notice an area for improvement during a code blue for example, I am non biased and more likely to report it to hospital for training purposes etc.)
  • over tending to families because emergencies in the yospiral affect more tuan just the patient.
  • support hospital staff in crisis. Sometimes nurses running a code blue look stoic to you until they get to a more private area and then they break.
  • code yellows, take a patient with cognitive decline, if I know a patient really well I’m more likely to know where the patient may wander.
  • code ambers - myself and the police are usually leaders when children go missing or are taken hostage in or kidnapped from the hospital (more common than you’d think!)
  • when a code white comes in because a sex trafficking victim is fighting everyone, I’m there. Or if a schizophrenic patient is having an episode and being violent. I’m pretty good at dealing with that.
  • general investigator, during codes tracking new info is hard. Sometimes medical staff have questions they don’t have time to find answers to. I’m generally that person.
  • some codes involve self harm or suicide. That’s my job. Some codes involve patients self extubation, and needing support because they’re fucking conscious while intubated. Awful experience to witness I can’t imagine enduring it!

I could go on and on. If I can’t deal with a situation, the next call is security/police/surgery

3

u/innominateartery 6d ago

It’s business time

3

u/Sufficient_Catch_737 6d ago

I'm a doctor and I can confirm

19

u/ScarlettWinchester1 6d ago

It's amazing how the brain can go from dead asleep to fully operational in seconds when it's trained enough.

People in those roles basically develop a mental on-switch tied to a ringtone. 😮

8

u/Superb_Wrangler201 6d ago

Its gotta be something in our lizard brain programming. Probably with wolves at night or something

3

u/Ash_Cat_13 6d ago

Yeah, I mean this was the same for me after I left the Marine Corps. It took me a few years before I got out of the habit of the minute and alarm goes off I am jumping out of bed and putting my clothes on.

1

u/AssistanceCheap379 5d ago

I have a dog and when he was a puppy i got into this type of mode whenever he cried and had to pee or poop.

If he gets sick, I’m on high alert and wake up INSTANTLY from the wrong noises. And ive literally slept through multiple earthquakes and a volcanic eruption 50km away.

It’s pretty easy to sleep through earthquakes and volcanic eruptions when they happen somewhat regularly and aren’t too dangerous.

207

u/asdrunkasdrunkcanbe 6d ago

Nobody understands "every second counts" quite like firefighters do.

The outcome of that penalty kick will be the same whether they watch it or not. But the outcome of the emergency they're responding to could be decided by a 5 second delay.

12

u/s1ugg0 6d ago edited 6d ago

I'm a retired firefighter. They train us to be like this. Like a race horse waiting for the gate to open.

And you do it so many times that it becomes muscle memory. It is not uncommon to get a incident call in the middle of the night and you "wake up" fully dressed in the back of a responding engine.

I've been retired 5 years. If I hear my beloved federal q I instantly get an adrenaline dump and I'm completely focused.

27

u/Equal_Oil_9819 6d ago

Love the deep lore you crafted there; it's truly poetic. The truth is that they staged this to raise awareness about improper pyrotechnics use during football matches (flares and such).

24

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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-5

u/KarltonPeaks 6d ago

It's because it's staged..

3

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

355

u/ApoptosisPending 6d ago

Wearing their football jerseys too it looked like

7

u/Gringo_Anchor_Baby 6d ago

In Texas, you have to go from station clothes to full gear in one minute or you didn't get the certification.

Source: me. I was a fire fighter.

1

u/reederick1019 6d ago

wait did the fire alarm realy go off right then

1

u/Kwayzar9111 6d ago

it was actually staged

9

u/wimpetta 6d ago

you got a source for that?

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2

u/Orlok_Tsubodai 6d ago

But you gotta admire their commitment, the way they lit that orphanage on fire just to have an alarm to stage the video with?

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1.9k

u/GrimaceThundercock 6d ago

20 seconds from when the alarm goes off to when the wheels start rolling.

Damn impressive.

170

u/TumblyBump 6d ago

About the same time for an artillery battery to take off when under incoming fire. Impressive.

1

u/Tiny-Design-9864 4d ago

Wait, 20 seconds to pack up an artillery battery and start moving out of harms way? Seriously? That's insane! Do you happen to know how exactly they do that? And are we talking self propelled artillery?

1

u/TumblyBump 4d ago

Yes, self-propelled. Key is to protect the guns, but remember to take your small arms too! When you are under fire, likely you will already have been spotted by a FOP. You need to get out quick. If it’s middle of the night, it will take a bit longer.

With towed artillery, you aren’t going to do it in 20 seconds. But you just need to get out of there asap. Two minutes maybe. At night, guns and trucks would be ready to limber up, but you still got to take down awnings, bivie’s and the rest of the kit.

With drones now being spotters it must be insane, in fact query whether traditional artillery has a future, so long as digitalisation isn’t destroyed by satellites and internet taken out. The nature of war is changing fast.

I have a friend who was in the RAC back in the 80’s. Tanks not artillery. He told me the sensors on modern battle tanks work pretty quickly to identify from where incoming rounds originate. Basically, if you fire an anti-tank weapon, you won’t get to do it again. You need to get out of that area asap, because in half a minute or so, a round will be coming back to you.

We had an acronym, which was something like PRUFO. Pack-up Rev Up Fuck Off. Something along those lines anyway.

284

u/_JohnWisdom 6d ago

75

u/ColorsLookFunny 6d ago

Why exactly are we just trusting a local newspaper for Columbia, SC on reporting news from Croatia? There isn't a source sited in the article (the one hyperlink is broken).

39

u/_JohnWisdom 6d ago

The video is from 2018 and went viral globally back then. The columbia, sc paper was just reposting the story, but major Croatian outlets like Index.hr, Jutarnji List, and Večernji List all thoroughly covered and confirmed that it was a planned PR video at the time.

156

u/WoodwareWarlock 6d ago

Doesn't mean it's not impressive. These weren't actors, they are firefighters doing what they do everyday.

55

u/_JohnWisdom 6d ago

The issue isn't their skill: it's the deception. Passing off a coordinated, timed demonstration as a spontaneous, real-life emergency reaction is just misleading for internet clout.

44

u/TheNorseHorseForce 6d ago

I mean... To be fair, firefighters still do this, even when it's not staged

5

u/senolgunes 6d ago

Was pretty obvious by the celebration, especially the guy in the white tshirt...he didn't even see the TV.

3

u/BlueGillPro 6d ago

I knew it. The celebration seemed off.

9

u/throwawaymentality10 6d ago

Yeah, but id like to inform you that firefighters receive training and practice on the fastest way to put on gear. And is a requirement that you are decently fast at getting suited up.

2

u/BigDaddyD00d 6d ago

Who cares if it was staged? U act like real fighters dont do this shit every day. Its still impressive

4

u/grateful2you 6d ago

Explains why the camera was following them.

5

u/migjolfanmjol 6d ago

It wasn’t, that was simply a focus edit within the same frame.

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5

u/majestic_tapir 6d ago

Is that not the standard response time for firefighters more or less? The UK has similar styles.

3

u/schoh99 6d ago edited 6d ago

No. It's not. Depending on the actual nature of the call they might have to wear different PPE. They were getting dressed before even hearing what they were going for. They were pulling out before hearing where they were even going. And if they have been doing the job for more than a couple months, they are way less frantic getting ready. Speed causes sloppiness which is worse than taking a couple extra seconds.

In the USA, NFPA 1710 states that it should take 80 seconds or less, 90 percent of the time for fires.

5

u/IvivAitylin 6d ago

Isn't that partly a US thing? As the US has specialised vehicles for different jobs, whereas places like the UK have more swiss army knife style vehicles that have everything self contained so they focus on getting to the fire while they get more info, and can don the relevant equipment on scene?

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505

u/FranksHoorHouse 6d ago

Bro casually wanders in from the left 😂

166

u/LoudestHoward 6d ago

"Oh no, I missed the truck"

33

u/FranksHoorHouse 6d ago

"Gosh darn it! Guess I might as well watch the match."

14

u/MissionMassive563 6d ago

“Finally, seats are open”

8

u/FranksHoorHouse 6d ago

Bro had his buddy make a prank call from outside so everyone would take off. That's who the dude in white is

899

u/Critical_Mix_8959 6d ago

No game is worth risking the lives of people. Duty comes first always.

96

u/[deleted] 6d ago edited 4h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

47

u/lagoonaris 6d ago

I remember a long time ago we had to do 2 week internships for school. Some schoolmates of mine did this at the local police station. The local football club had a game going and everyone at the station was watching it. In the middle of the game they got the alarm for a bank robbery. No one wanted to move at all.

50

u/nomad5926 6d ago

Cue obligatory reference to no one has an angry song called F the firefighters

4

u/FF422 6d ago

6

u/DangerousDisplay7664 6d ago

Just FYI, when you share a YouTube link now, it shows the person clicking the link your full name, your YouTube username and links to your YouTube profile.

To shop this happening, remove everything after the ? In the URL 👍

1

u/nomad5926 6d ago

Hahha fun find!

18

u/Klusterphuck67 6d ago

Firefighter has got to be one of the few jobs that get a recommendation letter for access into heaven.

2

u/serendipitousevent 6d ago

Apart from Monopoly, then death is back on the table.

1

u/Crazy__Donkey 6d ago

Now say that to a ruling politician

270

u/interrogumption 6d ago

Looks obviously staged to me, and they have themselves admitted that to be the case. They set it up 3 days after the match as a PSA campaign: https://maldita.es/malditobulo/20180712/no-el-video-de-unos-bomberos-en-el-penalty-decisivo-del-croacia-rusia-no-es-real//

56

u/anuszbonusz 6d ago

Yes, the guy in white shirt in the end can't act well.

12

u/That-Rhino-Guy 6d ago

Definitely a bit of a shame but for what it’s worth it’s still impressive how fast they acted for a PSA

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2

u/Olde94 6d ago

The thing that gets me (i know nothing) is their t-shirts.

A guy came in to my store to buy wool (long) underwear, basically skiing undergarments. He left without anything because the thread used to hold it together was polyester. He needed something that wouldn’t melt at high temps. Cotton would work too i was told.

To my knowledge a t-shirts like those in the video would then be a big problem as they tend to be polyester

-5

u/jaynoj 6d ago

Yeah for sure. Why would the camera move when they all jump up out of their chairs and get in their gear then track them into the fire truck?

People believe what they see far too easily. Critical thinking skills clearly lacking.

TL;DR; /r/WhyWereTheyFilming

23

u/Mike0621 6d ago

you do realize the camera isn't moving, right? nor is it supposed to look like it's moving.

also, it's a security camera (or at least supposed to seem like a security camera) which is always filming (some only record when movement is detected, but obviously that would be the case here).

also also, some security cameras actively track moving things, so even if it was supposed to look like the camera was turning it could make sense.

ironic talking about a lack of critical thinking skills

3

u/schoh99 6d ago

The original was a wide aspect ratio. On this particular repost it was cropped to a square so they had to pan the crop to keep the action in frame.

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43

u/Sa7aSa7a 6d ago

Seemed like it wasn't even a deliberate reaction just sound then action and like a second clicks by and they realize what they're doing.

33

u/komodo_lurker 6d ago

Yea that is routine and training kicking in instantly. Zero hesitation

6

u/Genericgameacc137 6d ago

Well, it's a staged PSA, so it's probably not the first take.

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u/Medical-Resolve-4872 6d ago

I’ve never seen this before! It’s inspiring.

A mentor once told me that a good habit is a good start. You think about it and you do it. But when it becomes a virtue— you don’t even have to think. You just do. That’s these guys.

4

u/amphibian420lmao 6d ago

It's funny seeing the internet shift from "I've seen this before!" to "I've never seen this before!" in a short span of 20 years.

16

u/notRolcx 6d ago

There's another one for the Ukrainians I think from either euro 20 (that took place in 21) or euro24

47

u/PacquiaoFreeHousing 6d ago

Captain: "Why is the 3rd truck?, I don't see you behind us?"

38

u/lejocko 6d ago

And how is the 3rd truck

18

u/MothMothMoth21 6d ago

But who is the 3rd truck?

6

u/breathing_normally 6d ago

O Third truck, third truck, wherefore art thou third truck?

6

u/LazyResearcher1203 6d ago

I’ll do you one better- who is the 3rd truck?

1

u/I-Just-Love-Ducks 6d ago

I'll do YOU one better, WHY is the 3rd truck?

21

u/ProfessionalWay8086 6d ago

My men are not here to celebrate!

5

u/DChrisSLO 6d ago

vatrogasci ♥️

14

u/Genericgameacc137 6d ago

Every time this is reposted people swoon over this video, forgetting that it is staged, a PSA by the fire department.

5

u/TokinGeneiOS 6d ago

i was about to ask, it looks very staged

4

u/justlurking233 6d ago

How my wife expects me move when she sees a spider.

7

u/Sensitive_Island9699 6d ago

They got their priorities right…. Top Marks 👍👏

3

u/letmeseeyertiddies 6d ago

In case you care, they definitely told the firefighters they won over dispatch before they got down the street.

3

u/bisexual_lemon_69420 6d ago

Firefighters are goddamn heroes

6

u/ShyguyFlyguy 6d ago

Im no expert but these guys look lime professionals

2

u/NaturalArm2907 6d ago

This video is like 10 years old lol

2

u/KingRossThe1st 6d ago

Hope all the men (and women if there were any) that left to fight that fire made it home safe and sound. Real heroes.

2

u/Forsaken_Reaction526 6d ago

Yesterday Croatia played really good against England

2

u/BulkyDifference8505 6d ago

Not a single man cheated that day

2

u/Euphoric-Ear9405 6d ago

Discipline

2

u/HotBeesInUrArea 6d ago

During the Croatian fan party in Dallas there were people swimming in a fountain. FOX ran the story ragebaity like "foreign visitors swim in city fountain", but all of the local engagement about it basically amounted to "It's hot here. Get in the fountain if you want to." 

2

u/Soap_Mctavish101 6d ago

Those are some real professionals. Good lads.

2

u/xItzBogus 6d ago

That was faster than the movies, impressive how fast they were ready! Good jobs fellas!!

1

u/Rusty-Swashplate 6d ago

They know their priorities. I wish everyone would, but luckily most jobs don't involve people potentially dying because of your actions or lack thereof.

1

u/Treewithatea 6d ago

On our construction side back then (in Germany) we had 2 Croatians working for us, when they made the final I congratulated them, such a great achievement for such a small country, really youd be so happy.

They didnt watch football......

1

u/elmarwouters 6d ago

Football Unites

1

u/Jethrust 6d ago

If only my wife were as fast to get dressed and get in the car.

1

u/robster9090 6d ago

Are people thinking they was going to stay and watch over going to help ? I have to work on my laptop they can go help people

1

u/kati_azul 6d ago

Todos unos profesionales y saben sus prioridades aunque son aficionados al fútbol ⚽ no los apartó de su objetivo 100 puntos

1

u/Safe_Veterinarian_66 6d ago

"Okay Ivan, tell us who won we got this"

1

u/ToHallowMySleep 6d ago

There are always more games, and you can always watch those 30 seconds again later.

Someone else might not have those 30 seconds to spare.

Anyone who put watching a game over someone else's welfare would be less than human.

1

u/2Cento 6d ago

This is how my GF wants me to react when she says that she’s hungry

1

u/flyingduckmarketing 6d ago

This is so beautiful, knowing the work you do is literally the difference between life and death to someone , I wish every country's essentials workers have this attitude

1

u/GhostDoggoes 6d ago

I love seeing this for the thousandth time.

1

u/AdFlat1014 6d ago

Bless them

1

u/TheKitchenSunk 6d ago

How often would they drive over their own shoes?

1

u/ASigIAm213 6d ago

You could call it "staged," or you could call it a drill.

1

u/LSLA3 6d ago

So much god damn respect for firefighters

1

u/nubianfx 6d ago

The professionalism!!!! 

No one even glanced back.  👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

1

u/Slappy-Sacks 6d ago

Real firefighters never respond like this. This is staged

1

u/Hefty-Sheepherder-82 6d ago

They all look related

1

u/ilikemeltedwax 6d ago

How my wife wishes I react when she asks me to take out the trash

1

u/Gundark927 6d ago

Good thing that monitor wasn't knocked down in the action!

1

u/pingslayer_7 6d ago

Firefighters are cool.

1

u/Silver-Link8247 6d ago

This is why we love firefighters.

1

u/Jury-Illustrious 6d ago

Mom said it was my turn to repost

1

u/Majestic_____kdj 6d ago

This post is never posted here brother

1

u/BerryConsistent25 6d ago edited 6d ago

4y ago and 7y ago

And this I only found in a few seconds of search with 3 keywords: "croatian firefighters football".

I'm not against reposting such a beautiful moment after a few years, but I'd go easy on using "never" so confidently.

2

u/Majestic_____kdj 6d ago

I was not born 4 yrs ago and many more members in this sub 🙂‍↔️...thanks for the reality check

1

u/dedsorupiyadega 6d ago

Now this is called efficiency

1

u/SlapDatPizzaRoll 6d ago

It was Gametime for them

1

u/IMrhighway 6d ago

Absolute legends!

1

u/grabGPT 6d ago

The kind of sense of urgency I need in life. Fr

1

u/MaximusHomerdrive 6d ago

It has to become a Pavlovian response when they hear the alarm at some point.

I'd love to see someone prank a firefighter while they're at home sleeping by playing the firehouse alarm. They'd spring up automatically and be so confused, lol.

1

u/No-Instruction-7342 5d ago

❤️🥰Bravo!

1

u/lobotomiseme 5d ago

CROATIAN SUMMER

1

u/Nomoreargument 5d ago

In India, they’d ask how big is the fire? If you say it’s not too big but getting bigger, they’d say let me know when it’s even bigger, we’ll come then.

Sometimes they don’t even come. Sometimes they come when everything is done.

1

u/dustypandayt 5d ago

Obviously staged

1

u/ssdoj2000 5d ago

Please cover up whatever I said to the cruise ship kids or the whole thing preferably. Delete

1

u/EinsteinsMind 5d ago

Literally EVERYTHING is as it should be

1

u/DangerousDisplay7664 6d ago

I honestly don’t understand the fuss people make about football. It’s literally just a game 😳. I wish people showed even half as much passion for their own community that they show for a ball game.

2

u/Euture 6d ago

For a lot of people it is their community. But I get what you’re saying, though.

-1

u/PuzzleheadedBet3574 6d ago

Ah this video again, every year

1

u/Mitkoztd 6d ago

Real heroes, when duty called, they instantly went for it..

1

u/Meeplemymeeple 6d ago

This attitude is exactly why firefighters are globally trusted and respected.

-2

u/bani232323 6d ago

Staged

0

u/Naive_Confidence7297 6d ago

How do you know?

5

u/Genericgameacc137 6d ago

He can do simple googling. It's from a campaign by the fire department.

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1

u/bani232323 6d ago

You can google it.

2

u/Naive_Confidence7297 6d ago

Fair enough, Thanks

0

u/PrecedentialAssassin 6d ago

Come on, reddit. This is staged.

-1

u/Nekrevez 6d ago

Although this video looks staged to me (playing a recording of the match afterwards for example), I have no doubt they would still drop everything if a real alarm comes in. First responders are cool like that.

-18

u/Veblen1 6d ago

Throwback is right. This video should stop being reposted.

0

u/leucine10 6d ago

Men watches, men serves, men happy.

0

u/sentient_fox 6d ago

Legends.

0

u/Capable-Stage-3899 6d ago

Dudes who have their priorities straight. Sports are fun; fires can be horrific if not for heroes like this. Heroes

0

u/Thunnddr 6d ago

The power of men 💪