The interviewee pulled out a knife and pressed the blade against my throat
Once, while working as a child social worker in the 80s, I was conducting an interview in our office when the interviewee (who was known to be violent) pulled out a knife, held me against the wall, and pressed the blade against my throat. I managed to reach the emergency button and pressed it but nobody came. Turns out the admin staff had disabled it because children often set it off while playing. The man ran out and was caught by the police a few streets away. I was scared, but my managers didn’t think it serious and told me I was making a fuss. – KennethGeorge
We had to punch through bricks to enter a basement fire
As a fireman, my scariest moment was turning up to a double basement fire with thick smoke billowing out of the building. We had to punch through brickwork and pavement (which indicates a very hot, slow-burning fire) and don breathing apparatus to enter. As we descended, we didn’t know whether the fire was in first basement or the one below. All the while the temperature was getting hotter and hotter, and I knew our means of escape would be cut off if the fire flashed back over the entrance. – Expisspot
I had to cut a young man in half, from one side of his ribcage to the other
My scariest moment as a junior doctor was at 2am when I helped cut a man my age (28) in half from one side of his ribcage to the other, to see both lungs collapse and his heart giving up. Then we had to carry on trying to find the bleeding vessel after a major trauma. I shook and vomited afterwards in the changing room toilets. I left him in intensive care thinking he would die, to go see a 98-year-old woman in the emergency department with a life-threatening double leg fracture. They both lived, and the guy went home just five days later. – Anonymous
A structure collapsed and almost crushed three workers to death
I am a lead construction manager and a couple of years ago we had a structure collapse. Three workers nearly got crushed to death. It was hellish going through the resulting inquiry and the sense of guilt is with me to this day. The industry demands such speed of construction that it is almost impossible to control all aspects of safety and it can be a hazardous workplace. If someone gets seriously hurt in an area of my responsibility again, I think I will have to walk away from the role. – ak1978
I had to check the explosives were safe during a thunderstorm
I used to make explosives and once had to go into the explosives area during a thunderstorm to make sure the equipment we’d been using was safe. That was pretty scary. Also, our lab is in the basement, and sometimes in the evenings after everyone has left you can hear the cockroaches scuttling through the ducts above your head. – Shortordercook
A toddler had a cardiac arrest at 5am
A toddler I was looking after unexpectedly had a cardiac arrest at 5am. Luckily my colleagues – nurses, anaesthetists and the surgical consultant – were amazing and we managed to get him back. These things happen in my line of work as a junior doctor but this really shook me up. The drive home later was pretty scary too – 26 hours straight at work meant I was not at my sharpest. – drkc312
I fear someone will find out I’ve no idea what I’m doing
My biggest fear is that someday someone will figure out that I have no idea what I’m doing. – bllckchps
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