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A.C.T now!

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Over the last year, what did you do to increase your emergency services knowledge, skills, and abilities? What supporting educational programs did you complete? What training classes did you attend? Most importantly, what changes in behavior did you implement after attending the programs?

Here’s a three step process to help you further your abilities and provide new information to fellow crewmembers. The process can be remembered using the acronym A.C.T. The letters stand for:

A- Attend a class.

C- Contribute to the classroom conversation.

T- Take-back what you learned to your crew.

Don’t just “ATTEND” any course. When you peruse a course catalog or conference schedule in search of a course to attend, think about topics of interest to you. Remember, the idea is to increase your knowledge about subjects you find interesting and want to learn more about. If you could care less about driving or pumping an apparatus, don’t register for a pump ops course!

“CONTRIBUTING” to the course can occur in a variety of ways. You hear other students with questions about what is being presented but the other students will not ask the instructor? CONTRIBUTE by asking the question for the other student. Trainers love questions! If the instructor asks for assistance with a demonstration or needs some help, volunteer! Your participation will be greatly appreciated.

“TAKING IT BACK” is the most important thing you do with your new knowledge, skills, and abilities. The department spent money to send you, one person, to the class. Why not help the department get the biggest “bang for the buck” and spread the new material with your co-workers and others?

Grab the fire academy course catalog, thumb through a training conference schedule, or check out your county fire association’s website. Select an interesting class, register, and attend the program. When you come back to the station, share what you learned with your co-workers. Alternately, search the web for a computer basd course, complete the course, and share what you learned with others.

Hurry! A.C.T. now! Operators are standing by!

Posted in administration-leadership, Education/Training, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, Motivation, Thoughts, Training, training-development, Uncategorized

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April 24, 2013 • 1 comment

I LOVE YOU, DO YOU LOVE ME? CHECK “YES” OR “NO”.

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No, this isn’t about some sixth grade love note. This is about how well YOU conduct a check-off and inspection of apparatus; about how well you look at your equipment before you place a check on the sheet, indicating the item is present and ready for service. It’s a short story about how a person made a mistake and placed an unsafe piece of equipment on a truck; how two other apparatus operators DID NOT do an adequate check/inspection of equipment and allowed an unsafe piece of life safety equipment to be available for use by firefighters.

A few weeks ago, I was conducting a training class with a hazardous materials team. The class moved from the classroom to the training ground. Time to work on practical skills and conduct fun training evolutions! Then, something weird showed up on the equipment tarp. The item on the tarp was something I hadn’t seen in about 15 years. One of the face pieces on the 4.5 SCBA units was a very old piece not approved for firefighting use. The old, outdated piece has a nylon headnet with only two tightening straps, no nose cup, and…..NO EXHALATION VALVE!! So, this face piece will melt onto your head under high heat conditions, will fog over and obstruct your vision, and (without an exhalation valve) will lift your face seal every time you exhale. Oh boy, I feel safe now!  Here’s what was found:

Here’s what should have been placed on the truck. Note the fire retardant headnet for use in high heat conditions, four tightening straps to assist with maintaining a good face seal, nosecup to prevent fogging, and exhalation valves.

Photo by author

The face piece was inadvertently placed on the truck during an equipment reload after a significant haz mat response. Rather than wait for the usual equipment to dry, someone dug into a box of old masks and pulled this one for use. It was attached to a regulator and the SCBA was returned to the truck. No one noticed the unusual item attached to the SCBA. The next two shifts, the apparatus operators visually confirmed an SCBA was occupying the appropriate space and placed a check in the box. Did the operators verify headnet straps were fully extended and the face piece was clean? Doesn’t appear so. Did they confirm air was in the cylinder? Don’t know.

When conducting daily or weekly apparatus inspections, every item must be properly inspected. If it has an engine, run it. If it contains pressure, inspect it, and record the pressure. If it has straps, verify they’re extended and ready for the next user. Life safety equipment must be given a thorough check! Don’t assume everything is okay because the piece of equipment is in the correct location. The daily or weekly check is conducted to confirm equipment is present and in proper working condition.

Apparatus operators, are you conducting adequate checks on your equipment during periodic inspections? Company officers, are you occasionally checking behind your normal and back-up apparatus operators concerning equipment checks? Do it! The safety of you and your crew depend on it.

Posted in administration-leadership, Education/Training, firefighter-safety-health, Training

September 13, 2012 • 3 comments

“I hate you, papa.”

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Those were the last words of a dying child, beaten for hours by her mother’s boyfriend. The man beat the child for most of a day; when EMS and law enforcement were finally summoned, the limp child was found in her bed. Hospital staff worked to revive the child; however, she succumbed to her severe injuries. A law enforcement officer in the ER noted the girls last, powerful words in his incident report. Another article told the story of a child beaten to death by both her mother and father. When brought to the hospital, the child was covered in bruises, old and new. X-rays showed current and old broken bones. Neighbors said the child was constantly screaming in that house. The grandparents said they were concerned for the child’s safety. No one, neither family nor neighbor, intervened for these children.

As firefighters, many of us wear our leather helmets with pride and see the fire service as protectors of all people. Without a search warrant, we have unique opportunities to see what other agency representatives rarely get to see: the inside of a home, bared to us without much attempt to whitewash living conditions. Firefighters are in houses for medical calls, public service calls, and fires. We are able to see how people are in their day-to-day lives.

On your next medical call, when examining and caring for a child, will you look a little harder at what you see? Will you assess the child and try to determine his/her wellbeing?

1. Is the child overly dirty and uncared for?
2. Condition of diapers? Changed, as needed?
3. Child look in good physical condition and well fed?
4. Appear to have an exceptional number of bruises and/or other injuries?
5. For age, appear to appropriately respond to stimuli?
6. Living conditions: acceptable or unsafe squalor?

Today, at the kitchen table, discuss this article. Ask if any member has run across anything similar in his/her past work. How was the problem handled? Does your organization have a method to report child and/or elder abuse? If there is not a policy or other method, does your organization need one? What do you think should be in the policy? Until the policy is developed, how will you and your crew handle a call similar to those in the above paragraph?

Children don’t have the necessary skills to communicate in the adult world. It’s up to us, as adults and as firefighters, to speak for those without a voice. Will you have the courage to protect a child and report a situation to social services?

Silence is acceptance; inaction is approval.

Posted in administration-leadership, Education/Training, ems-topics, Motivation, patient-management, Thoughts

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September 7, 2012 • 4 comments

Hello from the EMAGUY!

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Thank you for the introduction, firestudent1. I’m EMAGUY, another contributer for the site with a strong desire to learn. I have a diverse background, including fire, ems, and emergency management. My fire experience includes paid (county and industrial) and volunteer; my emergency management experience includes time at a county agency and healthcare positions.

In some articles, I may include a different viewpoint than you’re used to; however, I hope the different perspective helps you see the point I’m trying to make. Also, if you have a question, thought, or concern, post a comment! Maybe your comment will help generate additonal conversation about the topic.

Here are some article ideas I have:
Haz Mat: there’s always opportunity to learn something to keep us safe at haz mat incidents.

Fire and EMS: articles designed to help you operate more efficiently and effectively on the scene.

Company officers: the critical link between department administration and members. It’s a tough job; we’ll look at some ways to make better operational decisions, manage staff, and provide quality company level instruction.

Training officers: how to develop a training program and plan, covering regulatory and department requirements for all staff, including: firefighters, company officers, instructors, and department administration.

Again, thank you firestudent1 for providing me the opportunity to work with you and The Basics crew!

~ EMAGUY

Posted in administration-leadership, command-leadership, Education/Training, ems-health-safety, ems-topics, fire, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, hazmat, Motivation, Thoughts, training-development, Uncategorized

August 27, 2012 • No comments

10,000 Hours?!

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How do some firefighters get really good at their job and some, well, not so much. I was just perusing Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers” and one of the focuses of the book is the 10,000 hour rule to become an expert or successful. I don’t plan on reading the book, but I’ve heard this 10,000 hour number before.

10,000 hours….

5 years full time employment (40hrs a week)

10 years part time

For the average firefighter that may take an hour a shift to check the piece; 64 years, if you do 3 shifts per week

OUCH! And that is just operating the piece and the equipment on it, not RIT training, not roof operations, not EMS skills, not fitness all of which a firefighter should be an expert at. Or is it 10,000 hours of “firefighter job related stuff”? Either way, I’m nowhere near it.

Now Gladwell is far from THE authority on the subject, having written about other people’s research and weaving in some interviews for flavor, but the idea is interesting.

I may have brought this up before, but have you ever watched someone at an incident farting around with a power tool like a monkey fornicating a football? Don’t you just think “Come on guy, the switch is still off”? How much time has he spent with that saw? How many hours? Minutes? He is acting like it’s his first time.

We ran a 2 1/2″ line in an attempt to fill our local pond on my last shift. The crew was all experienced and professional and I would consider a most of them to be experts. I asked for a solid stream (built into the nozzle) we had an issue finding it, when the hydrant was charged it gave the line too much pressure, We had a difficult time with apparatus placement to have an easy escape in order to stay available for responses.

The placement issue was all me. It was a silly new officer mistake. I try not to micro manage so I let the driver pick the placement based on my requirements, now I know better. The line problems were just rust. Not equipment rust, but firefighter rust. I know they are good at their jobs, it was a good refresher for all. The total delay or inconvenience was negligible and barely noticeable to anyone watching but everyone involved knew what happened and how to fix it.

When we were harassing each other about it later one of the younger firefighters ask what we were talking about and why it was an issue. So I see we need to do it again and get him a little closer to the 10,000.

Every time you put your hands on that piece of equipment you are learning something about it. All those little things that make checking the piece faster and easier for you also make you more familiar with it. The more familiar you are, the better you are but also the more complacent you become, not getting into that today.

Do I think the saw needs to be checked every day to be maintained? No. I do think it needs to be checked every day to maintain our readiness and competency with it. I can understand getting rusty with a 2 1/2″ line, 75% of our work is handled with an 1 3/4″, but there is no excuse for not knowing your saw, ladder, EMS equipment.

Are you going to get 10,000 hours of training and become an “expert”? I doubt it. Most of us have long passed the expert level at sleeping or channel surfing, maybe Grand Master level for some. But the general idea here is that you need to get your hands on that stuff. Get your face in the books.

Become a student of the fire service.

 

Posted in administration-leadership, command-leadership, Drills, Education/Training, Engine Tips, Motivation, Thoughts

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June 28, 2012 • No comments

WHY?

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Hey everyone, I’m back like a really bad habit! How often in your next tour will you as a fireman or a company officer hear the word “Why” come out of a members mouth? This word can be good, bad, or just downright insubordinate. This is my getting back in the grove, so this will be short, but for anyone that knows me at all, much more is coming on this issue! Drillmaster’s challenge is simple. Count the “Why’s” your next tour, keep track positive or negative. Let me know and we are off to the races! I’m back, more opinionated as ever Brothers! Always remember those who came before us on this Memorial Day Weekend! we are our Brothers Keepers!

Posted in administration-leadership, command-leadership, firefighter-safety-health, Motivation, Thoughts

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May 27, 2012 • 2 comments

The Greedy Ones

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Over the past couple of weeks I have become very disheartend with the fire service in my local area. I have realized that there is a lot of  lip service paid to Doing the Right Thing, but very little action as to which. The dishearting comes from the lack of truly sharing resources and information. Even though I have been in the fire service very long when I started thirteen years ago it was expected and acted upon when you had information or were doing a training, that it was going to be shared so as many firefighters as possible could be affected. Now with that being said the Greedy Ones and in this case Greed is not Good. The belief I was given coming up in the fire service and still believe today is share the information, share the training so that many can be affected not just your particular group or agency. Do the days no longer exsist of if I got it you got it. It appears that firefighters now use the mentality of the fish from the movie Finding Nemo Mine! Mine Mine! Who are you? Where did you come from? Last time I checked that ain’t the Brother/Sisterhood I knew or know and/or want to be apart of. My point is as you go out and find new information and you know its validated and correct share it with the masses it does you know good trapped up inside that head of yours.

Posted in administration-leadership, command-leadership, Education/Training, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics

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June 27, 2011 • 4 comments

Leadership problem

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All to often I hear of firefighters today wanting to be babysat when it comes to doing their job. Some, but not all, want you to tell them to drill ; When to drill and how to drill. My question is when the decision is made to be, or not to be, a professional, who’s job is it to take corrective action?

Does it always have to be formal corrective action or can the Senior Firefighters within our companies handle it?

Posted in administration-leadership, command-leadership, training-development

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March 4, 2011 • 1 comment

Meet in the middle!

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Many things are being discussed in our service today. My take on things is a mix I suppose you could say between sides of the fence that the Fire Service has created. We have the “Safety Sallies” in the blue corner and the “Aggressives” in the red corner. I did the groups in specific corners for a reason, if you figure it out wonderful, if not, sorry. Many issues are in the front of our minds right now. Searching of insert name of building type here, proper size hose lines, ventilation, etc. We seem to split down party lines and to me this about the worst thing we could possibly do.

 Here’s a novel idea, break down the fence and meet in the middle!Many outstanding and far more intellegent folks tha I, occupy both “camps,” so how about instead of “flinging poo” as Chief Goodrich has elluded to in his post and “Sir Lancelot etc” by Dave LeBlanc, both on this sight. If you haven’t read them, please do before you finish this. These two gentlemen, who, Dave I know personnally and Art I know through his writing and chatting with, represent the corners. These two guys don’t share the same beliefs on some of the issues, yet they are friends, and meet in the middle, in the battleground that has become of Safety vs Aggressiveness.

We all came on this job to be a fireman, to my knowledge no one forced you to get on that engine, truck, or rescue, if someone was forced to come on the job, stop reading now. Being a fireman, is a tough demanding and dangerous job, period! We’ve come a long way from hanging on the tailboard, trying to pull our boots up, to enclosed cabs, with Seatbelts! Wow, are we good are what? Spare me the butt slapping and back patting we all do, before the job is done. Our job is never going to be done, fires happen, fact and people die, if not for us!  Real quick, if you don’t like being referred to as a fireman and would prefer Fighfighter, the touchy feely PC way, just pretend. We have some of the smartest folks in the world working in our profession. IAFF, NFPA, NIOSH, EGH, IAFC,etc, these folks are giving us tools to put in our paperwork toolbox everyday and as firemen and bosses, we need to use them to help keep our members safe. We have hands on training like Brotherhood of Instructors, Vulcan training groups and many other teaching the apparatus toolbox things to make us better firemen, everyday folks!

Novel idea time! Lets use the skills we honed in our apparatus tool box, get the saw, irons, hooks, axes, etc,  to take apart this fence and instead having party lines, like the politicians we all agree we don’t like. Let’s look together and have civil disscussions and conversations on how to make both toolboxes work together, to better enhance the Fire Service. Leave the fingerpointing and second guessing outside of our circle. We truely as Firemen are better than that. Be mindful of the families of the lost or injured Brothers the next time you feel you need to point a finger at any Brother or Department, it could be you tomorrow.

We are in the greatest Profession in the world, the bond we have with each other has no borders, nor should our professionalism to our citizens, towns, districts, and our country! Be Safe, but all buildings get searched, we say when and if that building is unoccupied.

Posted in administration-leadership, Education/Training, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, line-of-duty

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February 1, 2011 • No comments

Inmates running the Asylum.

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We have a “tradition”  based firehouse in my city.   It is in a busy area with lots of good work to be done.  Keeping it “traditional” requires the chain of command to continually assign new recruits (relatives) to this house.  So as time has gone on it has developed an “us versus the rest of the department” attitude.  A high percent of the firefighters have a small amount of time on the job.   The firefighters actively run officers out of the house if they feel the officer is not adequately qualified (related).

So….This is my question to the 3000ish people that read this.

If you as an officer get assigned to this house how do you handle the following:

1. The firefighters in the house.

2. The chain of command that will be overly involved in your day to day business.

3. The overall atmosphere involved.

My answer:

Classic start tight and then go light theory.

We will follow “the book”  word for word as much as possible.  Document every stupid little infraction.  I believe doing this will help keep the in-laws at bay and also have a written history of my and the firefighters actions incase this becomes a bigger issue, which it may.

I would like to go out training as much as possible within the constrains of the written rules.   The high frequency of training, pre-fire planning, district familiarization will hopefully keep them focused on the real reason they are at this firehouse 2X’s a week.

We would check the apparatus and do firehouse maintenance as a crew, all members involved, no excuses.

If this plan does not work I’m sure I’ll hear about it.  If  it does work on the other hand then we can lower the frequency of the additional training.

It sounds a bit romantic and overly simple.  Let me know your thoughts.

Posted in administration-leadership, Thoughts

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January 11, 2011 • 7 comments

What is Brotherhood/Sisterhood

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This title has sat in my draft box for sometime and for good reason. I thought of this title one day while becoming very angry at another Brother. Quite often firefighter’s use the term Brother, but do not really understand the meaning behind what they are saying. It is just the common thing to say and an easy way to fit in. I want you to think about the word Family and then think about what it means to you and how you feel about your family. Now I know everyone did not grow up in a perfect utopia living like the Brady’s or the Huxtables, but for the most part I think the meaning is understood. Often times growing up if you had siblings you probably wanted to kill them, but the flip side of the coin is you would absolutely kill for them. So I pose my first question? Why is it that we allow envy to creep in our departments or firehouses and run rampant? What happen to facing each other if you had a discrepancy and working it out. Often times now it seems firefighters now conspire with others to gang up on one firefighter. Brotherhood/Sisterhood use to mean looking out for each other at all cost and it was an US against the world not each other. When did it become appropriate to criticize a fellow firefighter ever, or even worse, before offering them help with their issue? One of the greatest Traditions the Fire Service has to offer is the lessons of the past, that are now seemingly not getting passed on because the wrong folks are getting put in place, and yet we allow for this to happen time after time by not putting that person in there place or when they first come helping them understand what they have become apart of. In thinking of Brother/Sisterhood, it means no matter what you will be there for each other unconditionally. If I have something you need, it should never be to good for you not to use it. If you just need someone to talk to I should be offering that listening ear. If you are a little short on cash to make the mortgage and I got it, it should be yours no questions asked. With no favors expected in return. Most of all give the gift of  knowledge, share what you know. Now I ask you what does Brother/Sisterhood mean to you?

Posted in administration-leadership, Thoughts

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January 10, 2011 • 2 comments

New Year Advice!

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While attending Church on Sunday, the Preacher said something particular familiar to me and it will be to you.  It is a saying we all use for comfort and very much so as an excuse when we don’t want to do something right then or maybe even at all. It is associated with this time of season. Often times we find ourselves with short comings and we like to say ” I’m going to do better in the New Year” or ” That’s my New Year’s resolution “. Truth is when the New Year comes your still going to be the same person you were when you came into the New Year unless you start to act now. If you are the Company Officer that says my company is going to do more training in the New Year, start now chances are they really need it and you just have not grown a pair to make them do it. If your the Firefighter who says they will study harder in the New Year, Start now as much information as you can gather will help you be a better thinking firefighter. Which will help you almost immediately.  We could attach lots of  things to this post and you are all welcome too, but I think my point is clear. The person, firefighter you are right now will be the same person you are in the New Year unless you start your resolve now.  Start doing now, do not wait on the New Year . The fact is whatever you might be holding off on for the New Year could be what you should have known for the next run, that could prevent you from seeing that New Year.  Happy Holidays to you all God Bless and Please Stay Safe.

Posted in administration-leadership

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December 16, 2010 • 2 comments

Communications Lesson: You control the flow of information

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While having a conversation with some veteran Fire Officer’s, the topic of effective communications came up.  I often ponder what folks with these fancy degrees, who take a host of speech and communications classes really take away from them. The worst thing that I see administrations do is leave a firefighter’s mind to wonder and guess what is going on. This even applies for the Company Officer. When you get information share it.  If it is not a personal issue or personnel matter why are we making information top secret.  I do understand that everyone in the fire department does not care to know, but there are many that do.  If you are the administrator for the fire department it is imperative if you want your mission to be complete you communicate it to your members.  Ensure that they understand in which direction you wanna go in and clear up any misunderstandings.  Notice I did not sat they had to agree with it, just understand it and get on board. Most time you will find that if you communicate the information in a logical fashion it will be received very well even if it’s not agreed upon.  Communication like I’m speaking of also gains your members trust, and they need to be able to trust that you are looking out for the best interest.  So how do we get the information out.

  1. Monthly newsletter
  2. Fire Dept Blog site or web based media
  3. Regular and Special departmental meetings

These are just a few suggestions I’m sure more will be added. What you will find when you control the informational flow things will run a lot smoother. If you look  at successful administrations, and company officers they are the one’s who’s member’s are informed, but they are still the one’s controlling the flow.

Posted in administration-leadership, command-leadership, Thoughts

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October 11, 2010 • 2 comments

Flashover Friday

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How much should a non- fire service related degree count during promotional time. Should it have any merit at all? Should you even get paid extra for having a non-related degree?

Posted in administration-leadership, command-leadership, Thoughts

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September 24, 2010 • 3 comments

Flashover Friday

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We are asking the question do you think it is ok to hire line Company Officer’s from the outside into a department.If so why?

What should their Credentialing be?

Has your department done this and what was the outcome?

What message does this send to incumbent members of the department?

What does it say about the leadership or lack of leadership in the department?

Posted in administration-leadership, command-leadership, Thoughts

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September 10, 2010 • 1 comment