Why?

First off, how much more ventilation do we need? Secondly, why would you not have someone heeling the ladder when it is placed on icy concrete. This is what happens when we allow ourselves to get tunnel vision- foreseeable and preventable injuries.

Directives on My Watch, Part 1

            

By Frank Frievalt

from www.fireengineering.com

Organizational Matters

Everyone must know, without question, who they answer to and who they answer for, especially YOU. There are three good reasons for this directive. First, under stress, and certainly distress, we revert to what we know best, and what we know best is what we do most frequently. If we fail to practice sound organizational discipline on a daily basis in the firehouse, then we’ll likely fail on the fireground, especially when things get stressful.
Second, working through a chain of command reinforces an important message: you trust, support, and will hold those in leadership positions accountable for their behavior and the behavior of their direct reports. When you go around one of your supervisors, it undermines their authority and gives personnel permission to take the same path back to you.
Third, knowing to who you answer will clarify your mission and help set your priorities. Working for two (or more) supervisors is bad for all involved whether in the station or on the fireground. If the organization needs to use some of its people in dual roles (e.g., training/operations, prevention/operations, and so on), then all involved need to clearly know when who is working for whom.

You may delegate authority, but you are never relieved of responsibility for the outcomes of that delegation. Delegation is a skill that requires good judgment; it is not an entitlement to dump unpleasant tasks on your subordinates. Delegation is required for you to keep at least part of your attention above the details of the work so you can see the big picture (administratively and operationally). Effective delegation requires you to provide four things, which follow:

1. A clear description of what “right” looks like when the task is complete.
2. The authority to make task related decisions.
3. Resources to do the job.
4. Time.

“Time” includes one or more of the following: substituting the delegated task for other standing duties until completed, specific prioritization above other tasks, or a due date that realistically allows time for the task to be completed within existing workflow. If you cannot provide these four items, then you’re not ready to delegate the task—you’re dumping.
I’ve “dumped” things on people more than I’d like to admit—and will probably continue do so in the future—but it’s not the best way. Your people, like mine, will pull it off sometimes even when we delegate poorly, but only for a while; it has to be the exception, or we set up them and the organization for failure. More importantly, we lose the trust of our people when we dump more than we properly delegate.

Collapse Zones

Remember, defensive operations mean stay out of the collapse zone. There is no excuse for getting firefighters killed when there is nothing left to save.

"JUST A" ????

by Colin Kelley
from www.fireengineering.com

“JUST A” ????

ATTENTION all firefighters! This is a call to action! What am I ranting about? The realization of your value. That’s what.

Have you ever heard or even worse made the statement “I’m JUST a fireman”, in response to a question regarding one’s rank or stature within the company or organization? Shame on you! This statement is made with an almost subconscious denigration. Wake up! You are the marrow in the skeleton of the company! Look up skeleton in the dictionary and two different definitions stand out. “a SUPPORTING FRAMEWORK, as of a leaf, building, or ship” and “something reduced to
its ESSENTIAL PARTS”. And don’t you forget it! While the officer leads the company and accepts all the accolades for a job well done, you are the one who makes that happen. Do not underestimate the value of your position. The officer guides and directs the company but you my brothers and sisters ensure that the compass points true north!

 This value, however, is not an automatic. It must be earned. Training, education, and an all-around passion for what you do are the paths to this increased valuation. Although it is the officer’s duty to ensure competency, you too have equal responsibility in this requirement. We all define our own roles within the company and the organization and although rank most assuredly helps it is by no means a prerequisite. If this hasn’t been part of your professional focus then neither should complaining nor griping about how screwed up things are. It seems a bit hypocritical to me when firefighters begin rattling off a litany of things wrong with their department without so much as a whisper of any potential solutions. I do not believe you have earned the right. Reclamation is up to you.  You define your role! You set the limit on your appraisal or someone else will

Tactical Safety: Video Killed the Fire Star

By Ray McCormack
from www.fireengineering.com

Video of fire scenes show us as we are. They are not complimentary. They are real. While we all feel better because we would never look that bad, are you sure? Some will always be poor performers and some will just have a bad day with the video rolling.
What we often see is poor task skills incorporated within a poorly structured attack plan. While some individuals stand out due to various errors, they are often operating within a broken system. So two problems emerge: firefighter errors and scene disorganization. The bigger of these two errors is improper scene management--a total lack of SOPs or SOGs, just helter-skelter!
The task issue of forcing a door or stretching a line incorrectly can hopefully be overcome by someone who paid more attention to those lessons at the academy. Firefighters all learn skills in training school and hopefully rework the memory muscle at house drills; however, when we witness task errors throughout, we are witnessing dysfunction. Fireground dysfunction is not easily solved on scene because the problem goes deep. The problem is that the fire goes out and no injuries are encountered and we collectively pat ourselves on the back and nothing improves. For many, there is no need for improvement if these two benchmarks are reached.

Beyond skill drills which make up the foundation of firefighter training, we need to also incorporate fire operations protocol. We need to revisit the fire academy as groups and work on our approach to fires in people's homes. We need to practice directing the actions of firefighters. We need to have our firefighters not just in bunker gear, but truly ready to work on air. Our leaders need to understand that good fireground management starts long before your arrival on scene. Remember, if you want to look good, practice your act.

In Ray's class, "Engine Company Errors--The Dirty Dozen," a lack of SOPs is cited as error number one