Defending the Fire Service Culture

By John Salka

From www.firehouse.com

Lots of people, including firefighters, company officers and chiefs, are writing and talking about the need to change our fire service culture. Now let me state right up front that most of these folks are dedicated fire service professionals who are trying to improve the American fire service. I don’t believe that any of them are trying to cause any discord or controversy, but some of that has developed.

A snapshot of our culture

If you read the title of this article you know where I’m going to start. I think the culture of the American fire service today is solid as a rock! This is my opinion, but I do have some supporting evidence. With 40 years in the fire service this year, in four different fire departments (both volunteer and career), I have seen, heard and experienced many different attitudes, habits and behaviors. I must say that a great majority of them are positive, desirable and admired by folks both inside and outside the fire service. So when I hear the words “fire service culture,” I think about:

• 10,000 firefighters showing up at a line-of-duty funeral for a firefighter who they never met, who lived a thousand miles away. These same firefighters travel at their own expense and often swap shifts or take days off from their full-time jobs to attend. These same firefighters dig into their own pockets to donate or support a fundraiser for the deceased firefighter’s family. This is our fire service culture!
• Firefighters who arrive at their firehouse hours before their shift because they love what they do and want to be the best they can be. They also stay late when a brother or sister firefighter is running late for a shift. Those same firefighters attend seminars and training events, very often on their own time and at their own expense. This is our fire service culture!
• Seeing my engine company chauffeur on the apparatus floor at midnight with the probationary firefighter, going over a tool that the new firefighter had a question about. That same chauffeur can also often be found at the workbench on the apparatus floor repairing a tool so the company would not be without it, rather than simply tagging it and sending it out for repairs. This is our fire service culture!
• Firefighters arriving at a working fire in a commercial building and going to work. Teams deploying to the roof, to the fire floor and even to the floor above, per their department’s tactics and procedures. These are well trained, disciplined and experienced firefighters who are risking their lives to some degree. This is our fire service culture!
• A group of firefighters, company officers and chiefs conducting a review of a recent fire where a close call occurred. All of the members in attendance contribute to the discussion. Those who followed procedure described their actions, and those who operated otherwise explain the reasons for their actions. When the discussion concludes, several lessons have been identified and relayed to the entire department via several training initiatives. This is our fire service culture!

Don’t blame culture

A recent report about a serious firefighter injury laid the blame for many of the department’s improper activities and fireground habits in part on its culture. This included issues related to PPE, transfer (or lack thereof) of command, acceptance of predictable injuries, lack of enforcement of safety requirements and more.

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines culture as “a way of thinking, behaving or working that exists in a place or organization.” So are they saying that everybody there doesn’t wear PPE, accepts predictable injuries and doesn’t enforce the rules? I’ll bet not! So when we refer to fire service culture, we need to be careful not to paint our problems with a broad brush. The fire service culture is something we should be proud of and consciously defend it from being compromised on the basis of an individual or organization’s actions.

I agree with a comment I heard at a USMC officer graduation ceremony that stated, “If you don’t enforce the standards of your organization, you are simply establishing new lower standards.” Instead of blaming culture, I think we all need to spend more time on organizational discipline, effective leadership training and creating job-wide “esprit de corp” to create a feeling of loyalty, enthusiasm and devotion to the department

Not Everyone Makes It Home

By David Rhodes

from www.fireengineering.com

Not Everyone Makes It Home

..... and some get thrown away in the pursuit.

It has been a decade now since the 16 Life Safety Initiatives were developed and dispersed throughout the fire service. Undoubtedly, there has been change as a result as departments, officers, and individual firefighters reexamined a host of cultural, policy, training, design, and other factors contributing to line-of-duty deaths (LODDs). Some say that these efforts didn’t go far enough while others argue that they have gone too far and the safety movement is out of control.

The thought of everyone going home in our profession strikes an emotional reaction in each of us, because we truly want that. No one wants to see a member, or the family of a member, suffer and certainly, barring the few psychotic case studies, no one wants to be injured or killed themselves. So where are we a decade later?

Preventable LODDs

According to the National Fire Protection Association Web site, from 1997-1984 the average number of LODDs was 137, 1985-1994 it was 110, 1995-2004 was 100 (excluding 9/11 deaths), and 2005-2014 was 82. What do these numbers really tell us? Are we looking at the right things when it comes to risks? Those who worked (and are still working) on educating and challenging us are to be commended for the holistic approach. I certainly want to see the decline in numbers continue, and I want to ensure that we remain focused on understanding that the 16 Life Safety Initiatives were developed to eliminate “preventable” deaths.

I recently heard someone using the “Everyone Goes Home” slogan, then making the comment that all firefighter deaths and injuries are preventable. This is not the first time I have heard someone say that but the frequency of hearing it is increasing. Caution: All firefighter injuries and deaths will never be preventable unless we shut the fire service down.

In our admirable course to reduce LODDs, we have to be careful not to create unrealistic expectations or become obsessed with the numbers game. There is no way to know that a person has stored a propane cylinder in a house on fire that will explode and kill one of our members. There is no way to know that someone may lose his footing and fall off a ladder. Risk management is a process to reduce and help eliminate these possibilities-but it is not a guarantee.

Hindsight Bias

If we create a belief that all injuries and deaths are preventable in our profession, then we also create the culture of hindsight bias that immediately places blame on the individual, the officer, or the incident commander. Hindsight bias is the tendency people have to view past events as more predictable than they really were before the events took place. After an event occurs, people often believe they could have predicted the outcome of the event before it actually happened.1 The belief that all are preventable translates to blaming individuals for actions or inactions when we are looking retrospectively with all the information, information that in many cases our member, officer, or incident commander did not have or did not understand in the full context of its importance.

When this type of culture (hindsight bias) emerges, many of our best and brightness will be thrown away and shunned as if they have committed some great crime against humanity, when in fact whoever was working that day would have made the same decisions and had no impact on the outcome. As that happens, the culture of inaction will emerge because any decision to engage in anything will be a risk that most won’t be willing to take. Internal investigations will take on a new mission to seek and destroy anyone who has anything bad happen on their watch so the “cover your butt” culture can thrive. Your people will stop using common sense and wait for you to tell them everything to do.

Mayday-Myth vs Reality

From www.firefighterclosecalls.com

Last week we had a old friend visit our region to do training. Don Abbott is a well respected, retired Chief Officer who is truly one of those “just the facts maa’m” people. You may remember his from Abbottville, Command School, FDIC, Firehouse and so many other programs.

Unfortunately I was out of town spending time with Firefighters in New England, but thanks to some friends, including neighboring Chief StevieP, I want to share with readers of The Secret List WHAT Don spoke about. These are just a few highlights of what Don has discovered as FACT related to Firefighter Maydays-in no particular order (Don reviewed this TSL and we are sending it out with his blessings) and I added a few thoughts as well.

If nothing else, this Secret List is a helpful checklist to determine how “ready” your training and response plans are for a first alarm assignment, and in in the event of a MAYDAY. 

These statistics are from approximately 1,000 significant Mayday events that have been studied and evaluated in-depth across the United States. 

The Ten Percenters

By Joseph Kirtchen

From www.fireengineering.com

“The Ten Percenters; An Exclusive Club but its Doors are Open”

                        The best of the best. The hall of famers. The top performers. The ones you can always count on. The elite. Call them whatever you want, they are our best firefighters. Not only skilled and proficient; they are ethical, they don’t complain, and they unfortunately are often overlooked. Sometimes these guys do such a good job that we don’t even notice. We just expect them to be great. Instead, we focus on the underperforming employees or volunteers. Every department has a few firefighters who are in what I call, “The 10% Club.” As supervisors, we need to not only acknowledge and thank these top performers for their contributions; we need to figure out how to grow this “club” within our organizations. As I have indicated, the club is exclusive, its only filled with our very best, but, any firefighter can join. Here is a self assessment survey for firefighters to determine if they qualify for membership in the “club.”

1. Training is considered an essential part of the job, not chore.
2. “Early” is on time. “On time” is late.
3. Compassion is shown for every fire victim and EMS patient regardless of how tired we are and how “routine” we consider the call.
4. The day is spent checking and maintaining equipment and readying for the next call; not in the recliner.
5. Fitness and nutrition are a normal part of their lifestyle. They recognize that firefighters are athletes.
6. They are focused on teaching and training other firefighters. They serve as department mentors.
7. They have the department’s S.O.G.s and pre-plans memorized.
8. When gossip and negatively is being spewed at the kitchen table; they are nowhere to be found.
9. They believe in the mission and always set a great example.

    10. They love the fire service. They live and breathe this career.

    11. Brotherhood is demonstrated; not just a t-shirt slogan or tattoo.

    12. They are leaders regardless of their rank.

    13. They show up every day with a great attitude.

    14. Operational excellence and an outstanding knowledge of fireground strategy and tactics is the norm.

    15. They are always honest and can be counted on to always make ethical decisions in the best interest of the organization.

    16. They are well read, lifelong learners.

    17. They don’t feel that they are “owed” anything. They work without any sense of entitlement.

    18. They want everyone to be successful and often help others achieve their goals.

    19. They have gratitude for the opportunity to put on the uniform every day.

    20. They understand that it’s all about service.

     So, you want in? You want to join the club? There are no forms to fill out, and no dues to pay. Just show up on your next shift and give it your best. Have bad habits? Change them. Have a poor attitude? Fix it. You are part of the greatest profession on the planet, why not be the very best at it? Start today; and welcome to the club. Chief officers; seek out these “Ten Percenters”, recognize them. Praise them. Thank them. Figure out how to duplicate them. Keep in mind, you can’t expect to have a “Ten Percenter Club” if you aren’t willing to lead it and be a member yourself.

What's In It For Me?

By Jarrod Sergi

From www.fireengineering.com

Over the last few months I have heard some conversations about seeking out additional training/certifications or additional responsibilities in the department. I have heard these conversations lead into statements such as “what’s the department going to give me in return for obtaining these things.” I have heard the “what’s in it for me” statement also thrown around a few times. There are a number of things out there that could potentially infect our fire service in a negative way. To me, the “what’s in it for me” mentality is a potential disease and we need to head it off as soon as possible.

I think sometimes this way of thinking could stem from an organizational leadership problem, but largely falls on the individual. It takes our focus off of the mission of the fire service and in the end hurts the service to our community.

Mostly, people are looking for extrinsic rewards for doing the things mentioned above. Extrinsic rewards could be something tangible or physically given to you for your performance. I am not saying that these rewards aren’t good or even deserved, but they should not be the driving force in our performance.

There have several studies conducted by Psychologist Richard Ryan from the University of Rochester that looked at various types of employees and their work performance. It was found that extrinsic rewards can actually erode intrinsic interest. People who see themselves as working for money, approval or competitive success find their tasks less enjoyable, and therefore do not do them as well.

Mental Poison

From www.ironsandladders.com

This one has been brewing for years, and I think it is time to get it out in the open for everyone to share. I really struggle with this topic and it creates a lot of frustration for me to try and comprehend that this is something we are even talking about. Lets just start it out bluntly.
If you’re already set in your ways, and have long ago decided that not only are you going to just simply gather a paycheck but at the same time hold a deep never ending grudge for the guys that are trying to move forward and make this job better, then go ahead,  hold on to that mediocre mentality, sit back for the ride and finish your career in that state, but by all means KEEP IT TO YOURSELF!

Why We Go Inside