When was the last time attendees raved about the general session or keynote speaker at the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ Fire-Rescue International? It’s been a long time, but this year was different. Really different.

The first clue was the yelps and drums heard throughout the auditorium. Before you could blink, steel trash cans, plastic buckets and flying drumsticks filled the stage. Rhythm Extreme, a group of 10 high-energy musicians pounding on steel cans, filled the atmosphere with a hypnotic beat that fired up the audience.

Their finale included musicians in turnout coats and helmets (face shields safely down) with grinders on steel for a peppy rhythm that sent sparks flying to the floor. The lead white helmet was none other than IAFC President Jim Harmes, who welcomed attendees, which included 1,500 members of the Department of Defense‘s fire services.

Following the flag presentation and the National Anthem, two little girls in long, white dresses lead the Pledge of Allegiance. The girls were the daughters of an Atlanta firefighter who died from a heart attack while riding to a fire call. His wife had just received word that his Public Safety Officer Benefits claims had been denied by the Department of Justice.

Honor and emotion continued through the awards presentations and to the keynote address, “Keeper of the Flame: How to Inspire Others on the Cusp of Change” by Mike Lipkin, an author and motivational speaker. Lipkin was brilliant and far superior to other keynote speakers of recent years.

Lipkin spoke about being a keeper of the flame, “someone who inspires others to be their personal best — someone like you.” Lipkin asked the audience, “How can you make every conversation the best you can have?” Scattered among the disguised clichés, Lipkin offered words of wisdom:

“First we make our habits and our habits make us.”

“Either you can become a model of possibility or a warning of what could happen.”

Lipkin gave out copies of the Keeper of the Flame book with 10 steps to being the keeper. Among the steps, Lipkin suggested a pertinent one for the fire service: “Tradition is a magnificent servant, but it might be a poor master.”

Intermixing personal stories with his messages, Lipkin also cautioned about treating colleagues different from family and friends. “Bring the best of yourself to the people who have given you their love and loyalty,” he said.

Actively communicating was a big part of Lipkin‘s message. “Listen to every person as if what they were about to say would transform your life forever,” he said.

As the audience jumped up for a standing ovation, Rhythm Extreme returned to the stage, ushering attendees out to the exhibit hall with its rousing send-off.

Kudos to the IAFC‘s 2007 Program Planning Committee, co-chaired by Chief John Buckman III and Deputy Chief Kevin Brame, and to the IAFC staff for one of the best conferences in a long time.

It appears this ain‘t your father’s IAFC.

There are as many books on leadership as there are theories on how leadership works. One of my personal favorites is a short series that was started over 20 years ago by Dr. Wess Roberts, a former Army officer who turned his attention to leadership and motivation with such companies as Fireman’s Fund Insurance and Northrop. His most interesting books are Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun and its sequel Victory Secrets of Attila the Hun.

Most of us have a negative impression of Attila, and textbooks on western civilization often don‘t treat him kindly, but the secret to his success in battle was his ability to take large groups of unaligned tribes and mold them into a cohesive group. By showing each tribe how much more they could accomplish by associating with him, Attila united an immensely diverse people into an army that not only changed combat, but that also rocked the foundation of the world as it was known at that time.

In his books, Roberts sets the stage where we readers are gathered at Atilla’s encampment as his young captains, listening to his words on leadership. Attila gives us wise counsel on the reality of being a leader of others:

“You must be determined to apply massive common sense in solving complex problems.”

“You must not be threatened by capable contemporaries or subordinates. Rather, you must be wise in selecting capable captains to achieve those things a chieftain can obtain only through strong subordinates.”

“You must have a passion to succeed — a passion that drives you to prepare yourself and your Huns to excel.”

And one of my personal favorites: “It is a simple truth that the greater your accomplishment — your victories — the greater opposition, torment, and discouragement your enemies will throw in your path. Expect it! Don‘t become a victim of it.”

The leader can take comfort in having adversity and opposition, particularly when the root of such behavior is understood, Attila reassures us.

As a fire chief, you head a very diverse group of men and women made up of baby boomers, Generations X and Y, and soon the even harder to define Gen Next, all with different motivators, but who all need a common sense of organization and common set of goals. Today, do we as chiefs need to have more of the ability to unify our diverse personnel similar to that envisioned by Roberts‘ version of Attila‘s leadership?

My previous post about the “death” of the 24-hour tour of duty for safety reasons provoked some good response — that‘s why writers write and bloggers blog. I write because I‘m passionate about the delivery of fire and emergency medical services and I feel it‘s important for us constantly to be working to connect the dots.

English poet and philosopher John Donne wrote, “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main….” The same holds true for the fire and emergency services in the United States. As the leaders of this noble and honored profession, we must constantly be scanning the environment and identifying those critical factors that will influence, for better or for worse, our organizations in the future.

Far too often, the fire service has had to react to external forces. Ponder this incomplete list of issues that many fire and EMS organizations took notice of and addressed only after litigation or regulation forced them to do so:

• Creation of employment or advancement opportunities for gender and racial minorities.




• Adoption and use of the Incident Command System.




• Elimination of the tailboard riding position and open-cab apparatus in favor of enclosed cabs with a seat and seatbelt for everyone.




• Requirement of post–high school education for promotion and advancement.




• Use of two in/two out and rapid intervention crews on emergency scenes.

This year‘s Safety Stand Down focused on members being fit to respond. Was the issue of sleep deprivation addressed? Several readers cited issues with people working multiple 24-hour shifts in succession or working multiple 24-hour shifts for several different organizations, eventually being “tired when they show up for duty.”

Don‘t those employees who are showing up too tired for work have supervisors? If so, why are these supervisors enabling such behavior? Why aren‘t they fulfilling their responsibilities to their other employees and to the public by allowing only those who are fit for duty to respond to fire and EMS calls? Probably for the same reasons that supervisors allow members to:

• Drive too fast.




• Respond to calls without wearing their seatbelts.




• Respond to calls without the proper protective clothing and equipment for the hazard.




• Engage in unsafe acts on the emergency scene without consequences. Is anyone else as shocked as I am by what I read at the Close Calls Web site?)




• Be overweight and physically out of shape

Research on sleep deprivation and its affect on worker performance is just as applicable to firefighters and EMTs as it is to the operator of a nuclear power facility. (The Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident happened at 1: 23 a.m. Other high-profile catastrophes that have been attributed to fatigue include the Exxon Valdez crash, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, Bhopal and the Challenger explosion.

It has been estimated that approximately 90% of all industrial accidents can be attributed to fatigue and sleepiness. Direct and indirect costs of sleep-related problems are estimated to be between $100 billion and $300 billion annually, according to the National Commission on Sleep Disorders. Due to great human and economic costs involved, sleep deprivation urgently needs to be addressed.

The commission reported that decreased productivity and accidents in the workplace cost the nation $150 billion a year. Research shows that rotating shifts and sleep deprivation lead to mistakes, dips in attention, delayed reactions, accidents in the workplace, crashes on the roadways, reduced productivity and difficulties in communication.

The dots are out there. We just need to start connecting them before, once again, someone else does it for us.

For more information, read:

• Recognizing the Dangers of Sleep Deprivation




• Lack of sleep another safety risk factor




• Sleeping on the job




• The Sleep Well: A well full of information on sleep, sleep disorders, sleep activism, sleep-related events and much more

Ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu once wrote, “Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time’ is to say ‘I don’t want to.’”

This week at the IAFC‘s Fire-Rescue International, FIRE CHIEF recognized four men — two fire chiefs, one emergency vehicle technician and one former chief — who each took the time to make a difference during his career.

The first two men are the winners of the 12th Annual Fire Chief of the Year Awards, which recognize one career and one volunteer/combination fire chief from nominations received from across the country. This award gives us the opportunity to hear about and publicize fire chiefs who are dedicated to their departments and committed to their communities. Each recipient is presented with a sculpture titled “Taking Command,” created by sculptor/firefighter Michael Roche.

The career category had a number of outstanding nominees this year, and it is Chief Russell Tarver, regional fire chief and commander of the U.S. Naval Forces, Japan, who takes the honor of 2007 Career Fire Chief of the Year.

Tarver, the first winner from the IAFC‘s Federal & Military Fire Services Section, is based in Yokosuka, Japan. He oversees 18 fire stations that provide protection for more than 45,000 personnel and 40 home-ported ships of Forward Deployed Naval Forces at 29 different sites.

“This leader is the best I‘ve ever seen,” said Rear Adm. J.D. Kelly in his handwritten letter of nomination. “[He] leads the most diverse command the USN has — let‘s recognize him!”

The 2007 Volunteer Fire Chief of the Year is Michael D. Varney, Ellington (Conn.) Volunteer Fire Department. Varney was instrumental in developing improved communication systems throughout Connecticut and integrating GIS technologies into response protocols.

Chief Heather Burford of the Ridgefield (Conn.) Fire Department wrote that Varney immediately offered assistance to her as a newly appointed fire officer in developing internal officer development programs, “which I implemented with great success.”

“[Varney] balances family life around the fire service; in today‘s world [this] is not an easy task,” wrote Chief Tim Wall, chair of the IAFC‘s Volunteer and Combination Officers Section. “He brings inspirations, knowledge and professionalism to the fire service. I find him very unselfish with a quiet demeanor.”

Along with the IAFC‘s Apparatus Maintenance Section, FIRE CHIEF also co-presented the 2007 Emergency Vehicle Technician of the Year Award this week. The recipient is Mike Stankus, master EVT with Auburn, Wash. The letter of nomination spoke of Stankus‘ commitment to classes and certification.

You can read more about these three outstanding leaders in the October issue of FIRE CHIEF.

Finally, in 2000 FIRE CHIEF published “Legacies,” a series on industry leaders who had a profound impact on the fire service. This week, we add another name to that list. Chief Charlie Dickinson, deputy director of the U.S. Fire Administration, is the recipient of the 2007 Legacy Award for his forthrightness and commitment to improving the U.S. fire service.

Each man we recognized took the time and made the commitment to improve the path he pursued. That‘s why we took the time to recognize their efforts.

A few years ago, several retired firefighters from the Tucson (Ariz.) Fire Department decided that they should open a fire museum. Unfortunately, a lack of both money and a building to house the museum prohibited the idea. However, the men were determined to find a memorable project to work on, so they decided to buy an old fire truck and convert it to a hearse that could be used for retired firefighters’ funerals.

The retirees formed the Last Alarm Foundation Inc., a non-profit foundation that would fund their project and allow the Tucson community to express its appreciation for retired heroes at the same time. Assisting the retirees in this project is Daniel Matlick, development director for the foundation and president of United Fire, a safety equipment distributor in Tucson.

“Since it‘s prohibitive to take an active fire truck out of service for funerals, having a designated and restored fire truck available would allow firefighters who did not die in the line of duty to have an honorable funeral,” Matlick said. “Those are frequently the last wishes that we are trying so hard to fulfill.”

After some negotiating, the retirees bought a 1954 Mack L model fire truck for $1,200. They removed the truck’s hosebed and designed a 32-inch lift on which a casket could be placed and raised.

“We have got to get it working really good because when you‘re in a funeral parade, it can‘t break down,” said Ed Montano, one of the project’s founders. “We got a bid to put in a new engine, drive-train [and] differential, and then we got another company that will do the painting for us.”

According to Montano, there are many retired firefighters from New York, Chicago and other parts of the country who now live in the Tucson area. These men and women could get an honorable burial using the fire truck hearse.

“We work on the truck two days a week, from 8 to 12, so it‘s a slow process. When we‘re done it will be worth $150,000,” said Montano, laughing. “Most of the time we spend time talking old war stories because we‘re all retired firefighters.”

For more information about the foundation and the fire truck hearse project, go to www.lastalarmfoundation.com or call 520.444.6388.

Recently the National Academy of Public Administration released its Department of Homeland Security–commissioned report, Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program: Assessing Performance. I was interested in reading the report, as it had similar themes to an article I had published in January. The academy’s report provides valuable information on a very important subject, and all fire chiefs should read it in detail.

Though there are many useful statistics in the report, I want to bring your attention to an area that the fire service needs to focus a tad more on — the socio-economic demographics of fire. Research is weak in this area and as a result public-education efforts aren’t up to par.

Page 28 of the report states that “African-Americans are three times more likely than whites to die in residential fires.” Recent multiple-fatality fires around the country support that statistic. So why aren’t we doing more to educate this demographic? Why don’t we get the NAACP onboard with our efforts?

Similar logic could be used for educating our elderly population, who might not have the mobility to evacuate during a fire, even if they might have been alerted by their smoke alarms. This population would be best protected by residential fire sprinklers, which would extinguish the fires in the early stages and limit smoke inhalation. So why don’t we sell residential fire sprinkler concept to the AARP?

We don’t educate the public the best that we should; these examples show missed opportunities. We need to educate these organizations about the fire problem and specifically tailor fire department efforts to their members. We have a great opportunity with NAACP and AARP, for example, because these organizations have tremendous political power; when they talk, Capitol Hill listens. We must focus on such issues if we want to better succeed in the 21st century.

Don’t you think support of such organizations could help secure better funding for the fire service?

Many U.S. fire and EMS organizations use some form of the 24-hour shift for around-the-clock staffing, but that may soon be changing for both employers and employees. Changes may stem from decreased employee safety and decision-making capabilities while working 24-hour shifts, increased organizational liability for actions by employees working 24-hour shifts, and shifts in worker attitudes about work schedules in general.

In its study entitled Sleep-Wake Cycle: Its Physiology and Impact on Health, the National Sleep Foundation found that sleep deprivation has an adverse affect on:

• Physical health and well-being. In the past few years, investigators have found that sleep loss may have harmful consequences for immune and endocrine systems and can contribute to serious illnesses such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension.




• Cognitive performance and mood. One study showed that people who were awake for up to 19 hours scored substantially worse on performance and alertness tests than those who were legally intoxicated.

Other studies have found that after one night of total sleep deprivation, subjects scored significantly lower on tests of judgment, simple reaction time, explicit recall and inverse word reading. Also daytime alertness and memory are impaired by the loss of eight hours of sleep, especially when sleep loss is sustained over a few nights.

Think about this in terms of rising EMS calls. How functional is an EMT or paramedic in an ambulance at 2 a.m. when he or she has been awake and on duty since 8 a.m.? One of the attractive features of the 24-hour shift is the firefighter’s ability to live a significant distance from the assigned duty station yet still have time for the commute. If that same medic awoke at 5:30 a.m. to arrive in time for ta tour of duty, he or she really has been awake for 20.5 hours when faced with a critical patient-care decision at 2 a.m.

In a Merginet survey of EMS providers, respondents were split almost in half regarding their preference for 24-hour shifts in both the hospital and pre-hospital community, even in light of the research that sleep deprivation has an adverse impact on decision-making.

In light of that same research, can fire and EMS managers continue to support shift schedules that, though desirable to the employee, aren’t in the safety interests of the employee or the public? When more than half of all EMS accidents involve operation the ambulance, can a department afford to have an employee behind the wheel whose cognitive abilities may be akin to those of the motorist taking a field sobriety test at the scene the motor-vehicle crash? We need to be asking ourselves that question and before a plaintiff‘s attorney does it for us.

“Welcome to wherever you are. This is your life, you made it this far.”

Bon Jovi‘s “Welcome to Wherever You Are” was one of six songs featured in a graduation video for Fairfax County (Va.) Fire & Rescue Department’s 122nd Recruit School, and its words poignantly matched the 1,000 photos of the recruits’ 22 weeks at the training academy. The 24 members of the graduating class made it through exercises in suppression, extrication, emergency medical care, rappelling, confined space and more.

The class included four Asians, six women and five Hispanics, matching the diverse community they will serve throughout Fairfax County. As the graduation’s keynote speaker, I asked how many of the recruits had family members in the fire service. Only two recruits raised their hands. I had anticipated a higher number of next-generation firefighters.

Looking at this graduating class, I was both jealous and awe-struck and filled with high expectations.

I was jealous because when I was younger I wanted to be a firefighter — or at least I wanted to drive a fire truck and operate the pump. (I didn‘t do well as a radio dispatcher because I got too involved to keep track of who was calling and who was where on scene.)

I was in awe because of how adaptable they would have to be to keep up with changing roles of fire and emergency services, with fire calls going down, with EMS calls going up, with new bio-chem challenges, and with an emerging shift toward prevention and preparedness.

They are entering a fire service where legal liabilities and officer retirements are putting new emphasis on training and safety officers. Public safety educators will need to embrace new topics such as codes, residential sprinklers and preparedness, but their reach will expand to educating local governments and baby bloomers — yes, I said “bloomers” because that generation’s retirement is changing the landscape of employment.

I expect that these new firefighters will deal with these challenges, but I cautioned them against another. Cell phone cameras, video, Internet and Web logs will follow them on and off duty and provide on-demand coverage of their actions. Follow the rules. There is no off-duty for a firefighter or emergency medical responder.

Probationary Firefighter Karl Goza received the award for academic excellence at the end of the ceremony. “We [among the class] were mechanics and government contractors,” he said in accepting his award. “We have found out that being a firefighter is a commitment. It’s committing ourselves day in and day out. Being a firefighter requires courage … and this courage will help us to continue.”

As Bon Jovi sang “you‘re exactly where you’re supposed to be,” it summed up this batch of probationary firefighters.

Be safe, now and forever.

The U.S. work force is undergoing some serious seismic shifts, not because the earth is shifting, but because the demographics of the available labor pool are changing drastically. This is particularly true for fire and EMS agencies. Bruce Tulgan, president and CEO of RainmakerThinking Inc., discussed one aspect of that demographic shift, the generational shift, in a 2003 report:

First, those of the Silent Generation (born before 1946) are gradually exiting the workforce; by 2006, two experienced workers will leave the workforce for every one who enters the workforce. Second, the Baby Boomers (born 1946–1964) are becoming the aging workforce; every day 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 55 years of age. Third, the prime-age workforce will be made up increasingly of Generation X and Generation Y (born 1978–1986).

While there are certainly many aspects of this shift that fire and EMS leaders need to address, I believe one of the most critical is the communication of organizational knowledge from one generation of members to another. Steve Barth, an expert in the field of knowledge management, wrote that

“knowledge management is the practice of harnessing and exploiting intellectual capital to gain competitive advantage and customer commitment through efficiency, innovation and faster and more effective decision-making.

“Yet these things still account for only a fraction of the real value of your knowledge assets,” Barth added. “Most — as much as 90 percent, by some estimations — of the real value of intellectual capital is in the heads of your knowledge workers: their skills, experience, hard-won insight and intuition, and the trust they have invested and earned in relationships inside and outside of the organization. This knowledge is even harder to evaluate, share and leverage.”

So how can we in the fire service capture such knowledge before it walks out the door with the next retiree? Let‘s take a closer look at some of our old and reliable information management tools: policy, procedure and process. We often use these terms interchangeably, but they aren’t at all synonymous. However, if we understand how they fit together, they can serve as powerful tools to help transfer organizational knowledge from one generation of members to another.

When do we need a defined process? This question is frequently asked in business. According to Dr. Edwards Deming, the father of the Total Quality movement in the United States, an organization or group needs a defined process when these three criteria are present:

• A task or function must be repeated on a frequent basis.




• A task or function must be done by multiple people.




• A task or function must have a consistent outcome.

Defined processes are not the same as policies or procedures, though defined processes support both.

Policy should state the organization’s philosophy and direction on a topic. Policies should be broad in scope, therefore they don’t undergo significant change on a regular basis. A well-written policy should serve the organization for years on end.

Procedure describes how a member or employee correctly complies with the stated policy. Well-written procedures are an excellent teaching tool to help members learn the correct behavior or skill so that their actions are always in compliance with the applicable policy.

Process provides a very succinct description of the steps involved in following the procedure and, in turn, complying with policy. Process flow charts are a very useful tool for this because they provide a great picture of how the task or function is performed successfully.

Here’s an example of we can use the three Ps to communicate the organization‘s expectations regarding the operational preparedness for an ambulance:

• Policy: Crews will inspect their assigned ambulance and its on-board inventory of equipment and supplies to ensure their capability to respond and provide high-quality patient care. Such inspections will occur at the beginning of the crew‘s assigned tour of duty and following each response.
  


• Procedure: A detailed listing of those items that must be checked along with parameters for what is acceptable, for example the vehicle fuel level should be 3/4 of a tank or greater or the engine oil level must be within the acceptable range on the dipstick.
  


• Process: A flow chart that depicts the major steps in the procedure along with decision points, or what actions are required when an unacceptable situation is encountered. Let’s say that while checking the vehicle, a member finds that the warning lights do not function. The process should show what actions are necessary to correct the deficiency.
  

Procedures and their associated processes must frequently be reviewed and updated as necessary because conditions may change, such as a new technology, new equipment or budget constraints, and these changes can have an influence on how the task or function must be completed in the future.

The Arizona Fire Chiefs Association Conference was a hot one — 113°F hot, and exactly like what you‘d expect July in Arizona to feel like.

The five days of programs were geared toward the more than 330 chiefs and officers in attendance, with a group of young fire cadets listening in the back and waiting to assist. The group was intense and energized, seemingly solar-powered by the Arizona sunshine.

Last week I told you about the area’s SHARE initiative, but other areas also are worth mentioning.

Fire departments in the Valley of the Sun have worked hard to form partnerships. Phoenix and other valley fire departments share a regional dispatch center and created a model for automatic aid. Fire chiefs throughout the state are reaching out for help with their rapidly expanding communities, staffing demands, EMS needs and station planning.

Ina Wintrich, the director of the Arizona State University Fire Service Institute Program, facilitated a discussion among some 90 chiefs and officers at the Fire Chiefs Issues Forum. She is an amazing facilitator who coaxed and challenged the group to discuss what was great about their departments, their opportunities and challenges, and where they might need help.

Tempe Fire Chief Cliff Jones said two things have been successful for his department: automatic aid and accreditation. “That peer assessment group has come back with great recommendations,” he said.

Many of the chiefs face issues of growth and staffing. “We‘re growing faster than we can keep up with,” said an officer from Buckeye. With that growth comes more fire department positions and promotions than ever before. According to an EMS officer from Mesa, 45% of department members are new to their position. Several officers commented on the need to tap into retiring fireground officers and somehow inject that experience into new firefighters.

A chief officer from Phoenix commented that it was his first time at the chiefs’ conference and that he appreciated “being able to re-engage with a number of other chiefs. We‘re not a bottomless pit of information.” I was truly amazed at the energy and openness I found among the members of the Arizona Fire Chiefs Association.

Staffing, budgets and training issues are common concerns across North America. The difference I found was that in this region, a good majority of the city managers and mayors understand this growth and invest in developing public services, particularly fire and EMS.

No wonder Arizona is the fastest-growing state in the country.