Contradiction in Terms?
If you asked your firefighters what they know about the Everyone Goes Home campaign, what would they say to you? Have they heard of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s 16 Life-Safety Initiatives? Are they part of your department safety program?
In the past three years, the NFFF has invested almost $3 million of FIRE Grants into the program, They have distributed more than 30,000 Firefighter Life Safety-Response Training Kit DVDs and CD-ROMs with six modules on firefighter line-of-duty deaths and injuries.
Where did those training kits end up? How many fire departments actually have opened the kits and used the information?
NFFF Executive Director Ron Sarnicki is constantly asking how the foundation and its programs can be more effective in preventing LODDs. Are the Everyone Goes Home and Courage to be Safe campaigns actually reaching the frontline responders? This week, that question was put to six emergency services practitioners from various parts of the country, and the answer wasn’t good.
A California fire captain hadn’t even heard of the safety training kit, let alone received one. “[It’s] probably stuck in someone‘s office,” he said.
Several fire service leaders were asked to bring someone from the frontline to discuss the NFFF‘s efforts and how to better reach these practitioners.
New firefighters come out of the fire academy trained in the correct way to do their jobs. Proper procedures and techniques are drilled into each new firefighter. But when they hit the fire station and attempt to fit in, proper procedures and firefighting basics are challenged and eventually disregarded.
“There‘s a cancer called the senior-man syndrome in fire stations,” said former FDNY firefighter Vince Brennan, a consultant to NFFF. “Some are good, some are not.” Brennan said captains who, after reading new directives from headquarters, frequently will shrug and say, “This too shall pass.”
Phoenix firefighter Tim Kreis offered insight to reach the new generation of firefighters. “There‘s too much information out there today, but it‘s not relevant,” he said. “Things that I care about are the things that I pay attention to. If these areas of focus are included into the hiring practices and college courses, people will study them.”
Kreis suggested a format similar to the Stall Street Journal, a newspaper-style information sheet that is posted in student bathrooms on college campuses. “I put one of the USFA‘s Coffee Breaks on the door of the [bathroom] stalls and people were asking me about the lessons in some of the articles,” he said.
Another officer asked, “If the union stewards told union members, ‘we need to get you to wear seatbelts‘ what difference would that make? People want to be involved with their unions.”
Another firefighter said he felt challenged by the system. “Am I required or given credit for being fast? The system is timing us to go fast. When I put my turnout gear on going to the fire, I‘m putting my stuff on and making sure it fits right and is properly buckled. If I got dressed in the station before getting on the rig, I‘d feel like I‘d be rushing and wasting time while something was burning.”
Are fire service culture and training pulling responders in two different directions? Are the concepts of the six-minute response time and stopping at intersections contradictory?
“Sometimes riding on the truck is the scariest part of the fire,” said another firefighter from New York. LODD statistics indicate his comment is more right than wrong.
February 29th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
I have been bringing the Everyone Goes Home message to my fire chief, who makes it a part of nearly every drill now in our fire district. As the secretary of the Southwestern Oregon Firefighters Association, I have printed messages on the back of our minutes about prevention of line of duty deaths. All we can do is pray that our firefighters pay attention to the messages. Unfortunately, with volunteer resources dwindling, some chiefs require very minimal training for new recruits to get them in the field in a hurry. In addition, with budget cuts, physical fitness requirements in rural areas can also be minimal.
February 29th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
The issue of FF safety in many departments (especially career) is driven by pecking order — new recruits entering the firehouse “have to be put in their place” by senior personnel who are threatened by a “kid” who can probably program a computer while the senior troop doesn’t know how to turn one on. This kid probably has a better understanding of SCBA operation and thermal imagers — which again challenge the senior troops. I’ve known rookies who entered large Northeast FDs who were told that if they had to use SCBA to keep up with the sesoned guys — they would never make it. The result? Those rookies stopped using SCBA because of “peer pressure” a driving force in any safety program.
February 29th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
I couldn’t agree with the last comment more, but I really take issue with the firefighter who thinks he’s rushing and wasting time when he puts his gear on at the station. That’s exactly why you put it on in the station, to get it on right! It may take a half a minute longer to get the engine out of the house, but at least your gear is on correctly. It’s extremely difficult to get everything on when you’re bumping down the road with lights and siren, trying to help your driver watch traffic (you are watching, right?), trying to locate the nearest hydrant (you are looking up the hydrant, right?), trying to open the pre-plan (you are checking your pre-plan, right?), all this and trying to put your gear on while you’re seat-belted into your rig (YOU ARE SEAT-BELTED, RIGHT???). I can’t imagine trying to put on a bunker coat and all that goes with it while I’m doing all this stuff. Just do it at the station. It makes sense.
March 1st, 2008 at 8:38 am
As a Chief in a small paid department, I am convinced that we have to do a better job of following our existing policies and taking the 16 Life Safety Inititives to heart and making them part of the culture. even in my position it is hard to get it across. If the line officer dosn’t enforce buy in and enforce it they are just words on paper.
March 1st, 2008 at 9:18 am
We will wake-up someday and realize that we have a standoff between a “culture of risk” and a “culture of safety” rooted in our history and attempts to follow a plethora of national standards that are often misleading, if not in conflict. Further complicating this is the fact that we are dealing with different cultures, the two principal ones being the culture unique to each fire department and the culture of the occupation (and that ignores the cultural differences between shifts in the same department).
Our formal training programs form the occupational culture while the history and norms in each fire department form the organizational culture. We trust our academies to train firefighters to competency following national standards and then send to work where they follow other national standards (some implying urgency in order to intervene before flashover or brain death). Too much information? Not enough leadership? Stagnant management? Too many standards? Not enough rules? Senior-man syndrome? Is there even a problem? Is it all of this, none of this, or some of this?
We often hear that firefighters do what they do because of their pride and sense of duty. I believe that is true. What happens on the day that safety is the overriding force and the culture of risk is dead? That question deserves thought. It deserves consideration especially if you believe that a social contract exists between firefighters and those they protect. When we abdicated decision-making based on common sense to consensus driven committee rule making we started down a new road without a road map.
March 1st, 2008 at 6:21 pm
I’m tired of seeing the “senior man” get bashed for all the ills in the fire service. After 36 years in a small, active career department I have never had a firefighter fatality or serious injury. Safety concerns go both ways, its the “senior mans” responsibility to learn and enforce safety and the ” junior mans” responsibility to learn and aquire good safety habits.
Safety is a team effort.
March 2nd, 2008 at 12:35 pm
To be honest, I have used the NFFF’s “Everyone Goes Home” Training Kit for a couple of years now in New Hampshire. The program and materials are made available for FREE. It is not very often you can get that kind of support from a national organization. From their initial Life Safety Summit, to the creation of the 16 Life Safety Initiatives, to the upcoming March 14-16, 2008 Safety Summit in Emmitsburg, MD. The NFFF have been actively trying to get the message out. As far as previous comments, we do have a cultural issue to address with today’s fire service. We must look at what motivates young firefighter’s today. Maybe some traditions must be broken to instill new strategy and tactics to the every changing environment. Not just in the firehouse traditions, but things have changed in the field as well. Fires have never been more dangerous in our life, with greater thermal insult, under-ventilated jobs, not to mention light-weight construction… Every organization must have a visionary to look into the future to find ways to reduce our numbers. Anyone interested in being a State Advocate for the CTBS - Courage to be Safe Program should get into contact with www.EveryoneGoesHome.com
Lieutenant Bill Greenwood
City of Keene FD
www,fetcservices.com
www.fioanh.org
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:08 am
Janet raises an excellent question here, “Are fire service culture and training pulling responders in two different directions? Are the concepts of the six-minute response time and stopping at intersections contradictory?” The national standards and guidelines drive the process from training to resource deployment to operations. Culture is a buzzword right now that few seem to be able to appreciate. If you want to explore this further consider the possibility of more than one culture at work. First, we have the occupational culture which is formed in our training programs. Second, we have an organizational culture unique to each and every fire department. There may also be a community culture that drives the local fire department culture. Cultural change will require more than safety slogans and national standards. We are debating details when we do not understand the problem(s). The problem(s) have not been defined sufficiently and the solutions put forward may not address the problem(s) as we intend. There are always unintended consequences in the future for the actions taken today. Is that fact at the root of Janet’s question?
March 3rd, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Larry Davis raised a great point (above!) about the young ones learn to work with SCBAs and new technology. A doctor recently referred me to a young surgeon. He saw the hesitation on my face and told me the new surgeons are trained with new technology, whereas he’s had to adapt to it. Another question at this meeting was about age restrictions for firefighters. A 78-year old firefighter fatality? A 14-year old?
March 4th, 2008 at 1:56 am
It comes down to accountability, responsibility, and action, especially at the company officer level. Are we being held accountable for our actions or inactions? Are we being personally responsible and accountable to our company members, to our families, to department policy, and to our community? What actions are we taking to ensure Everyone Goes Home? Are we allowing culture, tradition, thinking it won‘t happen to us, wanting to be fast, or wanting to be first be the reasons everyone doesn‘t go home? We have so many signs, mantras, messages, and programs. You‘d think we‘d get the hint by now, but for some reason, we continue to repeat dangerous behaviors. The answer is inside each of us. We have to take action and be personally responsible and accountable. Denver Fire Department District Chief Dave McGrail says it best, “The words Everyone Comes Home are just words. The actions necessary to ensure that everyone does come home are based on a lifelong commitment to excellence and the consistent application of good fireground habits.”
March 6th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Recently an article was posted here written by Jim Egged. March 3,2008 @8:08am. It was in regards to the Livonia Firefighter’s Union promotional system. First, Mr. Egged was terminated from Livonia Fire & Rescue approximately 8 years ago. Secondly, Mr. Egged attempted to sue the City of Livonia and the LFFU. He lost on both accounts and was ordered to pay the LFFU restitution because it was a frivolous lawsuit. Third, Mr. Egged attempts to slander and defraud the integrity of all 84 fine members of the Livonia Firefighters Union with lies and half-truths. The promotional system has been in place since the inception of the Fire Department. Over 50 years ago. The promotional system has been updated to keep with the everyday challenges of complicated incidents firefighters face today, that were not present 50 years ago. (i.e comprehensive incident command system, hazardous materials, acts of terrorism, advanced technological vehicles and the materials used, ect.) The Livonia Firefighter Officers are required to complete Fire officer I, II, and III to help become better officers. Mr. Egged’s vicious, vindictive, unwarranted and slanderous comments are direct slap in the face to all of our members who pride themselves on being outstanding Professional Firefighters. Thanks for retracting his blog so expediantly. In the future, hopefully these sources can be confirmed not only prior to magazine print , but for blogs as well. Respectfully, Livonia Firefighters Union Local 1164
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