Think Time
For a variety of reasons, including an airline fiasco that left me without luggage for four days, I decided to drive from Chicago to Denver for Fire-Rescue International. I needed some think time, and driving a five-speed doesn’t let you do much else.
The drive took around 16 hours, with an overnight in Council Bluffs, Iowa, but it was amazing. Many times, I wondered where would rescue workers come from if there was an accident on those stretches of I-80. This is the land of small volunteer fire departments, and none were visible from the interstate. Instead of 4- to 6-minute response times, it could 15 or 20 minutes before help arrived. A Chicago suburb‘s EMS was proud that it’s response to a heart-attack victim spanned 42 minutes from on-scene arrival to rolling the patient into the operating room for surgery. A heart attack could be fatal traveling across the vast cornfields of Nebraska.
But I did more than just reflect on response time; I thought about lack of time, good uses of time and more.
During breakfast on the last morning of FRI, I told a few of my buddies that I felt my “B.S. detector” was broken — I had been wowed by a few individuals, impressed with their vision, intelligence and achievements. I felt inspired by these very likeable personalities, but after working with them on various projects, I learned they weren‘t dependable. Were these revered individuals just all talk?
One chief offered that perhaps over-commitment was the real problem. The fire and emergency services are about people helping people and responding to needs. Too often, we take on more than we can possibly handle and end up spreading ourselves too thin. We become frustrated with being bogged down and, as a result, we disappoint others.
It‘s tough to say no when there are so many genuinely good causes to act on and support. I always come back from trade shows and conferences with stacks of business cards and notes for follow up. I find meeting new people and hearing new causes stimulating, and following-through is a commitment I make to them and to myself.
But as I thought about the committees, boards and new projects I am involved in, I wondered if I, too, had let people down by spreading my time too thin? Most likely, I had. An adage goes, “If you want something done, ask the busiest person you know.” This certainly is true, but saying “yes” too often can dilute other efforts or the value your word.
The long drive home was great think-time. The rain slowed me down on Sunday, and that‘s when I remembered, “Slow me down Lord, ease the pounding of my heart,” and that was a good thing.
August 28th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Enjoy your comments as always. Your comments on Over-commitment are on target. As to driving and day-dreaming: welcome to the world of rural fire-fighting and fire based EMS. I medically direct EMS for a county bigger than New Jersey, and my own fire department’s EMS boundaries are 35 miles long and 40 miles wide…All volunteer; NFPA is de facto out the window. Keep up the good work.
FFCapt. Bill Boehm
August 28th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Again, a very thought provoking editorial commentary. I believe there may be a lot more of the “over extended” folks out there than you first think. Reading your comments, I found myself nodding in agreement more than once. What’s the Answer?? I haven’t a clue. The old phrase from School comes to mind, the “Just Say No” that came from discussions about Sex, Drugs, and a host of other things that youthful exuberance needs to approach with caution. Just saying No, although getting one off the hook for the moment, sometimes does create a void where one shouldn’t exist. Although sometimes quite difficult, Delegating is something that I’m turning to more often, and I think it serves not only to get a task done promptly, but it contributes to the Professional Growth of the person who performed the work. And, after all, those whom we delegate today, are most likely in line as our successors tomorrow.
August 29th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Dear Janet
I agree it is easy to get over committed. I just don’t know how we can say no. We must serve our communities, we must work with our state to make sure the Fire Service gets its fair share of funds and that legislation gets passed. We must work on the national level to make sure the fire service needs across the county are being addressed. How do we say no?
August 31st, 2008 at 8:35 am
I agree that over commitment is a problem with some who aspire to lead and promote change. I often wonder how different things might be if following through on commitments had as high a priority as being seen as a visionary. I think that the real leaders may be those who stick to the task at hand and work through things step by step until something good results. We are each a resource with limited time and energy available and so we should allot our resources so that we make them count.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:50 am
Once again, you have hit the nail on the head. As fire service professionals, we sometimes fear saying no will close future doors and say yes only to end up dropping the ball. I will admit that this has occurred to me on one or two occassians. We are only human and it seems that the adage of “more with less” also applies to us as well.
There comes a time when time management and being able to say “NO!” means no, but thank you for asking.
With respect to rural agencies. Worked for one that had a 80% mortality rate for EMS calls due to only one unit on duty or long response time from mutual aid units. Average time was 30 minutes to other side of county, yet we still proudly served our community on a daily basis.
We serve our communities in the best possible manner and the community seems to understand until something happens to change that.
Be Safe Out There Today
John
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