Fire Chief

By Mike Chiaramonte

I was at the local supermarket when I heard, “Spill on aisle 7.” A large jar of jelly had been knocked off the shelf and shattered, making an extensive jelly mess in the aisle. The store custodian came out of the office with a mop and a bucket in hand and cleaned up the mess.

After the jelly mess was cleaned up and the aisle was back in service, the custodian returned to the office only to wait for the next mess. Two more jelly spills happened that week and one caused a woman to fall and stain her dress. Each time the custodian came out of their comfortable office and cleaned up the mess and returned to the office only to wait for the next mess.

The custodian, who became tired of being disturbed, observed the following things: it was the large jars of jelly that were always breaking, these large jars hung over the edge of the shelf, and the shelf was right at shopping-cart height. The custodian also noticed that the small jars of jelly were on the shelf above the large jelly jars. The custodian had the idea to move the large jars of jelly one shelf up and move the small jars to the place where the large jars were.

The manager liked the idea because it would save the lost profit from the wasted jelly. He also liked it because he was reminded of the woman who had fallen the week before, which cost the store the price of a new dress. He also thought of the possibility of someone who slipped on the jelly getting hurt and suing the store. The manager told the stock clerks to make the change.

Like any other change, it took time. The manager had to remind the stock clerks of the new policy until it became a part of their routine. But the end result was no more jelly spills.

This story is an example of the 5 Es in risk reduction: engineering, education, enforcement, economic advantage and emergency response.

This story got me thinking about the perceptions that firefighters and citizens have about the fire department. Firefighters see themselves as mitigators. They render high-quality and professional assistance and get things back in good order. They then return to the station to await another emergency. This reminds me of the supermarket custodian.

Residents see us as heroes but they do not want to see us show up at their house because they would be in some sort of trouble if we did. The public needs us, but they as individuals do not.

The fire service will always be on the back burner in the minds of the community we serve if we continue to only be seen as custodians that wait for a mess and then go clean it up. I ask you this question; if you were the CEO of a major cooperation would you involve the building custodians in any major corporate decisions? When the fire service looks at their oath to protect life and property in a different way, the community will look at them as more then community custodians.

In order to truly live up to our oath to protect life and property is to act before the incident, before the pain, and before the misery and grief. The fire department must contribute to the added value of the community by making the community a safe and healthy place to live. We do this by preventing harm from happening. We do this by having such programs as older citizen fall prevention, bicycle and babysitting safety programs, child safety seat instillation programs, hurricane and tornado preparedness programs, cooking fire prevention and so on. This will change the view of community from seeing the fire department as a department that is only useful after a tragedy to a department that is directly involved in the safety of each and every one of them. They will see the fire department as a key to preserving their way of life.

Fire department personnel must view themselves as risk-reduction technicians. When this happens the communities they serve will respond with a new light in their eyes. The fire department will be contributing added value to the community and its worth will be seen as even higher then it is today. Fire departments will not be asked to do more for less because their value and return in investment will be obvious. This value will not only be in intangible terms such as preventing pain and misery but in real dollar value in the savings of medical and property insurance claims and premiums.

Changing the fire service from viewing its members as firefighters to viewing them as risk reduction technicians is not easy. Those who choose to take the role as change-makers are pioneers. The pioneers in the early history of our country faced rough roads and difficult challenges as they moved on in their quest to develop new land and opportunity. The new risk-reduction prevention-eers in our service today will face their own rough roads and difficult challenges as they strive to change the face of the American Fire Service. They will become key instruments in making American communities a happier, safer, healthier and pleasant place to live, work and visit.

When you return from cleaning up the mess that occurred on your next alarm and are backing into the station, think about the spill on aisle 7. Could this mess have been prevented?