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On Training and Taking Personal Responsibility

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* Image from Goshen, MA. Fire-Rescue website.

 

Got your cup? Here let me fill it up…..What 'da? Who left the pot empty?!?! This is what I'm talking about!

Hello all. I'm a little cranky today. Maybe it's the weather, I dunno. Maybe it's what I've been seeing a lot of lately on the training ground that's got me irritated, not sure. First off, the picture up above of the young lad from Goshen F-R isn't meant to imply the kid was doing anything wrong. He wasn't. It was a rest and rehydration break during a full day of instruction. But I thought the general pose lent itself to my discussion. Hence why the faces of the innocent have been blurred.

You see, I've seen an awful lot of lackadaisical, ho-hum, here-we-go-again plodding through training lately. A lot of, been there, done that got the t-shirt attitude. Only problem is that I as an instructor have also seen a lot of corner cutting and sloppy performances on the drill ground. I get it. Throwing a 35 isn't a lot of fun, especially when I tell you that it's only you and your partner because the other two guys from the truck are throwing the 24 to another window and everyone else is committed. But when I'm telling you that because the scenario is an advanced fire condition in an ordinary constructed SRO with people in the windows, do 'ya think 'ya could move a little faster than give-a-crap speed? From the first time Benjamin Franklin mustered his troops to train on passing buckets down the line this kind of attitude has been the bane of every training instructors existence.

Good, solid, realistic training. Something that challenges us. Something that makes us think. Those are responses I've heard when asking the question, "What do you want to see out of the trainig division?" And I agree that the responsibility to put that kind of training on falls squarely on the soulders of the Training Officer and the instructors. However, it cannot be a one-way street. The students need to engage and act like it is an actual scenario as well. That part falls squarely on you. If you come into training with the attitude that this is B.S. and you only have to "get through" the evolution then you aren't going to get anything out of the most inventive, realistic scenario any instructor can come up with.  Sometimes the topic is boring and there is only so much that can be done to make it interesting. Blood-borne Pathogen training, for instance, was one of my most hated topics as a trainee and still is as an instructor. So when I had to present it recently I incorporated a mini response drill using a CPR manikin as the victim. The responding crews shuffled into the room, laughing and joking, not really paying attention all too much. When they approached the patient and began receiving information as to what had happened etc., the first guy, not wearing any gloves or any other form of personal protection kneeled in an open Zip-Loc bag of melted chocolate bar that was deftly placed under his knee on his way down. When he reached down with his ungloved hand to see what it was and brought his hand back up covered in melted Hershey bar and was told it was feces, the look on his face was priceless. Another guy got a 60 cc syringe of cream of mushroom soup in the kisser after he went to intubate without any eye protection or a mask. Interesting enough for you? Realistic enough for you?

We had done another drill at the training tower towards the end of fall before the weather got too bad. All the windows and doors had been framed out with 2×4's and covered with plywood to resemble HUD coverings or at least give the look of an abandoned building. This was going to make for actual forcible entry work for companies instead of the "simulated" work that was accustomed to. One exterior door on the back-side of the building had been covered in a similar fashion but then forced, giving it the look of a covering that had been removed to let someone sneak inside. Companies were initially gathered in the classroom area of the education building and given the scenario and objectives for the drill. Time of day: Now; Weather: As is; Building: As you see it; Information: As given by dispatch. The tones then dropped for a reported fire, 123 Main Street with the companies due assigned. The first-due companies kind of got up, moved out of the room to their rigs and then all showed up at once on scene. This led to multiple companies standing around waiting for the first-due Lieutenant to finish his walk-around, give his size-up and begin instituting his plan. No one thought that, hey, wait a minute, my Engine would normally take 4-6 minutes to get there, I'd better hold back. No one thought that this building would normally be the middle building in a block of storefronts and we couldn't just walk around the entire perimeter. No one thought that the truck should actually be moved from where it was parked when companies reported to training. It was frustrating to watch. The drill kind of plodded along with the main objectives being met along the way. But it was disappointing to see how slow the assignemnts were carried out. How uninvolved many of the participants were. How little buy-in there was. Many of the instructors had thought that we had provided the troops exactly what they had asked for, and it still didn't get their engines going.

I've mentioned LYBITS before in another post. For those that haven't read that post or have forgotten, LYBITS is a shortened acronym for the dreaded Leaving Your Brain In The Car When You Get To The Firehouse Syndrome. Maybe it can mean leaving your motivation there too? Are you just showing up to work to get through the shift? Are you simply showing up to training because you have no other choice? Do you truly believe that training is important to develop muscle memory and that automatic pilot so that when you really need to perform you will? Do you truly believe you have it all down and don't need to do this stuff anymore? I sincerely hope not. 

I don't have a magic bullet. I don't have any kind of inspiring quote to give you that will suddenly inspire you to really invest yourself in your training. I can only hope that you care enough about your profession, your teammates, your family and those you've sworn to protect that you'll do it on your own.

Now get off 'da tailboard and ask not what your training division can do for you, but what can you do for your training division.

 

Posted by on January 23, 2012 • Filed under: Archive, Tradition, Pride, Ownership, Training, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Top-Notch Training Opportunities

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Good morning jakes! Got your mug full of regulah?

I promise that these two upcoming training events are ones you won't need to be all loaded up on the regulah for. I've mentioned the new Go>Forward Fire and Leadership Training venture before and I just wanted to remind you that there's still time to get registered for their innaugural event coming up in St. Charles, Missouri. For you Midwest-types that's a great opportunity for 'ya to get some great training from some of the industry's biggest names as well as some newcomers to the conference training scene. For those of us in our "Right"-coast minds, the King of Prussia, Pennsylvania event is coming up in November. Another awesome opportunity for training from the best in the biz.

Click on the banner or the link above and it'll take you right to the site and you can click on whichever venue will be closer to you. There you can view information on the venues, the conference schedule and class descriptions as well as instructor bios but most importantly you can get registered for either event. Don't be one of those slackers who doesn't go to training unless your department spoon-feeds it to you every day on shift. Invest in yourself and bring something back for the group.

 

Now getjerbutts of 'da tailboard and go get registered!

~TK

Posted by on September 13, 2011 • Filed under: administration-leadership, command-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, Tradition, Pride, Ownership, Training, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , ,

The Craziest 10-Minutes in Firefighting

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*Image from Bayonne, NJ Fire Department website

 

Whew! Well after that blow we all deserve a break on 'da tailboard and  a nice hot cup of regulah. Everyone got one? Let's just have a nice chat then shall we?

When I first began driving fire apparatus I had been on the job about 3 years. I say that because nowadays it seems as if there is a big rush to get new guys driving. Now, don't get me wrong, three years was still new but today we've got guys and gals still on probation driving and pumping rigs. It's my opinion that this is too soon. These youngsters have enough to learn and worry about without all of the knowledge and responsibility that comes with driving. That's my opinion, anyway. But, with the fire service being what it is today we probably just have to accept this new trend and do the best we can to train the pups. When I was going through Driver/Operator training I learned that the D/O's position was the most important one on the fireground and the "craziest 10-minutes in firefighting" followed by an hour or more of shear boredom. I'd like to challenge the last part of that statement.

The academy where I teach rents out the facility to area departments who do not have their own burn facilities etc. Depending on what that department is doing there are also between 1 and sometimes as many as 10 staff instructors on-hand who act as stokers and saftey personnel. Because of this role I get to see a lot of other departments techniques and training evolutions. It was one of these evolutions that got me thinking about this topic. The department was a smaller one, with only two stations and about 10 guys a shift. Because of this they did not use permanent apparatus assignments, everyone did everything, including operate as a D/O. So the drill they were conducting that day utilized the burn tower and was going to start as an automatic fire alarm response which would quickly escalate. This department runs two Engines and a Truck each day so it was planned that the evolution would be run 3 times, to give everyone a chance at being first and second due Engine and once on the Truck. I was acting as a liason to the visiting Battalion Chief that day so I basically showed everyone around, answered questions, operated the cascade for them etc. etc. But during the evolutions I had no real responsibilites so I had the perfect opportunity to sit back and watch.

What got me watching initially was the first-due Engineer on the first evolution, not necessarily because I was looking for something but because where the apparatus was spotted blocked where the action was really taking place and I was really comfortable on my buddies tailgate where I had sat down. He was quick, efficient and obviously knew his job. He got the pump in service, charged the attack line, switched over from tank to hydrant water flawlesly and did an overall good job. The evolution went pretty smoothly, the objectives were met, things were re-packed, the guys were given a little break and their new assignments and then it was go-time again. Here's where things got interesting.

The second evolution D/O started things out pretty much like the first. Again, this was initially an AFA response. He pulled up and spotted the rig, but he did something different from the first guy. He got out with the rest of his crew and looked down both sides of the building (B and D). He then went and stood at the front of the rig watching what was going on. When the report of "smoke on the second floor" came over the radio he was off like a shot. Into the cab, rig in pump. Out of the rig to the curb-side where he pulled the line and then placed it on the backstep man's shoulder when he came back out the door. Flaked off some extra line, back to the pump panel. Waited for the order for water and charged the line. Throttled up, set the pressure, confirmed via radio that the nozzle had water and pressure. Ran to the ass-end of the rig and back-stretched two 3" lines to the yard haydrant about 400 feet away, made the hydrant, returned to the pump panel, checked his gauges and switched over to hydrant water. It was at about this time that the second-due Engine arrived. Back to the curb-side, shouldered the roof and 24' ladders and placed them near the A side of the building. Back to the ass-end and dropped both of this department's extra bundled lines and dragged them to the same location. Back to the pump panel to check his gauges again. Right about then was when the scenario started going South with a change in fire conditions, a Mayday, etc. In the next 10 minutes or so I watched this guy throw a 24' ladder by himself as a second means of egress, get two additional hand lines in service, stretch lines to the Tower and throw a 35' by-him-freaking-self as a third means of egress! So much for that whole "hour or more of boredom". And he did all this without a single order from anyone on the fireground. Freelancing? Not in my book. In my book freelancing is something that you do that could adversely affect the firefight or conditions or which could lead to serious injury or worse to yourself  or others, and all without orders. In no way did this guy do that. He saw things that needed to be done in line with the scenario that was unfolding and he did them while all the while keeping tabs on the overall big picture (I saw him multiple times react to information being broadcast over the radio, including the placement of the two egress ladders) and his water supply situation.  The first D/O did a good job, this guy was freakin' awesome at is job.

Too often D/O's, Engineers, Pump Operators, Chauffers, whatever you call them are chained to their pump panels. This is either because of orders and SOP's, because they just don't know any better or for various reasons they're scared to leave that position. Many departments say right in their SOP's that the D/O will not leave the pump panel. This is usually due to wanting to have someone constantly monitoring the guages in case something goes wrong. I basically agree with that but don't think that the guy needs to stand right there every second staring unblinkingly at them either. Some guys just never think to do anything else other than their basic water supply responsibilities. They see that as their only responsibility because, again, for a couple hundred years we've been teaching guys and gals that supplying water to the attack line is their only and most important job. And then some guys are just too scared to leave the panel. This usually boils down to two things; insecurity in their abilities as a D/O and not wanting to get "in trouble" for doing something they're not "supposed" to. The former is a training issue and the latter, in my opinion again, is just bullshit. If you see somethig that needs doing and it's not gonna take you to the other side of the building, freaking do it! But 'dats just me.

When I was learning I was taught to "dump the rig." That meant the ground ladders, spare lines, tools, air bottles etc. That seems to have been lost along the way. Maybe some places don't teach it. Maybe some places just want their D/O to get water and that's it. I still think that just about anything on the A side of the building (or whatever side is in front of you) should be the D/O's domain to roam. In general the distance you would be away from the panel would not be that great that you couldn't get back to it in a timely manner if you heard a change in motor pitch or something over the radio indicating a problem. Most places, especially smaller departments, don't have the luxury of beginning inital offensive operations with two or three companies on the scene (I know, I know. 2-in-2-out. Another discussion). If guys are going in they should have more than one way out. Throw a ladder to the second floor window and then broadcast its position on the radio. If you have a top floor or attic job throw the 24' and the roof. When the truckies get there all they have to do is shoulder the roof and go up and start cutting. Maybe even hook a pike to a rung so they have that there too. There are lots of things an D/O can do that isn't necassarily their "job". 

There's another thing that is most definitely an D/O's job. You need to have your eyes and ears open and sometimes use your mouth. What I mean by that is, because most of the time we aren't stretching additional lines and throwing big ladders by ourselves, we do have the opportunity to watch the fire scene and listen to the radio. As D/O's we may see and hear things that other members miss because they are focused on the task a couple feet in front of their masks. When we see these things we cannot be scared to act or key the radio. Because my company can respond as a special service unit or an additonal Engine we do use our pump a fair amount. I happended to be filling in as the D/O on a day when our regular guy was off and as luck would have it we caught a first-due job. It was a fairly straight-forward residential job with fire on the second floor in what looked like a bedroom. My guys were advancing in and I could see some steam conversion taking place when a portion of the roof suddenly came in and a very large volume of fire issued forth from the hole. I never hesitated and I never questioned my actions for a moment. The air-horns were sounding for an evacuation before anyone got on the radio. Later on, my Luft and the two step guys told me that they had no idea what had heppened. One minute they're hitting some moderate fire down a hall and the next they're on their bellies in pitch black and the heat felt like a blast furnace door had just been opened. When they heard the horns they knew something unrecoverable had happened and bailed right away.  On another job my partner and I were assigned as the rear VES crew. We had vented a window and my partner had entered for the search while I stayed on the ladder as his safety. There was an Engine assigned to the rear in the alley and the crew had entered the building for another assignment, leaving the D/O at the rig. While my partner was inside and my attention was focused on him the D/O spotted a head and arm appear at a different window above and to the left of us, for just a second, before disappearing back into the smoke. He immediately radioed to us and relayed all the information, even walking us in over the radio to the correct window and correct height as we extended the ladder.  Later when we were told we would be receiving a commendation for the rescue we both insisted the D/O be honored as well. It was more his rescue than ours. It ain't just about the water brothers and sisters.

Since many departments don't have permanent riding positions many of you who may read this operate as an D/O from time-to-time. Keep these things I've talked about in mind but operate within your particular organizations SOP's. I don't want any e-mails blaming me for days off, you lunk-heads. If you have the leeway to throw a ladder or do some of the other things I talked about, then do it. Just don't go venting windows and things willy-nilly. That's not what I mean.

Now getjerbutts off  'da tailboard and go practice your job!

~TK

Posted by on August 28, 2011 • Filed under: Archive, fire-rescue-topics, firefighting-operations, training-fire-rescue-topics, vehicle-operations-apparatus • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Our Kids

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*Image from Uniform Duds for Kids.

 

Everyone got there cahffee? Grab some diamond plate. This one might stir up some lively discussion.

So the other night I was listening to an on-line podcast over at FirefighterNetCast that is hosted by Christopher Naum entitled "Taking it to the Streets, The New Fireground and the First-Due." If you click the link you can listen to the replay of the show. The guests were Division Chief Ed Hadfield, Coronado, CA. FD and Deputy Chief Jason Hoevelman of the Sullivan Fire Protection District, MO. The main point of the podcast was talking about the new firground, how we need to start changing our thinking and tactics at some of these fires with new construction methods and new hydrocarbon-rich fuels burning. The show was great with many good points being brought up and discussed by the host and the guests. But I'd like to talk about another great aspect of the show. In case you have never attended a NetCasts show in person you're really missing out. In addition to the great content there is a live chat-room that runs throughout the show in which the producers of the show, the host, the guests and then the listeners all type-chat with each other. It is a great feature and really leads to some great discussion and information sharing.  There is also a call-in number that you can either dial from any phone or use Skype to call in and talk directly to the host and guest(s). It is a topic that was brought up in the chat room and then commented on by the guests that I would like to discuss today.

One of the listeners typed a simple question into the chat-room. I don't remember it exactly so I'm going to paraphrase here, "Is there something different about todays younger firefighters definition of "work" than, say, the older generation's?" A couple people chimed in and then another listener typed his opinion that basically said, paraphrasing again, "Yes. Kids today often haven't had a real job before getting to the fire department. They don't know what real work is." I agree with that sentiment, for the most-part. Anyone with the least little bit of knowledge of the history of our job knows that the number of firefighters coming from the ranks of the construction and mechanical trades has dropped significantly. Those that come from a farm, factory or some other background where mechanical apptitude is needed as a way of life are even fewer. On the flip-side we are getting more firefighters with college education and knowledge that, while may not be directly applicable to the fireground, is very valuable to the department as a whole. Computers, legal issues, radio equipment and communication skills come immediately to mind as examples.  A little more discussion in the chat-room ensued and then Division Chief Hadfield typed a response, paraphrasing, "The kids haven't changed. They just need to be LED!". Again, I agree with that statement too, for the most-part. I'm sure when the legions of carpenters, electricians, plasterers and plumbers entered the fire service in the '40's, '50's and '60's there was some of this sentiment too. I can imagine the barn-boss grumbling, "Sure 'dis kid can swing a hammer but he can't roll hose for s**t!" Or, "Hey junior! When I want you to come to my house and patch my plaster I'll call 'ya. Until then, sit there and shut-up." That's just the way of the fire service. We're gonna break your stones for a while until we find out what you're really made of. But there's a major difference between yesterdays kids and todays, and it's what I think the listener who responded to the question was talking about.

So, 20 and 30 years ago (and more) you had these tradesmen or guys that worked in factories or on farms that became firemen. Many of them had also served in the military during war-years. They brought special skill-sets that revolved around those trades or mechanical apptitude but they also brought something else. In general, the candidate-firefighters of old brought an ability to follow orders, think on their feet and put in a hard days work. Life was vastly different back then, even as recently as the '70's. No one sat around playing video games all day, or glued to their smart-phones or were handed things by their comparatively well-off Mommies and Daddies. No, most of the older generation firefighters worked, or fought, for what they had. Which left precious little time or expendable income for "fun" stuff. Many of the kids I see today, whether it be in my own department or teaching at the academy, have either had no real job to speak of or worse yet, have had many different small jobs. I say "worse yet" because I have asked several of these candidates why they hopped from one menial job to the next in their short work-life and more times than not I get answers like, "I couldn't stand my boss," or "My boss had it out for me," or "I  wasn't being paid what I deserved," or my personal favorite, "It took up too much time so I quit." Huh?!?! So now they want to be firefighers. And suddenly they are forced to report for duty earlier than many have had to get out of bed in years, they have to dress in a certain, prescribed and detailed manner, follow orders that are being barked at them, do certain things at certain times without question, think on the fly in a very fast-paced environment, learn the use of a multitude of tools, learn foreign materiel i.e. building construction and put in a harder days work than many of them have ever done. Talk about a culture shock! It's no wonder we have some trouble in getting through to these kids. Our academies and probationary time is not set-up to allow for a learn-at-your-own-pace approach. You have a set amount of time to complete the academy and the rquirements or fail. You have a set amount of time to make probation or fail. Except in a very few cases, there are no do-overs or time extensions. Sink or swim lads and lasses. 

Now here's where I think Chief Hadfield's comment comes into play. I don't necessarily think he was disagreeing with the listener's comment. I think what he was trying to say was that more officers, and senior firefighters, need to step-up and show our "babes in bunkers" the way. Another listener typed a comment that I think is reflective of an emerging problem in the fire service today. The listener said, "Too many officers "lead" from the office." Obviously nothing I, or anyone else says can be construed as being reflective of any entire department. However, I have seen in person and talked to more and more firefighters who have that exact complaint. That their Lieutenant or Captain sits in his or her office all day and they never see them until the tones drop or someone needs to be yelled at. When it comes to spider-solitaire, checking their e-mails or their stock portfolios or running their side-business they're the bomb. As a company officer, in its truest sense, not so much. Now that's not to single-out the officers only. There's plenty of senior guys who do the exact same things and never invest one second in the new boot. IMHO, er, in my humble opinion (I learned that one from one of those kids) many of us older guys are just as much to blame. These kids need to be led, yes, but don't expect that you're going to take them onto the floor, haul out your extrication equipment and in 10 minutes teach them all the ins and outs like you would with a guy that has worked with heavy tools and equipment before. It's just not gonna happen. In the same vein, when you're sitting around having an impromptu training session at the local building under construction don't throw out building terms like, lintle, top-plate and bearing wall and expect these kids to completely get it like the carpenter on the shift. Many of these kids learn just enough for the test they have to take on building construction, and other subjects, in the academy but have no real practical understanding in real-life. Many of these subjects are going to need to be reviewed and in some cases, completely re-taught. It ain't gonna happen over night brothers and sisters.

Be ready for something else, folks. The "whys" and "this is stupids". Now, to many of us the automatic and best response to those two statments would be a tersely stated, "because I said so" or some version of that retort. Many of us grew up in the fire service under officers who led with iron fists and little in the way of management or personal communication training. An officer or senior member gave you an order and you did it without question or hesitation or be prepared to suffer the wrath. That approach doesn't work with these kids. While it kind of doesn't make sense that they only want to study the absolute minimum to get by for the tests in the academy they actually do want an explanation as to why they are doing some particular thing or other in that particular way. And if that explanation consists of, "because that's the way we've always done it" or some other time-honored traditional response you may get met with the "this is stupid" retort. And guess what folks, in some cases they may be right. Remember, we're kind of set in our ways, brought up in a different fire department. These kids look at things differently and are more technology savvy. Those explanations we simply accepted and shut-up aren't good enough for them. Many times they don't mean offense or insult by their statements, it's just part of their lexicon and their everyday operation. Sometimes we need to take a deep breath and remember that. Then back-up and perhaps explain a little more in-depth or ask what exactly their question is so we can better answer it. Again, they, and we, won't change over night. But I think both our groups need to be willing to.

Well, until next time, getjerbutts off 'da tailboard and go invest in a younger member! Just be patient.

~TK

Posted by on August 19, 2011 • Filed under: administration-leadership, Archive, fire-rescue-topics, General Rants, Leadership, Tradition, Pride, Ownership, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

New Training Opportunities

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Everybody got some regulah? Grab a seat.

Today I want to talk about some new training opportunities that will be coming our way. And by "our way" I mean close to home. There's a new fire and EMS training company in the market and they are looking to revolutionize the way training is given in a congerence setting. Go>Forward Fire and Leadership Training has announced two innagural training conferences, one in St. Charles, Missouri in October and the other in King of Prussia Pennsylvania in November. So in a roughly 5 hour drive from our area you can attend a three day, high quality training conference that will break the model for training conferences. More on that in a miunte.

Does Go>Forward look familiar to anybody? It should. Go>Forward Media owns FireEMSBlogs.com which hosts this rag of a blog and many other of your favorite fire and EMS blog sites. Go>Forward Media also owns Fire-Rescue Magazine, JEMS Magazine and Law Officer magazine. The company saw an opportunity and a different direction to go with fire training in a conference setting. So the company branched out and created Go>Forward Fire and Leadership Training to try and bring a new educational experience to students. Now, for all you traditionalists, don't get your undies in a bunch. They ain't trying to butt in on FDIC or any of the other major conferences. What they are trying to do is bring more affordable, local and intimate (not that kind of intimate, chowderheads) training to us while focusing on student-instructor relationships. That means that not only will you be able to take a class from some of the finest instructors in the world like, Alan Brunacini, Tim Sendelbach, Dennis Rubin and Brotherhood Instructors, but you will also get to talk to and network with them as well. You see, not only has Go>Forward made the conferences local, more affordable and smaller but they have built-in time after lectures and hands-on classes to meet and talk to the instructors. Giving both students and instructors an opportunity to talk and learn from each other and to hopefully build a relationship that lasts past the conference. Check out Go>Forward's announcement page here to check out information on the conferences. 

 

I know it's a short post today but I'm tachnically on vacation, so get over it. But I did want to make you aware of these new opportunities so that you have some time to check them out and get registered. For those of us in the Atlantic states area check out the Liberty Regional Fire & Leadership Training Conference in KoP, PA. page and get registered. For you Midwesterners check out the Gateway Midwest Fire & Leadership Training Conference in St. Charles, MO. and get registered. Lets decrease those "You can teach a monkey…" moments, shall we?

Now getjerbutts of 'da tailboard and go train!

~TK

Posted by on July 31, 2011 • Filed under: administration-leadership, Archive, command-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, firefighting-operations, Leadership, Tradition, Pride, Ownership, Training, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

You Can Teach a Monkey…

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Everybody got their regulah? Ya' comfortable? Good.

Ok, ok. I know. That's a gorilla, not a monkey. Koko, the gorilla, actually. The one they taught sign language to and how to read and a bunch of other stuff. But it was a good picture to illustrate my point and I couldn't find a monkey pic that would do it as well. So calm you'ah liva. Anyway, today we're going to talk about the next generation. Those that will replace us and, more than likely, become our bosses before we retire. Yup, those kids.

So my shift and my battalion happen to have quite a few new guys on the job and three are just getting ready to get off probation, maybe. So my B/C calls up the house just after change the other other morning and tells my Luft that all the companies with new guys and probies are getting together to drill and run them through their paces. He also tells him that I'm going to be running one of the stations and evaluating them. So my day was off to a great start. I love teaching and am committed to training anyone that wants to learn while hopefully doing so myself. So as it turns out, the town had condemned an old building that had sat vacant for years and was intending to tear it down to make way for a community center and park or something. So they gave it to us and the coppers to train in before the wrecking ball came. It was a three story former tax-payer with two separate commercial occupancies on the lower and two apartments on each of the uppers, for a total of four. There was also an one-story addition off the back that was used as storage for the stores up front. The original building was ordinary construction with the addition being very cheaply slapped up with stick-built construction. The only thing we couldn't do was burn the thing down and we had to leave some way of securing the building once we were done. My mind was racing with ideas.

So we showed up at the appointed time and I got together with the B/C and the other instructors. We hashed out a plan and went over safety issues. The B/C really wanted to ensure that the new guys had their basic skills down pat, and then maybe we'd run a full-scale evolution or something. We had three Engines, a Truck, two Medics and ourselves so we basically had a structure fire assignment minus one Truck. Myself and one of the Truck guys were given the ventilation station. We went up to the roof of the building and decided we'd do some inspection cuts, louver-cuts, peeling the roof membrane and ventilation of the upper floor windows from the roof. We then went to the addition roof and decided about the only thing it was good for was some axe work. My Truckie partner took the main roof and I went to the addition. But first we made some "special" arrangements I had filled him in on.

So the kids were told what groups they were in and what they would be doing and to grab the appropriate tools and equipment. In some cases it was kind of interesting what they chose. So, my first group shows up and they have a chainsaw, two 8-foot hooks, a set of irons and a life-safety rope. Notice anything missing? Like a ladder. I briefed them on what I wanted, a typical 4'x4' vent hole, drop the ceiling, do a quick recon of what the roof structure was like. Nothing huge. Then I told them to get to work. They immediately started heading toward the 14' roof ladder I had placed. "Stop!", I barked. "Where 'ya goin'?" They kinda looked at each other and then one kid said, "Up to the roof, sir." "How 'ya gonna get there?", I countered. Confused looks, one kid even turned around to check that leprechauns hadn't taken the ladder he was sure was there. "Uh, the ladder?", another said questioningly. "That ladder?", I asked pointing to MY ladder. "Yes sir", the same kid answered.  "No you're not.", I replied. "You were told to bring tools and equipment to ventilate this roof, right?", I kind of snapped. Two of the four instantly got it, set their tools down and went to the Truck to retrieve a ladder. That was when I heard it for the first time. My B/C had come up behind the group while the exchange was going on, unbeknownst to them. As the two went to retrieve the ladder he kind of mumbled, "You can teach a monkey…". I let it go at the time and waited for the ladder to arrive.

So when the ladder arrives and is thrown the kid with the chainsaw gets set to start it. He makes all the appropriate settings, throttle lock, choke, checks the chain-brake, decompression button, and starts to pull. Muffled putters is all he's met with. We had switched the saw in the cabinet of the Truck with a training saw. A training saw with no gas, to be specific. He continued to pull for a few seconds and then ran through his steps to start the saw again, which I was pleased to see. He did not, however, check the gas. More futile attempts at starting the saw ensued, while everyone else in the group stood and watched. Finally I yelled, "Didja check everything?" Lightbulb goes off, gas gets checked, "it's empty", is the befuddled response. "Now what?", I bark. "I'll go get a gas can!", one kid yells and starts to book for the Truck. "Stop! You have an Engine company trying to advance the line and they're getting the crap beat out of them! Not to mention any civilians that might still be in there. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?!?!?!" One of the better kids responds, "I'd radio the Chief and let him know what the delay is and that we'll be cutting by hand until the saw is ready. Then I'd send someone to get the gas and fill the saw while the rest of us were working on the roof." "Good! Do it!", I bark. 

The rest of the evolution goes pretty well, except for the four layers of shingles and tongue-and-groove under those that I had identified but they had not. A little education was done at simply looking at the edge of the roof. Anyway, the rest of the groups had some similar troubles to greater or lesser degrees. When all the newbies had rotated through all the stations (both ventilations, hose advancement, search and rescue coupled with ladder work) the instructors met out front with the B/C and the company officers. Each instructor took a turn going through each group on their respective station and pointing out the good and the bad. A few times through this process the chief mumbled his line of, "You can teach a monkey…". But no one ever asked him about it. Many of the issues that the instructors had identified seemed to boil down to one thing; thinking. In general the actual performance of the tasks assigned went well with all of the groups. There were very few real issues at the task level. But each and every instructor noted that if a wrinkle or problem was thrown at the groups they seemed to stall-out for a minute. Some of this could be attributed to experience, but not all. We have several "new" guys that came to us from other jobs. So, then is it a training issue? Both ours and their previous jobs? Again, on the task level it doesn't seem to be the case. A number of other new guys are really good rookies and will do just fine on our job. So what's the issue?I have discovered a fictitious affliction that I call, "Leaving Your Brain In The Car When You Get To The Firehouse Syndrome". But that's too long so we just call it LYBITS for short. Rookies aren't the only ones that suffer from it, believe me. But it does seem to attack them more so than a lot of others.

So we returned to our respective quarters and continued on with the tour. Later that evening the chief came by with some frappes (not those foo-foo coffee drinks that the rest of the country drinks, mind you. Look it up if you don't know what they are) to thank us for the work of the day. We were sitting on the bench out front, chatting and drinking our frappes, and I finally asked the chief about his monkey saying. He kinda laughed and then explained, "We can teach a monkey how to do the tasks of a fireman," he said. "But you can't teach 'em to think like a fireman." I suddenly had one of those light-bulb moments. We train our people well when it comes how to do the tasks of our job. Indeed the newbies did perform most of their tasks well. Just look at the story I relayed. They were told what tasks they were going to have to perform but they just assumed that the ladder they saw on the building was for them, forgetting this was supposed to be a "train as we play" evolution. And then with the chain-saw. The candidate that was attempting to start the saw did all of the tasks correctly, he kind of failed in the thinking the problem through department. The getting the gas can issue, they couldn't see how their delay of opening up the roof affected the other operations going on or the potential to save civilian lives. They were simply focused on their task at hand. Checking out the roof by looking at the edge, I kinda think it's basic and should be talked about in the ventilation portion of the academy but I'm kind of willing to let it slide a bit and chalk it up to experience. Hopefully they'll learn and remember for the next time. So how do you train someone to think? Can you train someone to think? I think to a certain extent yes. When I conduct drills, either for multiple companies, an in-house session or at the training academy, I like to do it kind of in a scenario based way. Instead of saying, "See that roof? Grab the saw, a hook, an axe and the roof ladder and go ventilate it." I like to say something like, "You're the first-due Truck. You've been assigned to open the roof. Whaddya need and how 'ya gonna do it?" Then talk through the evolution, throwing in questions and problems, before I send them off to do it. Then, once we've done it, we talk about it some more. Personally I think that maybe, just maybe, by doing it that way and by throwing problems and questions at them in a more calm setting than when we're up on a roof with the chain saw screaming and saw dust flying, maybe they'll start to really look at the entire picture instead of just that particular operation. That's my hope anyway.

If anyone else has any other methods or tricks and tips I'd love to hear them, and I'm sure other brothers and sisters would too. Share them in the comments, or just tell me how crappy the post was. But until next time,

Getjerbutts off 'da tailboard and go impart some knowledge to some kid who's gonna be you'ah officer some day.

~TK

Posted by on June 1, 2011 • Filed under: Archive, fire-rescue-topics, firefighting-operations, Tradition, Pride, Ownership, Training, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , ,

Don’t Judge A Building By Its Curtains

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Everyone got theyah cup of cahfee? Everyone comfortable? Good.

Today we're going to talk a little building construction and tactics and strategy. This discussion is going to be based off a recent job we had in a Lace Curtain, or Triple-Decker. Due to departmental rules and regs and such I'm not able to show any actual pictures of the incident but in case you're unfamiliar with that type of construction the picture below from a similar type incident and building may help you visualize it better.

So this is a job that the brothers from Somerville, Mass. had a while ago and comes from the website wickedlocal.com. As you can see this type of architecture is narrow and tall. It is almost always a multiple occupancy with one unit per floor or sometimes two, one front and one back. About the only way to be sure is by counting gas or electric services, but as we all know that can sometimes even fail us if the landlord is a little unscrupulous and has tapped off existing lines etc. They started being built in the late 1800's and were popular into the 1930's. Because of this the construction is mainly balloon although more modern imitations are platform. Because of the ballon construction we were usually assured of two things; 1) it's gonna be a wicked job and 2) it was fairly sturdy and held up pretty well under fire conditions. Hence, you usually ended up with a job as shown above, with fire on multiple levels, usually the uppers. This has also led to many fire deaths and dramatic rescues due to the occupant load and the quick fire-spread.

So, in our case the job comes in around 0330 (of frickin' course) and is originally an "odor of smoke in the area", which gets a single Engine Company dispatched. As the first-due was driving on the other side of the block from where the address was one of the windows on the side of the building on the second floor failed and the jake in the back saw it light-up. They whipped around the block and called for a working-fire response, probable entrapment. We were just about the farthest company from the scene so we were a little while in getting there. Since we are a specialty-type unit we can be assigned anything from Engine work to Truck work to almost any kind of Rescue work, depending on type of building and what order we arrive in. On this particular one the duty-Chief ordered us to split our crew and have one team head to the third floor for search and rescue and the other to the cellar for a quick recon. My Loo took the newest member of our company and went up and had me and another seasoned guy go down. We hit the gas meters as we went by and quickly ascertained there were three units. Since 99% of all these Lace Curtains are built the same we now had a real good idea of the floor plans on each level. We then went down-cellar to complete our assignment. We had just a little bit of smoke hanging at the ceiling and not doing anything and no heat, so at least we knew everything was above us. As my partner and I finished up looking round his flashlight beam caught something that kind of glinted. I took my lantern and shown it on the same area. That's when I saw it. "Dougie!", I yelled to my partner. He turned and looked at me and then where my lantern was shining. "Oh shit!", was his response. As we were hustling out of the cellar my radio transmission went something like this (edited to fall within my department's rules and regs and such); "Command from 14-cellar!". I got the acknowledgement. "Command be advised this is not legacy construction. It's been rehabbed using light-weight floor joists and hangers. No tellin' what else is going on in here Chief." Command acknowledged my transmission and then repeated it to "all companies on the fireground". The first two lines had made a really good dent on the fire and by the time we rejoined my Loo and the kid, now on the second floor, it was pretty much knocked. Talking to the Chief later he told me he had every intention of pulling everyone out once the searches were complete if the Engine guys hadn't been making good head-way. With the delay in the alarm and the head-start the fire had on us I would agree about one-million percent. 

This fire turned out fine, everyone got out, no one was hurt and the building stayed up. But our little find in the basement wasn't the only thing that was a surprise. During overhaul and throughout the investigation companies found that the typical 2×6 or even 2×8 floor joists throughout the third floor had been replaced by engineered open-web trusses as well. What we had found in the cellar were the wooden I-beam trusses and joist hangers secured to a block wall. We also learned the block wall had been built in-place around the original foundation, both to reinforce it and to have a place to hang the trusses. Nice, huh? The flat roof common to these buildings had also been rehabbed but only partially, probably because of cost and effort. Three open-web trusses were found there by the Truckies that had been opening up. Now, in retrospect my partner and I kinda messed up on this one. We fell prey to being a little complacent. It wasn't til after everything was said and done that we noticed the new high-efficiency vinyl windows, the obviously new front door, and the drywall ceilings instead of the plaster-on-lath that should have been there. Tell you one thing, never again.

Many of these buildings are located in "historic" neighborhoods so they are subject to many strict rehab rules on what an owner can and can't change. Almost all of those rules have to do with the appearance of the building from the curb, not so much what's on the inside. So this leads to a couple different things. First, that chowderhead landlord we were talking about before? He just might not want to conform to all the little codes and regulations and so forth so he does his little rehab job on the sly. Which means no inspections from the town, which means it may or may not be up to code. Second, everything may very well be up to code but they're using todays materials to replace yesterdays and we're still looking at the same "old" building from the street. So I guess what I'm saying is that no matter if you're looking at a;

New York Brownstone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Philly Georgian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chicago Walk-up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

or San Fran Victorian,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

be alert brothers and sisters and be looking beyond the curtains to what's in the guts of that building because it may not be what you think.

Now, getjerbutts off 'da tailboard and go do somethin'. Like get out into your still-district and look around at buildings.

~TK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by on May 12, 2011 • Filed under: Archive, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, fires, training-fire-rescue-topics