* 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.

I hope you all have a strong cup of regulah this morning. It's cold outside, I didn't sleep real well last night and this morning we learn of the official end of an era.

In case you've been living under a rock lately I'll just fill you in that the D.C. FEMS are not a new team to join that Lingerie Bowl league, although I wish it was. It's what Fire Chief Ken Ellerbe of the former District of Columbia Fire Department has decided, in his infinite and omniscient wisdom, that the citizens of D.C. want to see their fire and EMS department called. Now, originally Ellerbe said that the name change was going to better reflect the entire role of the DCFD and that is was about both missions, fire and EMS. Now it is evidently about what the people really want to see and hear about their fire and EMS department. Where he got this information from I have no idea. And furthermore I sincerely doubt any of the residents of DC really give a crap. Now, I know what you're going to say. "Kenny," you'd say, "if the citizens don't really care in the first place then what's the big deal?" "Who cares what the department's called?" Well, that argument does hold some water but here's my problem with it. You're making a change under false pretenses. You're making a change becuase it's, "what the people want!" Or because, "It better reflects what the department's overall role is." I say, if those are the only two reasons you are making a change, and one that sounds really, really dumb, and you are going to incur monetary encumberences in this time of econmoic downturn and budget crises, then you're an idiot. And probably an idiot who has political aspirations past the fire department. Oops. Was that my outside voice?

To make this whole thing worse there is collateral damage being done to our brothers and sisters in DCFD, er, DCFEMS. I'm not sure if they're on a quarter master system or if they have to pay out of pocket for uniforms and the like but according to my morning copy of The Secret List from FirefighterCloseCalls.com, it is going to cost members between $300 and $400 in new FEMS logo emblazzoned clothing. Any member caught wearing the old DCFD logo will be subject to disciplinary action. I'm seeing a lot of write-up's in the future just on principle. I'd take one happily, gotta tell 'ya. Not to mention that I'm sure they have to repaint all the rigs, change letterhead and a hundred toher things. So what's that going to cost? Maybe it doesn't matter since they're in DC. Maybe the DCFEMS can just raise their debt ceiling and do stuff without regard to budgets. Seems to work in the rest of the town, right?

This whole ridiculous thing goes back to the post I made a little while back I called, "Does It Really Matter? Really?". If you haven't read the post it is still available below. In it I talk about silly stuff that evidently Chiefs and such think is really, really important that really, really has no bearing on our job and our performance at all. Like changing the name of your organiztion to FEMS. Usually these things are done under the guise of better customer service, or representing the people you serve better or other such silliness. I dunno. As I state in that post, I just think that when people call 911 they want us to show up on a timely manner and perform our jobs well and professionally. They could really care less about what we are wearing our what our rigs say. But to change the name of a proud organization with a rich history to something that sounds so, well, silly under the premise that it's what the people want? How about addressing issues that really matter, where they really matter.

My regulah's cold. I'm gettin' off 'da Tailboard to go freshen it up some.

* Image from Ukiah Blog.

Ok, now 'dat I have your attention you better sit down and have some of this Irish regulah wit' me because I've got a feeling this one is going to get me in some trouble. Here goes…

"Risk a lot to save a lot" is B.S. No offense to Chief Brunacini but what has become a fire service golden rule is, in my opinion, a myth. The over-simplified saying attempts to take our entire job and box it up in a nice little saying that rolls off the tongue and can easily be remembered standing outside a burning building at 2 A.M., unlike RECEO and COAL WAS WEALTH and all that other crap. Along with its sister-sayings of "risk a little to save a little" and "risk nothing to save nothing" , "risk a lot to save a lot" has been bastardized to justify some actions or to crucify others. And I think it's crap. Maybe my logic is flawed but here's why I think so.

The Brother from  FF Robert Wiedmann of FDNY Rescue 2 in Crown Heights, Brooklyn; FF Jon Davies from Worcester Rescue 1; the Worcester 6; FF Paul Brotherton, Lt. Jeremiah Lucey, Lt. Thomas Spencer, FF Timothy Jackson, FF James Lyons and FF Joseph McGuirk; FF Corey Ankum from Chicago Truck 34 and FF Edward Stringer from Chicago Engine 63. What do all these men have in common? They have been seriously inured or killed while fighting fire where people were reported to be or thought to have been trapped. What else do they have in common? They saved no one. Does that mean that their memories are somehow tarnished? Does it mean that there was no reason for them to have been in a situation where their lives could have been at risk? My humble opinion is a resounding, "NO". Each of these men, and thousands of others, have been injured and killed doing a job that is predicated upon one thing; risking our own lives to help someone else. Nowhere in any oath that any of us took does it say that there absolutely, positively must be someone trapped in a fire building or another emergency. No where does it say that we absolutely must have infallible knowledge that someone is in there, under there or on top of there. Wherever there happens to be. We risk a lot every day just by going to work and rarely do we ever make true saves.

One of the closest calls I've had in my career occurred on an interstate highway at the scene of an MVA. It was a minor accident. A couple people with neck pain who wanted to go to the hospital be checked out. I was holding the head of the backboard while we removed one of the drivers from the vehicle. My back was to the lane of traffic that was still open and our apparatus had been placed in a blocking position behind the accident. At the time I had one of those big Mag Lights hanging from my truckman's belt and it usually hung right off my right butt-cheek. Just as the patient was being moved onto the board a car whose driver was obviously far to important to be held up by all this traffic, used the inside break-down lane to pass all the slowed or stopped vehicles. Problem was there was a Mass Statie cruiser sitting in the break-down lane right even with the accident. So this moron jerks his wheel to the right, cuts across two lanes of traffic heading right for us, jerks it back to the left and continues on his way. But not before he hit that Mag Light hanging from my belt hard enough that it flipped up and struck me in the back hard enough to leave a bruise that lasted for weeks. I thank God every day I had that bruise too because a couple more millimeters and it would have been much worse. What did I save? A patient who wanted to go to the hospital to get checked out probably for no other reason than to strenghten their court case when they sue the other guy? Yet I risked everything. It's my job. It's what I was called to do.

Operating in the roadway at an accident; operating at a structure fire; natural gas leaks; electrical hazards; Haz Mat jobs; domestic violence or other EMS runs. They can all injure or kill you just as quickly as searching ahead of a hose line looking for someone who may or may not be there. In my eyes at least, the risk is the same but the end-benefit to most types of runs we take in is far less. For most of those types of runs the only thing that will be saved is property. And it seems as though in todays fire service property isn't worth any risk. But do we still go on those runs? Of course. Should we stop going on those kinds of runs? Of course not. Do we need to develop risk matrices and acronyms for every type of run we might encounter? If that's what happens I'm throwing my helmet at someone and walking out of the firehouse giving a double one-finger salute. We do our jobs. We train to minimize risk. When the bell goes off we go. We use our knowledge, training and experience when we arrive to make decisions and act upon them. That's what we do. We are firefighters and Jakes-of-all-trades.

There are those that will say of the Brother from Rescue 2 Brother Wiedmann, "He shouldn't have been there!", "There was nothing to save!", "It was too much risk!". But what if he had been burned when the natural gas leak he had been investigating in the same apartment building, with all the residents standing safely in the street, found an ignition source and exploded? Then it would be, "What a brave firefighter!", "Their job is so dangerous!", "You just never know.", and other such statements. Yet the end-result would have been the same. A burned firefighter who risked everything in doing his job to save what? "Risk a lot to save a lot", my ass. We risk a lot to do our jobs. Period.

Everyone warming up with their cup of regulah? It's cold out there today. Let's just sit and chat for a while until we warm up a little, shall we?

The following is a partial list of things I've learned or have come to believe are true over my career. These are my beliefs, which come from my experiences and may be different from yours. They are in no particular order of importance, except the last two, which should be the most important. Please feel free to add your own in the comments.

1)   The fire service is a small world. Everyone knows someone. And with the internet, everyone knows someone you'd never in a million years think they'd know. Keep it in mind.

2)   Even though I do it more than I'd care to admit, responding out of emotion is rarely the correct choice.

3)   The day you say "screw it" to checking a piece of equipment is the day you'll need to use it and it won't work.

4)   I don't care what anyone says, there's something to the whole full-moon thing.

5)   The shift before you have something really important to do, you'll be up all night. Guaranteed.

6)   This job is fairly simple. It's when we try to simplify it even more with acronyms, flow-charts and decision making models that we generally screw it up beyond all recognition.

7)   Getting promoted has very little to do with how good a firefighter you were, or are. In fact, it is generally the exact opposite.

8 )   Little things matter. Don't believe me? Have an o-ring fail on your airpack sometime.

9)   You may get away with something you shouldn't 100 times. But that 101st time, ouch.

10) There is no feeling in the world like saving another human life.

11) There is no feeling in the world like not being able to save another human life.

12) People that are just a little touched don't scare me. They can be kinda fun. People that are truly hoopie, that don't live on the same planet as the rest of us, they terrify me.

13) When someone looks at you and tells you they are going to die, believe them.

14) There is nowhere colder than at the top of a stick flowing water on a greater alarm fire in the middle of winter.

15) The drive into work on Christmas morning is one of the loneliest and saddest, no matter how long you have on the job.

16) When something at home breaks, won't open, won't start or leaks you'll be at the firehouse. Promise.

17) You'll get hurt at some point. Hopefully it won't be serious.

18) If you try to "just get by" it'll cost you at least twice as much as if you would have just done it the right way the first time.

19) Some of the best friends you'll ever have will come from this job. So will the worst enemies.

20) He who talks the most generally also gets ignored the most.

21) If you are a good officer you're company will perform well for you because of you. If you are a poor officer your company will do so for and because of the barn-boss.

22) You can know exactly where you are going but be driving to the wrong place. Think about it, Magellan.

23) Being a lowly firefighter is the best job on the department. Officers, am I wrong?

24) If you want to know if there is any company pride, or a morale problem, look at their hand tools. Hand tools and their state of care is like a window to a company's soul.

25) You will work for idiots.

26) You are, in fact, an idiot from time to time also.

27) You'll have an "Oh S*%t" moment at some point. When you do, thank God you're ok and learn from it.

28) An Engine is an Engine. A Truck is a Truck. A Rescue is a Rescue. A Squad is a Squad that performs one of its two primary functions at a time. A Quint is a pipe-dream unless it has a minimum of six members on it.

29) A Halligan is a solid piece of formed steel with an adz, pick, bar and fork. Anything that is more than one piece and has those other features is an imposter.

30) If you get a "feeling" listen to it. Usually it pays off. It might not be in the form of a massive collapse, explosion or other really bad situation being avoided, but it will pay off somehow.

31) There is always someone better than you.

32) The fire service is an political animal. I hate it too, but get used to it. The Chief, Mayor, Selectmen or Trustees will not always make the "right" decision.

33) A company officer has his or her place on the fireground. And it's with their company.

34) If what you are seeing in front of you doesn't seem right, it's probably because it isn't. Take a second to think about it before going forward.

35) People are rescued alive from seemingly impossible conditions. Give them a chance.

36) Training is the most important "thing" in the fire service. Sorry Pub Ed/Prevention nazis, but it is. 

37) You will rarely be thanked in an amount equal to what you really put forth. But if that's why you're doing this then you're already screwed.

38) Your family won't always understand fully why you are so tired, upset or emotionally drained. You have to undertand that from them though. Get over it.

39) We see some really crappy stuff.

40) We see some really hysterical stuff too. Laugh heartily when you get the chance.

41) No one will ever fully understand what a juvenile, fun, crass, wonderful place a firehouse can be unless you're in the club.

42) Anyone who says an axe is only a cutting tool and not a prying tool has never really forced a door.

43) In my opinion the best position on the fire department is the irons.

44) The age of the "Keyboard Firefighter" is in full swing (not me though, I swear). My advice is to ignore much of it but rip their freakin' heads off when they are just dead ass wrong.

45) New kids are like lumps of clay. Or pieces of s*%t. Figure out which is which and either mold them or flush them.

46) A senior firefighter or Barn Boss can have more of an influence than any officer ever will. It can be good or bad, however. It's up to the officer to use it or squash it.

47) Bucketing, an egg in a boot, the "Cinnamon Dragon" and ice water into the shower are still funny. Fake gunmen, wrapping people up and hanging them upside down and other such non-sense that is videotaped and posted on YouTube for everyone to see your idiocy, is not. 

48) When you partially go through the floor and fire is trying to eat up your leg until the Engine from below hits it and beats it back, go thank them. Even though they still wish they were assigned to a special services unit.

49) Playing with your kids and loving on your wife is better therapy than a bottle or anything else will ever be.

50) This is still the best job in the world. You don't have to be here. Remember that.

Now getjerbutts off 'da Tailboard and add something to this list.

~TK

Oh man. Not feelin' it today for some reason. I definitely need a cup of regulah to get me going. Grab yerself some too and have a seat here with me.

Teaching gives someone a unique opportunity that not everyone else in a given field has. It gives a person the chance to look around and see how other people do things. It gives them a chance to meet new people and have discussions in which information is shared, tips and tricks are discussed and new ideas are formulated. Obviously you don't have to be an instructor in your given field for this opportunity to present itself. In fact, in the private sector it is most commonly called networking, I believe. Getting together with others that have similar job descriptions and chatting them up. Sometimes the purpose is to get feelers out for a better position. Sometimes it's to see what the competition is cooking up and sometimes it's just to see how other people do things. The difference between the fire service and private industry is that if we don't ever want to network or expand our horizons we really never have to whereas in business you almost certainly will have to endure some outside training sessions or conferences at some time. What I mean as it relates to us in the fire service is that once you get hired by a department you get sent to an academy. If your department is not large enough to run their own you may get sent to a neighboring department for theirs or to a regional training academy. Once you succesfully complete the academy and return to your company, and assuming you have all mandatory certifications for your department, you never have to attend any outside training again in your career unless you really want to. There are plenty of firefighters I know who have been content to stay a basic-level firefighter and have done only the classes and drills required of them while they are on shift. They never attend outside classes, read the trade journals, read fire service blogs or web sites or attend conferences where, outside from the actual training, you can meet firefighters from other places and chew the fat with them. This leads to what one jake I know describes as "Departmental Institutionalization."

So what is "Departmental Institutionalization"? Well, basically, it means a person has been born into an organization and never left. They receive all their training from one spot which in turn leads to the development of difficult to break organizational mores and deeply held personal beliefs as to the right and wrong way of doing tings. This can often be a detriment not only to the individual but to their company and organization as well. Some would say that being trained in "the way of the department" for which you work is essential and a good thing. And I would agree to a point. I certainly want the candidates coming onto my job to know how to pull and re-pack our hoseloads, what the job is of each seat on the apparatus is, our running procedures etc. But not for their whole careers. I don't want our training division to be the sole source of information for the candidates or anyone else in our department. What if there's a better hose load? What if there is new technology out there? What if there is new research that can help us perform our job better, but no one knows about it because everyone is content to sit back on their laurels and just go to drill every shift and never take the time to invest in themselves and their career away from work? That's one aspect of "Departmental Institutionalization". The other can be even more damaging than just rolling up inside your department's cocoon and never coming out. Unfortunately it's one that we may have much less ability in influencing.

The other side of "Departmental Institutionlization" comes from on-high. Sometimes organizations breed a level of rigidity into themselves that members are afraid to stretch for fear of discipline, humiliation or a combination of both. Sometimes a department becomes so narrowly focused on itself that it never looks around to see if anyone else has any good ideas. New ideas or methods are not encouraged, and when someone does brave the waters and tries to prsent something new the organization sets up road-blocks like submitting proposals in triplicate, or meetings that continuously get rescheduled or the worst form of blow-off there is; your proposal that you spent hours on, made into triplicate, had notorized, applied for a patent and even found the guy in charge of that particular area of your organozation's operation and handed it right to him, wound up with coffee stains and jelly donut on it in a stack that never got looked through. Think it doesn't happen? I found a proposal I had written a year later in a box withother paperwork I was asked to shred. I had never heard anything on the proposal after I had submitted it despite numerous inquiries as to where it stood. Really makes someone want to put forth the effort again, huh?

Maybe the most damaging form of "Departmental Insitutionalization" comes from the ever looming threat of discipline. This almost always results in individuals scared to perform outside of what has been narrowly defined for fear of paper in their file. This then leads to organizational paralysis and stagnation because everyone just keeps performing in the way that has always been expected and what has been proven to be "safe". This can range from the way reports are completed and submitted all the way to operations on an emergency scene. This job is too dynamic and ever-changing to attempt to define techniques and methods as the only "approved" way of doing things.

I was teaching a class on RIC operations once. It was a class for operating personnel and not for candidates or those members in the academy. As such I wasn't planning on having to do much in the way of actually presenting "new" material and really having to begin from the ground up. I figured most students would have a good foundation in the techniques that were going to be covered. Throughout the two-day course I saw one member from a department I didn't know much about continually struggle. Not so much that he couldn't do what was asked of him but that he just seemed a couple steps behind everyone else. Just before lunch on the second day I went to talk to him during a break. I kind of gently told him I noticed he was having trouble keeping up with everyone else and asked him if he was ok or if there was a problem. The answer he gave me was not what I was expecting. As it turns out this person's department had exactly one approved method for moving a downed firefighter through the interior of a building, up a hole in a floor or down a ladder from a window or other opening. One. For each of those scenarios. No matter what the conditions, complications or difficulties. One. Approved. Method. Because of this many of the techniques we had been using during the class were brand new to him. He had never seen them, heard of them or been shown them so he had no foundation on which to build like the other members of the class. He was learning it all for the first time. Oh, and because that was the way it was in his department, he paid for this class himself because the department would not. Paralysis and stagnation in an extremely fast-paced and dynamic job. Pretty much polar opposites right? Like two magnets you try and push together? Just doesn't work.

So where does that leave us? Well, if you're a product of your department's inbreeding program, start looking around. It's not hard. You must already be doing it to some extent if you're reading this post. Pick up a trade magazine and read through it. Start looking at other websites, there's 20 or so just to the right of this post that are great places to start. Maybe, just maybe, go to a class somewhere other than your department and while you're there talk to and listen to the other firefighters that are there. Then, if you find something that may be of use to your organization, bring it back to your company. Start there. Maybe it'll catch on and before long it's a department standard. But don't be satisfied there. Come back to it a little while later and see if you can improve upon it.

If you feel like our straight-jacketed friend up there in the picture when you're at work, well, I'm not going to lie to you, you have to make a choice. Are you going to try and do something about it or are you content to be a robot? It can be a dangerous and slippery slope trying to get new ideas and methods looked at. May even run the risk of setting your career back a little bit. But it's up to you to decide how important it is to try and get things to change.

This video is short, only about three minutes or so, but if you're in this situation it is well worth the look. Jason Hoevelmann over at A Firefigher's Own Worst Enemy had it up on his site and I thought it was great. Take a look.

Derek Sivers: How to start a movement.

So there you have it. Maybe you're not the guy that needs to be the one to start the revolution. Maybe you just need to be the second nutty shirtless guy dancing like an idiot. Think about it.

Now getjerbutts of 'da Tailboard and go start dancin'!

~TK

Hello boys and girls. This might be one of those ramblers so I'll apologize in advance. When I sit down to write I very rarely map something out, read it and re-read it, tweak, adjust or otherwise do much in the way of editing. I usually just go off the top of my head and the bottom of my heart. Hence why I have seen a little controversy in the publication of this site, but that's o.k. I think a certain amount of turbulence just makes for a more interesting ride. I've got a jumble of thoughts running around in the vast space between my ears so I'll see if I can make it take the form of some sort of intelligible drivel that you won't be angry at yourself for investing your time in. So please fasten your seat belts. Put your trays in the upright position. Maybe get one last cup o'regulah, have a seat and enjoy.

I've been thinking a lot about pride, professionalism, job performance etc. It also seems as if many of these topics have been receiving the attention of bloggers and print-writers lately as I have seen many articles being published on these types of subjects. There also seems to be a lot of noise being made about our appearance to the public and how we must appear as professional as possible in order to stave off attacks, criticisms and decreases. Many of those making that noise use professionalism as some sort of magic shield. Like, if we just look the part, dress in perfectly pressed and creased uniforms, have spit-and-polished rigs and avoid any and all controversy then the public will love us and not be banging on the gate with pitchforks and torches ablaze. While I agree that those things may aid in our overall appearance to the public, especially keeping your department out of the headlines for scandals, I don't think they are as important as many would like to think and in the economy of the day won't protect us from cuts, pension attacks or referendum failures.

According to the Cambridge on-line dictionary the definition of professionalism is; the qualities connected with trained and skilled people. Hmm, ok. Let's see. How about the definition of qualities then; a characteristic or feature of someone or something. Hmm, ok. How about professional, then; a person who has a job that needs skill, education, or training. Gee, not too many jobs like that are there? Anyway, my point with all that is that no where in any of those definitions is the word appearance or a similar synonym used. So in order to be a true professional and display true professionalism do we have to dress a certain way or ride in rigs that look a certain way? I think not. Does anyone think that the Detroit Fire Department is not a professional organization? They are arguably one of the busiest fire-duty departments in the world. For years the department has been mismanaged and neglected, leading to run-down equipment and PPE. Does that mean that the firefighters that risk themselves every day for the citizens and visitors of Detroit are unprofessional? To the contrary I would argue it makes them some of the most professional firefighters I can think of because they overcome these and many other obstacles to perform their jobs to the best of their abilities. Now, do I think that you should be allowed to show up on scenes wearing whatever you want, in any state of disrepair and driving crappy looking equipment? Here's where the title to the post comes in. No, I don't. I just don't think that those things are that big a deal. Traditionalists hang with me.

I honestly, to the depths of my soul believe that John or Jane Doe who calls for our assistance in their time of need really cares, or notices, what we or our rigs look like. Now there are, of course, a couple of exceptions. I once went on a call in a Gumby suit. We were out doing ice training and we caught an ambulance call. Instead of delaying the response, and being unable to get out of it en route, I walked in and began treatment in a Gumby suit. Pretty sure the patient and family remembered that one. Another time, a family member of a department member was transported. The ambulance they were treated and transported in was one of the department's oldest and in the roughest shape. It was very soon after that the condition of the fleet was brought up at an open meeting and things were set in motion to update the condition. So, in some cases, yes, people are going to notice those things. For all of you who might be going for your Executive Fire Officer out at the NFA, I've always thought a great thesis would involve the perception of professionalism by those we serve. The quantitative research portion would simply be a survey sent to each person your department responded to over a given period. Four pictures would be included. One of a firefighter dressed in normal station-wear with button-down shirt badge and name plate, one in a t-shirt, one in bunker gear and one in a full Class A uniform. Then have some questions about the basics of their call, what they remembered about what the crew who responded was wearing and how, if at all, their perceptions or impressions were influenced by that. Just a thought, give me credit at the end.

It seems lately that the image of our fire departments has been trumping the actual performance of our fire epartments. The ability of many departments to effectively and safely respond to emergencies has been slashed while at the same time these cash-strapped departments are running TV, radio and print-ads singing their own praises and trying to convince everyone how indispensable they are. They spend money on pub ed and balloons and buttons and coloring books to hand out everywhere to build a good image in their community but then can't afford to maintain apparatus or replace PPE. The whole time these departments are beating the professionalism drum and giving their troops the message that appearances are more important than substance. Does it matter that a department roles up to a structure fire in a beautiful rig with perfect uniforms underneath their risky turn-out gear? Does it matter that the pub ed division was at the community picnic yesterday handing out said balloons and buttons when tody the house burns down because the training budget was slashed and the younger members can't lead-out the line? How's that for looking professional? What's that going to do to the image the public has of a department? I have overheard a conversation between two gentlemen that have way more bugles than I and one said that he was diverting more money into his pub ed budget from his vehicle maintenance budget because, "…if we can just educate people better they won't have to call 911 as often and we'll save money in the long run…" Presumably from not submitting the rigs to the wear and tear of actually going on runs. Does this line of thinking make sense? Am I the one that is thinking about this all wrong? Pub ed helps, don't get me wrong. But Pub ed can't prevent all fires, accidents and other emergencies. It certainly isn't going to decrease medical runs much and those are by far what we are responding on the most. I wonder if the man in white who made that statement remembers Lt. Kevin Kelly and the circumstances that led to his death?

I think that maybe the issue really comes down to perception of the problem. I think that it is probably safe to say that a firefighter looks at the problem of underfunding differently than the Chief of Department. The firefighter looks at the empty seat next to him that used to have another firefighter sitting in it. He notices that more fires seem to be taking longer to control, are getting bigger and are resulting in more greater alarms than in days past. He notices more brothers and sisters getting hurt. The chief, on the other hand, looks at the figure under his operating expenses and the one under his total approved budget. He then somehow needs to balance the two. Other than a papercut, or maybe carpal tunnel from the computer, that is the most the chief risks. The numbers in his spreadsheet don't get hotter, darker and more aggressive. They don't come blowing down the hallway at him because the firefighter that used to be at the bottom of the stairs to feed line isn't there anymore. The firefighter has a very real, tangible perception of the problem. The chief has just as real a perception but not nearly as tangible wear it matters. I know, I know. Those of you with rank will immediately admonish me for not understanding. You'll say the problem the chief faces is just as tangible because he'll see and feel the cuts he has to make and the tough choices that he'll have to decide. While I respectfully acknowledge that view, I greatly disagree that the two are equateable. I really disagree with it when the chief is willing to make a shift in mindset that the resulting decreases in ability to perform, whether it be on the fire ground, extrication scene, EMS call or anywhere else, is acceptable and just "the new way of doing business." I cannot accept that. It is my personal belief that while rigs, ballons and uniforms are nice, we need to be able to effectively respond to any emergency when the tones drop. I'm simplistic that way.

Listen, I'm not a chief or Ben Bernanke. I understand budgets, cashflow and deficits. If I were suddenly put in charge of a fire department with money issues I can't tell you what decisions I would make. I can tell you that anything that led to a decreased ability to perform our primary missions (read not just structural firefighting) or that had a negative impact on my guys and gals health and safety would be the absolute last thing I would even consider. Recently Chicago Fire Commissioner Robert Hoff was called to task by the Mayor of Chicago, Aldermen and some news media for his statement that he was "deathly against" proposed cuts to his budget. These cuts mainly revolved around decreasing the number of firefighters per company from 5 to 4. Commissioner Hoff came up through the ranks. All the way up through the ranks. And while doing so he didn't forget that he was still a firefighter and the impact that his decisions made in his new position will affect the guys and girls he once served with in the field. He's not willing to risk their health and safety or the ability of the Chicago Fire Department to respond to emergencies. Since wages and benefits are always the biggest line-item of any department's budget I think it is too easy to look there first in order to make up shortfalls. A department I know of had an estimated shortfall of approximately $450,000 for FY 2012. The department decided to lay-off 3 firefighters and not fill 2 existing vacancies in order to make up the gap. Now, this department also publishes a paper copy of its budget to each firehouse. That's probably where they went wrong this year. Because once the rank-and-file saw th line items for "Chiefs Training"- $50,000, "Publication Subscriptions"- $2,000 (really?!?!), "Professional Organization Membership Dues"- $10,000 (again, really?!?!), "Advertisement and Media Fees"- $15,000, "Travel Expenses"- $25,000, "Matching Retirment Plan Contributions"- $100,000 (for the chief, mind you, not the members) and my personal favorite, "Miscellaneous Expenses Related to Hosting Meetings"- $12,000 (i.e. donuts and coffee), they understandably went ape poo-poo. In case you weren't running a tally in your head that's $214,000 in what I consider to be perks, fluff and B.S. Is it the whole deficit? No, but it's a start in what I consider to be very non-impact areas. All except the "Matching Retirement Plan Contributions" I guess, if you're the chief. And it certainly isn't a living, breathing human being capable of saving a life. Just sayin'.

Professionalism, just like the definintion says, has noting to do with appearance. It is all about function and performance. And it irks me to no end that it keeps being invoked like some great brass ring we all have to dedicate ourselves to reaching in order to present a great face to those we serve. Let me know what you think.

Now getjerbutts off 'da tailboard and go get ready for the next one. Cuz 'dats what being professional is all about.

~TK

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

This is it folks. Noting big. Raise your cup of regulah, say a prayer and honor their memories.

There's nothing else to say.

~TK

*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