$h*t Happens

Anyone who has been on fire trucks, or in the firehouse, with me knows that one of my inherent flaws is my desire for perfection.  I desire perfection from my company and from myself.   While I said it was a flaw, it’s also been a beneficial trait and constant motivator.  However, the reality is nobody is perfect nor will they ever be.  Yes, I make plenty of mistakes myself and no, I’m not too proud to say so.  While I may not like mistakes or imperfection, I’ve accepted reality for what it is and understand that all humans make mistakes.  With that said, there are some key things to take away from making a mistake: learn from the mistake ensuring you do not repeat it and recover from the mistake.

Far too often folks make mistakes and fail to acknowledge the mistake.  Pride can be a tough thing to swallow and I’ve found that it becomes easier to swallow your pride with more time on the job.  I’m not sure if it becomes easier because you become more humble with age or if it’s because you realize that everyone makes mistakes.  Regardless, the first step to correcting a mistake is realizing and/or acknowledging a mistake has occurred.  Making excuses or diverting blame for the mistake only makes you look like a clown and prolongs the effects of the mistake.

Sometimes mistakes are realized immediately and sometimes it takes time to realize a mistake has occurred.  Regardless of when the mistake is realized, immediate efforts need to be made to correct the mistake and ensure the mistake does not occur again.  If these efforts are not made, the mistake is bound to occur again.  So how do we realize a mistake?  Evaluating the work you do will expose mistakes.  If the results you desired to gain from actions or decisions do not occur, figure out why.  It’s generally better to realize your mistake before someone else realizes it.

Once the mistake is realized, the process of recovery begins.  We must place emphasis on recovery rather than dwelling on the mistake as we will have plenty of time to fully examine the situation later.  Training, experience, and preparation will afford you the best opportunity to recover from mistakes.  Sometimes we must train to fail.  This may sound ridiculous however we need our folks to be able to employ multiple plans of action should their initial plan fail.  As has been discussed in previous posts, Plan A doesn’t always work.  Experience gives us the opportunity to draw from past instances and make decisions based on previous mistakes, and previous successes.  Preparation will ensure you are thinking ahead of the mistake and allow you to have contingency plans, should you need them.  Regardless of the mistake, recovery from the mistake is what matters.

Three instances of mistakes I’ve made, or been a part of, but were never realized due to our recovery include: 

Mistake 1- I responded as the first due Engine OIC to a house fire on a new, unmapped street.  While we knew the street location, we did not know the hydrant locations and took a guess.  Well, I guessed wrong and should have laid in from a hydrant approximately 500’ before the house.

Recovery 1- Knowing that houses in a hydranted area are no more than 500’ from a fire hydrant, we knew there was a hydrant in front of us.  With this knowedge, we reverse laid our 400’ 1.75” line to a fire hydrant approximately 250’ in front of us, around a curve in the street.  It worked out fine for us and nobody knew any different as we secured a water supply and the small attic fire was quickly extinguished with our hoseline.

Mistake 2- I was driving the Ladder Truck to a reported house fire for a very young and inexperienced officer.  We were responding to our 3^rd due area, however due to units being on other calls, our Engine and Truck were running first due.  The Engine pulled away from us on Rt. 1 and entered the neighborhood ahead of us.  When we entered the neighborhood, I took the turn I was directed to take and quickly realized we were one street short of where we should have been.

Recovery 2- Fortunately the streets in the neighborhood are laid out in a grid-like system and we were able to drive to the end of the street and make a right turn which led us to the correct street.  Our Engine had laid in from the initial direction to the address and announced that Side A was open for the Truck.  However, the Engine had actually stopped short of the address and would have prevented us from getting by to Side A.  Our mistake actually put us in prime position and it looked like the whole thing had been perfectly coordinated.  Unfortunately, it was FOS and the only excitement I received was getting dog poop on my boots from placing portable ladders in the rear!

Mistake 3- I was the Engine officer for a reported building fire at a high school in our first due.  We took position on Side A, secured our own water supply, and led off with “the 400 and a rack”.  The fire turned out to be a dryer in the gym and we had sufficient hose to quickly get a line on the fire.  I called for water 2 times without water ever reaching the nozzle and we knew with certainty we had a clean stretch and no kinks.

Recovery 3- The Engine driver had his head in the game and was able to quickly overcome the mistake without fully understanding the mistake.  He disconnected the hose from the discharge and hooked up to another discharge and we received water.  The driver had been pulling the wrong lever initially but was able to overcome the mistake by recognizing the result he desired, charging the line, was not occurring. In case you were wondering, no, he did not charge the hose bed of a different line.  Fortunately, he had been pulling the lever for a capped off 2.5” discharge on the pump panel.

While I still strive for perfection from my company and myself, I am a realist.  Regardless of how much you train or do the job, mistakes will happen.  We owe it to ourselves, and the fire service, to acknowledge mistakes and learn from them.  The quicker a mistake is realized, the quicker it can be corrected and not repeated.  The ability to recover from mistakes will ensure we remain efficient and effective in the instance that mistakes are made.  I’ll leave you with one of my favorite bits of fire service advice: “it’s not how bad you mess (I usually substitute another word for mess, but I’ll keep it clean here), it’s how well you recover”.