2014.....Make It Better Than 2013

With the new year upon us, new opportunities will be presented to us and each of us has the potential to make 2014 better than 2013.  Folks, myself included, often make New Year’s Resolutions that sound great but never actually come to fruition. Having been guilty of this, I understand how and why this happens. Fortunately I have also been able to follow through on a couple New Year’s Resolutions to include eating healthier/exercising and utilizing my SCBA waist straps.  The only reason I was able to follow through on these items is because I truly committed to following through on them. I didn’t do it because someone else wanted me to do it. I did it because I realized the importance of these things and because I wanted to.  There are lots of things that happen in the fire service that we do not have direct control over. However, there are also plenty of things in the fire service that we have complete control over.  Unfortunately, the fire service often falls short in our quest for excellence due to matters that we have complete control over.  If we commit, and I mean truly commit, to overcoming some of these matters in 2014, than the fire service will be moving in a forward direction. It won’t be easy and it won’t always be fun, but it will always be for the betterment of the fire service.

1.     Eat Healthier and Exercise

We all know that firemen love good food and, in many instances, this good food is not very healthy.  We also know that heart attacks are the leading cause of firefighter deaths.  With that said, it would help if we paid better attention to the food we eat and it’s effects on our health. I’m not advocating eating grass! I’m merely stating that we should be cognizant of the fact that some food can be detrimental to our health, especially when consumed regularly. I love a good, greasy burger as much as anyone. However, I will not eat burgers 4 or 5 times a week! Learn how to read food labels. Learn how your body uses or stores the various foods you eat and develop a diet that is heart-healthy, doesn’t put you at risk for diabetes, maintains a healthy body-weight, and supports your lifestyle.  In addition to eating healthy, regular exercise activity is extremely beneficial to firemen.  Firemen need strength AND endurance to maximize their effectiveness. While any exercise is better than no exercise, functional fitness is extremely beneficial to firemen. Functional fitness simply means doing exercises that are related to the tasks we perform. If we develop the muscles and perform the motions that are used to do our job, we will likely better perform our job.  Simply put, while not a 100% guarantee, being healthy will likely allow you to perform more efficiently on the fireground.

2.     Wear Seatbelts

I’ll be the first person to admit that I am not the “safety police”.  If you want to classify me as something, I’d be flattered with the title of the “do your job police”. I’d like to think that’s what I am, as that’s where my focus is.  With that said, there isn’t a legitimate excuse for not wearing your seatbelt on the rig. When I joined the fire service I never wore my seatbelt, mostly because none of my idols were wearing theirs.  As I’ve become older I’ve realized that getting tossed out of a rig because you weren’t wearing your seatbelt is a “chump” way to go out. I don’t mean any disrespect to those who have been killed due to the lack of a seatbelt. I simply mean that in comparison with all of the legitimate risks I take, not wearing a seatbelt is just plain silly. I’m not okay with my kids growing up without Daddy because he failed to wear a seatbelt on the rig. Not wearing your seatbelt doesn’t make you any more aggressive or better of a fireman than the next guy. It just makes you a little more ignorant than the next guy.

3.     Wear and Use SCBA

Again, I’ll revert to my above comment about being the “safety police”. I am not that guy. We know that firemen are much more likely to develop cancer than the general population.  One of, if not the, greatest fire service innovations is the SCBA.  SCBA allows us to operate in otherwise untenable areas while protecting our respiratory system.  When operating in an IDLH we need to be wearing our face piece and breathing air, plain and simple. Again, like the seatbelts, there is no good reason not to be wearing and using your SCBA in an IDLH area. This includes auto fires and on a roof directly over an area involved in fire. If you’re going to put the SCBA on your back in these instances, you might as well breathe the free air in the cylinder. Otherwise don’t exert the extra energy wearing it on your back.

4.     Train Everyday

It’s pretty self-explanatory. When you’re at the firehouse, some part of your day needs to be spent drilling. This develops skills and thinking that will be used on the street, It’s not a matter of “if” but a matter of “when”. Second to runs, training is the best way to become good at what we do.  I might take it a little to the extreme but as long as you do some kind of training everyday, then you’re doing the right thing.

5.     Use Size-Up To Make Tactical Decisions

In today’s fire service too many folks are using assumptions or blanket statements to drive their tactical decisions. We need to stop this and use the information gathered during our size-up to make decisions. We need to transform information gathered into intelligence and make decisions. This is the only way to maximize our effectiveness. We need to breed a generation of thinking, performing firefighters. Using our size-up to guide our actions will aid in this.

6.     Do Your Job and Be Prepared

Put your gear on. Position your apparatus. Lay supply lines. Pull attack lines. Place ladders.  Regardless of what’s showing or what you may assume. If you’re dispatched to an incident, it is that incident and more until proven otherwise by us.  If it turns out to be a good intent or less than what it was dispatched as, it was good practice.  If it turns out to be what it was dispatched as or more, than you will be prepared.  If you adopt this mindset, you won’t find yourself playing catch-up, you’ll be able to easily work through problems, and you’ll be better at your job.

7.     **For The Executive Fire Service Leaders: Realize That Organizations Are All-Hazards, Individuals Are Not!!!

The disturbing trend of ineffectiveness and mediocrity that stems from the “everyone does everything” mindset has got to stop! Organizations are comprised of many people with varying skill sets. All of these skill sets come together to form the organization. That said, everyone has a place in the organization. That’s what makes the all-hazards organization effective. One person doesn’t do it all!  Let people succeed and place their focus in the areas where they will succeed, don’t force or mislead them into areas where they’re mediocre, ineffective, or unsuccessful. Those who are good, and I mean truly good, at everything are the exception rather than the rule.  It’s time for the fire service to regain the standard of excellence that once was the expectation of all those that entered into our great calling, instead of rolling the dice on the law of probability with mediocrity.

As I said above, it won’t always be easy but we need to commit to making the fire service better in 2014.  We need to take ownership and control over the things we can.  It only takes one person to inspire and influence others to do the right thing.  Will it be you or are you going to be the one who is okay with remaining stagnant, just “getting by”, or doing things that take away focus from our operational service delivery?  I know which group of folks I want on the rig with me or responding to my emergency.  Have a Happy New Year and keep the fire service focused and moving in the right direction.