Are We Really Doing More With Less?

(Photo: The Daily Courier)

“Doing more with less” seems to be at the center of almost every business, trade, and service around these days.  What likely started as some type of catch phrase in a board room to justify the actions of people who know nothing about what the fire service does on a daily basis, or how we do it for that matter, has more or less become the industry standard for all budgetary, strategic, and tactical considerations.  “Doing more with less” is more of a misconception and idiom than it is a successful managerial model.  Although it is a reality for most departments, the very premise of such a concept never has, and will never, have any business being expressed in as a fire department procedural guideline or long-term planning method.  The fact that the disillusion of this mentality has not been enough to revisit the implications it has caused is nothing short of disturbing.

The very essence of the fire service is to figure out how to fix or mitigate anything.  Unfortunately, that makes us extremely susceptible to rolling with more punches than we really deserve.  Our desire to serve our communities in any capacity, against all obstacles, is a mixed blessing of sorts.  While we refuse to let adversity cause us to deviate from our mission to protect life and property, we also tend to accept conditions and circumstances which greatly impair our ability to do so.  The more with less mentality is probably the ultimate example of how our commitment to our citizens prevents us from really demonstrating how severely many of these decisions handicap our ability to provide service.

(Photo: KLCC)

The sad part of this mentality is that so many of our brothers and sisters are actually buying into such a fallacy.  None of us are doing more with less, if we are lucky we are doing the same with less.  In most cases we are just flat out doing less with less!  This is not a knock on the dedicated men and women who are trying to deliver the best possible service with what they are given, but rather a wake up call for the fire service as a whole which for some reason has decided to champion this misnomer and essentially brag about how resilient we are for it.  While I understand the well intentioned pride in our ability to carry on despite such cuts, constantly putting on our happy face about them only leads to more.  The result is we have passed the breaking point of negatively effecting service in many jurisdictions.

So how did we get to the state we have entered today?  Well it is quite simple; we are an easy target for the chopping block due to our humbleness and inherent ability to shoulder burden and solve problems.  Although our profession had reached epic heights of public support after the tragic events of 9/11 and the brave actions of the FDNY, the Great Recession experienced across the country from 2007 to 2009 found many municipalities struggling to make payroll.  I cannot remember any other period in my lifetime where working for the government became a risk or when local governments were filing for bankruptcy!  The fallout for the fire service was having to figure out a way to keep our doors open when the citizens needed it most, while supporting recovery of the governments which fund us.  This resulted in staffing reductions and cuts to funding which were based solely on political clout and empty bank accounts with little, if any, regard for operational implications.  This affected both career and volunteer departments alike as the recession took members out of volunteer houses because many had to seek additional employment just to make ends meet!  And while the public has always appreciated the service we provide, sadly many felt we had become overstaffed, overfunded, and our benefits were just far too expensive for what they were getting from us.

(Photo:WMUR.com)

The result of these funding and staffing loses were departments being forced to try to turn out the way they had for decades, only with significantly fewer resources.  We saw once staffed apparatus being cross staffed or shut down completely.  We saw firehouses being browned out or shut down altogether.  We saw once thriving volunteer departments having trouble getting one rig off the floor.  We also saw all the small cracks in our systems like aging fleets, lack of mutual aid, declining recruitment, and poor contingency planning break under the pressure the recession put on us.  This is how the “do more with less” mentality grabbed hold of our profession because at the time it was a positive way of saying the community expects the service you provided yesterday with the cuts and newfound realities of today.  The only difference between those two statements is one sounds like something to be proud of and one sounds pretty damn gloomy.  While I would agree that in times of turmoil we must find ways to frame the positives in order to keep our people going, the time has come to get back to what we need to do the job.

(Photo:Trumbell Times)

So how exactly are we doing more with less anyways?  I can’t say I have ever read or heard an account of a department demonstrating how reduced staffing and budgets actually helped them to provide better or additional services.  I have rarely even interacted with anyone who has found ways to maintain the level of service they had before the cuts.  Whether you are knocking a large city's apparatus from 5 personnel to 4, reducing a smaller jurisdictions engine from 3 personnel to 2, losing your ladder or rescue completely, or having to turn over calls to mutual aid agencies because your volunteer turnout has fallen so low, the impact of staffing and funding reductions is absolutely crippling!  Even if some departments have survived cuts or figured out ways to make up for them, I just don’t see anywhere that has actually done more, with less.

What I do see and read about every day are places that are doing less because they have less.  Fire prevention, home safety inspections, smoke detector programs, open houses, fire extinguisher classes, car seat installations, etc. have been hurt the worst.  The few proactive things we have in a business that is primarily reactive in nature are almost always the first to go.  Sadly, many of these things were the reasons we saw a reduction in fire death and loss over the last 2 or 3 decades.  Now aside from the “non-essential” service cuts, we have also seen operational cuts.  Some areas have lost personnel, some have lost apparatus, and some are being forced to abandon tactics as a result of losing them.  But wait, we keep hearing how we are all doing more with less…  How many places don’t do vertical ventilation because “we don’t have enough people to put guys on the roof”?  How many are choosing to not establish a RIT for the same reasoning?  How many times do we see people pissing in the wind with a 1.75” line because they have been led to believe they or really don’t have enough people to mount an attack with the 2.5”?  How often do we see places that are not even going interior because they “don’t have the manpower to do so”?  Frankly, almost every time we see one of these pictures or videos where something is getting away from a department the first issue named is manpower.  Yet you want me to believe we are doing more with less?  Sorry, I am not buying it!

(Photo: HeroPrep)

What we are doing more of with less is saying yes to additional responsibilities.  The artificial belief that fires are down to a point where the fire service will essentially no longer be needed has led us to keep adding to our list of responsibilities while we continue to subtract from our rosters.  Now while I absolutely agree that HAZMAT, rescue, and EMS are a good fit for the fire department because of their striking similarities to fire suppression, they cannot be absorbed without an increase in funding, apparatus, equipment, training, and manpower.  In a time where many areas are struggling to put together a suitable response to a structure fire, how on earth are we supposed to conduct resource intensive disciplines such as HAZMAT and technical rescue or sacrifice the few fire personnel we have left to ride in the ambulance all day and all night, yet be available and rested enough to fight a fire?  Just as a pound is a pound, a person is a person.  They do not become more by the way you divide them up.  Regardless of how many services you add to your mission statement, without the addition of personnel to carry them out you are doing nothing more than writing letters on a piece of paper and possibly creating a false sense of security for the citizens whom rely on your ability to mitigate the hazards they face.

(Photo: Motor City Muckraker)

Even though I disagree with what I feel was an unjust target being placed on the fire service’s back during tough financial times, I understand why it happened.  Much like the military, our value is measured in readiness, preparedness, and response which are all the necessary qualities to react when things go wrong, yet they do not translate well on spreadsheets or in budget meetings.  Government speaks in dollars and cents rather than perceptions and actions.  Selling our value is difficult at best because we are asking those who write the checks to take our word on what we need.  However, while it happened quietly, the economy has since recovered.  So where are our people?  Where is our funding?  Where are our closed stations and shut down apparatus?  Where is our replacement equipment?  How do we get it back?  The hard truth is it far easier to give something up when asked than get it back when needed.  We complied too readily when times were tough and are not receiving the same courtesy now that the atmosphere has improved.

It is now more than ever that fire service leaders need to be going to battle to restore and rectify what was taken from us, which starts with ending the lie that we have been able to do more with less.  I understand the difficult climate of being a Fire Chief.  I understand that talking to politicians is different than talking to firefighters.  I also understand that as the head of the department, you accepted the responsibility to LEAD us and that means you are going to have to have the hard conversations.  It means you are going to have to take some fire now and then by pushing unpopular requests and ultimatums on the people who fund us.  It means that you are probably going to have to do some homework, know your statistics, show need, and justify our requests.  It means you are going to have to stop being a politician and start being the Fire Chief.  I am sure these meetings and conversations are hard, frustrating, and heated at times but so is trying to carry out our mission with inadequate resources and personnel.  Even as the Fire Chief you are a firefighter first, you are just crawling different halls now. 

(Photo: SF Appeal)

We are essentially living a lie these days.  It is time we took an honest look at our operations and determined not only what we really need to do the job, but a path to get back to that level.  Perhaps you need better automatic or mutual aid agreements, better volunteer incentives, more staffing, the ability to fill vacancies, a larger overtime budget, staffing of additional apparatus, more stations, new equipment, new apparatus, better benefits, more attractive wages, and everything in between.  Regardless of your operational needs, you need a plan to get there sooner rather than later.  Like anything in life, it is going to cost money and that is a hard sale for anyone, let alone a taxpayer funded service.  However, there are studies out there to aid your fight for personnel.  Your statistics show your call volume and your need.  The number of units it will take to meet the established industry standards for personnel may be difficult or completely unattainable with the resources you currently have.  If it is attainable, how does it affect your ability to respond to additional incidents that are resource intensive?  There are plenty of ways to justify your needs, you just have to be willing, and sometimes creative, to communicate the hard truths and realities of them to the people who write the checks.

This job is hard enough without self-induced handicaps.  We need to stop hiding behind past successes and admit the realities of where we stand today.  While we take great pride in saving victims, that doesn’t mean we haven’t become one in many ways.  As embarrassing as it may be, sometimes we need rescuing as well.  The first step of that rescue is admitting things are not as they seem.  If we refuse to call a MAYDAY in front of the mayor, how can we expect our firefighters to do so during a fire?  Our willingness to accept our share of the cuts while minimizing the impact of service is commendable but should not be confused with an acceptable long-term solution.  As long as we continue to spit out catch phrases like “doing more with less” and championing tactics and equipment which seem to justify this concept but refuse to acknowledge or account for the effect on victim viability or our ability to effect rescue than we are hurting our profession just as much, if not more than, those who impose the cuts which put us in this position.  The Fire Department is, and always will be, an ESSENTIAL service.  It is time we got back to treating it as such!

 

Why “All Hazards” is Hazardous to Brotherhood

(Photo:  Firehouse.com)

Brotherhood is a funny thing in our profession.  It serves as a requirement to unity but is increasingly being used as a tool of division.  It has really become more of a catch phrase than an actual part of our craft.  Brotherhood is beginning to boil down to your typical tool of convenience as many will argue you don’t possess it the first time you go against or do something that is not beneficial to them.  It has been turned into an unattainable moral high ground of firefighters, discounting our human nature to screw up. 

In my opinion brotherhood is about family and like your own family there are up and downs.  There are times we all get along and times we can’t stand each other.  We do right by each other one day and do wrong by each other the next day.  However, just like with our own families, it is brotherhood that unites us when times are tough, the world is crumbling around us, and we inevitably need each other even if we don’t like each other at that very moment.  Brotherhood therefore is essentially another word for love, it just sounds more masculine making it easier for many of us to accept it.  That love was built into our profession by going to jobs together and doing whatever it took to make sure the man next to you survived.

I think it is safe to say we are in the middle of one of the largest pushes for cultural change the fire service has ever seen.  There are many speculations as to why this phenomenon is taking place in a profession which has historically fought change.  There is even more speculation about the validity, endurance, and necessity of the push for such change with many theories on how we got here including a generational divide, societal changes, gaps in leadership development, and even the fact that we have allowed education and technology to have more of a role in our departments.  Surely all these factors have had an impact on the changing culture in our firehouses, however, what we fail to discuss is how our changing mission is impacting not only the composition of our departments, but also how we interact with each other.

Before I go any further let me just be clear early on; I WILL SERVE MY CITIZENS IN ANY CAPACITY, AT ANY TIME, TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY.  I don’t want this article to become misconstrued as some complaining, whining, ignorant gripe about not wanting to do anything but fight fire.  The point of this article is to shed light on the possible link between non-fire related responsibilities unintentionally causing a negative impact on brotherhood.

Like with most things in life, every good comes with some bad and in our case while the expansion of services is almost always good for our citizens, I believe it has put some serious wrinkles in the fabric of our culture.  The “all hazards” approach to firefighting has had some influence on every department I have been a part of since I came into this amazing fraternity almost 15 years ago.  While back then it wasn’t as obvious, I have watched “justification of need” balloon from additional, loosely related disciplines into the “call us when there is no one left to call” mentality.  As a result, departments across the country took on the roles of extrication, technical and specialized rescue, HAZMAT, fire prevention, and EMS.  Recessions, shrinking budgets, political fights, and the fire service’s inability to say no to anything that could help the community have further compounded the problem.  And while none of us can look at that list and really argue that any of those are any less important than fire suppression as far as public safety is concerned, what we often miss is how those disciplines have divided us both by mission and operational mentality.

Firefighting, or fire suppression if you will, is scarily similar to both team sports and military operations.  Victory does not occur without the effort of all parties involved, the weakest link defines the group’s level of success, and each group within the larger group will police, assist, and remedy each other out of necessity as the failure of an individual will often result in failure of the group as well.  The stakes of fire suppression are extremely high for both civilian AND firefighter safety.  The work is so labor and task intensive that even the best individual effort will rarely, if ever, be successful.  Furthermore, the reality of injury or death essentially forces a reliance on those you have gone to battle with resulting in a unique, unspoken bond which can develop only through repeated success under dire circumstances. 

Also, consider that much like the military, the fire service attracts people from all walks of life uniting them with a common bond which is firefighting.  Without it, there is no way we would all get along.  As many areas are seeing a decline in fires, or fire departments being established in areas with low call volume, we see evidence of this fact in the personality clashes and personal problems which often consume our days.  Essentially, fire suppression is the root of the brotherhood we speak of.  It wasn’t created in the day room, on the bumper, at birthday parties, at a bar, by trading t-shirts, or going on weekend getaways.  It was created under fire, under stress, and under duress because without each other we do not survive.  So, without even getting into the differences between fire suppression and the other disciplines we have become accustomed to providing, we see that fire suppression needs brotherhood just as brotherhood needs fire suppression.

Aside from the perceived decline in fires and the addition of career fire service in areas which traditionally did not have or “need” one, the missions which come with the “all hazards” approach have essentially conditioned us to become better at working as individuals than as a team.  While some aspects such as extrication and HAZMAT mirror the brotherhood requirements of fire suppression very closely, they still have an individual tone to them.  It often only takes one person to operate hydraulic tools successfully, the contained atmosphere of the Level A suit creates separation from one another, and while the team effort is still required for the overall completion of the mission it just isn’t the same as doing a vent job or making a push together.

Photo: City of Madison

The highly contested addition of EMS is probably one of the greatest detractors of brotherhood that is invading our culture.  Again, let me reiterate I think our citizens do nothing but benefit from our ability, desire, and commitment to provide EMS either in first response or fire-based EMS capacities, but as far as brotherhood and culture goes it is more of an individual sport.  While I have never worked for a department that delivered fire-based EMS, having worked for private EMS I have seen both sides of the coin.  I see a significant difference in how an EMS call is run from the ambulance vs. how it is run from an engine or ladder company.  Although the thought process is similar to firefighting and there are some safety considerations for both the medic and the patient, running a medical call is significantly different from attacking a structure fire.  When things go bad you are typically restricted to your own individual efforts, the patient outcome is generally reliant solely on your ability to perform interventions, there is rarely backup or additional companies coming to support your efforts once you have begun transport, and you will usually be providing patient care alone for the majority of the run.  So, whether you are working in the back of a private, municipal, or fire department ambulance, it is easy to see how the increase in EMS is growing our individual strengths while neglecting our ability to work as a team and in return groom our brotherhood.

The addition of these responsibilities has also created a need for more apparatus which divide our staffing.  Unlike an engine and ladder which will often respond together, the ambulance, HAZMAT rig, or rescue squad can run calls either independently and frequently operate outside the district where they are housed as they are specialized units in many jurisdictions.  This results in splintering of the crew for meals, training, station duties, and downtime which have traditionally been times where the bonds made under fire were bolstered and grown.  Furthermore, in the case of EMS the lopsided call volume between the ambulance and other units can be so severe that it can lead to animosity and separation depending on the staffing model and rotation which is used.  Also, EMS continuing education and recertification hours tend to occur on the individual level as different levels of certification require different amounts and types of training, causing them to be difficult to complete as a team.

(Photo: Vance Air Force Base)

Finally, the “all hazards” approach has led to a broadening of sorts for hiring and promotion.  In the past, firefighting skills were almost always the deciding factor in promotions, awards, and coveted assignments or additional duties.  The advent of additional disciplines has led many to seek the individuals with the greatest number or most beneficial certifications.  For example, the Paramedic certification is much more valuable in many corners of the country than the ability to deploy a hand line, cut the roof, or perform a size-up.  The ability to function as part of a team is being replaced by the ability to pass a test or satisfy a requirement on a checklist.  We are being led to believe that fires are down, which somehow justifies a decrease in firefighting proficiency.   Not only have statistics shown fires are not down in many areas, but in those they are it creates are greater need than ever for the brotherhood to return as it will be all hands on deck when a fire does break out.  As stated earlier, one or two individual efforts will never yield the same results as one or two operationally efficient teams.

The desire and subsequent need for well-rounded firefighters exposed to multiple disciplines and topics is also inadvertently creating an unhealthy competition of sorts between members as they seek to have the best portfolio at promotion time.  We see less classes, conferences, and outside training opportunities being attended by crews and more being attended by individuals.  While they are supposed to take the information back to their departments, many use it as an additional bullet point or hoard it so that they have a leg up on the competition at test time.  Many are taking classes simply to meet prerequisites rather than to learn and become proficient at the topic of the course.  Those who are concentrating on mastery of a specific topic will often be overlooked as the assumption that more is better is making specialties in our craft extinct to a degree.

I self-admittedly have not been to enough fires in my short career to develop the brotherhood that I have discussed above.  I try to be a good fireman and make good decisions.  I try to treat those around me as I would want to be treated but like many of you I fall into the common traps which result in straying from that mission.  However, when it is time to go on a run or help someone who is down on their luck I will always support them regardless of my personal feelings for the person.  One day, I hope to experience the kind of brotherhood I have only heard and read about from those who paved the way for me to be where I am.  However, like most of you I have no control over whether or not the next fire will be in my due or who might be on the ticket with me when it does happen.  I can only commit to working together and growing that bond each and every time we turn out. 

There is no shortage of people who are finding new means and avenues to speak up about what they feel are the factors which are contributing to the downfall of an occupation that often represents one of the last pure professions around.  Even though social media can be a double-edged sword, I think it has played a pivotal role in laying the foundation to restore the brotherhood as it has united so many individuals who likely would have never found each other into a unified movement for change.  In a society which allows the dissatisfaction of one to drown out the preference of many, the voices of our brothers and sisters from across the country are uniting to stop such madness!  So, while we are led to believe we growing more and more divided each day, a close examination of the raw, sincere, emotional rhetoric about bringing back the brotherhood will show you that propaganda is just that and the reality is we have far more people working for us than we do against us!

While we cannot change the mission or the men we work with, by understanding how we are becoming divided we can develop strategies to bring us back together.  Perhaps the days of finding brotherhood in the heat and limited visibility of a hallway are over for us.  Perhaps the days of fire suppression being the leading factor in career development are history as well.  Although the brotherhood as we once knew it may need to be tweaked or even redefined, as long as we have people committed to bringing us back together it will rise again in one form or another.  So the next time you find yourself acting as an individual in a situation that you could easily turn into a group effort, do it!  If your response model allows you to take additional people in the back of your ambulance, take them along and divide the labor.  The next time you cut a car, treat the tool like a hose line and use everyone on the crew to your advantage.  Many of our newfound individual efforts simply need to be adapted to a team response.  Pursue promotional requirements and continuing education as a team.  Hold each other up.

(Photo: Pintrest)

  Congratulate each other when you succeed.  Remember, only one person can make Fire Chief at a time, but he will be impotent without motivated, dedicated, well-trained crews carrying out the mission on his behalf.  Don’t be blinded by opportunities to do your own thing, see the big picture by functioning as a team whenever possible.  Just because we are becoming responsible for all hazards doesn’t mean they have to be hazardous to what has and always will be the biggest staple of the job, brotherhood.

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What's So Damn Offensive Anyways?

(Photo: The Odyssey Online)

We are living in an age where everyone seems to be offended by everything and everyone.  The fire service is certainly no exception.  What was once advertised as a brotherhood of selfless individuals committed to serving the community often seems more like a fraternity of entitled brats complaining about who’s way is better than it does a group of public safety professionals.  We waste our time arguing about who is better, who is more educated, and who’s way is right instead of combining our efforts to form the most efficient, productive methods to accomplish the tasks of our mission.  Unfortunately, this trend is eventually going to destroy the fire service as we know it if left to fester and spread!

I think it is safe to say we are all basically raised knowing that everybody is different.  So why is it that these differences seem to be such a problem?  The underlying cause is simple: we have replaced opinions with offenses.  Essentially, we have become unable to disagree with each other.  In a world where the answer to most things is at our fingertips, we have become not only unable to fathom that there could be more than one solution, but also that someone might not agree with the one we provide.  There seems to be an expectation of blind followership which is partially to blame for this phenomenon.  We have lost our ability to teach, explain, and grow our people and replaced it with a premise that they should listen to us simply because we have managed to maintain employment for a certain amount of time or have a certain title.  We have placed a greater emphasis on years of service than we have quality of service, resulting in egos that self-inflate when a certain tenure has been achieved rather than an accomplishment or skill set.  We have stopped caring about each other and started caring only about being right.  If you expect others to conform without education, you are creating a lose/lose scenario. 

Now I know what some of you are thinking, “but WE have a way that WE do things! It is TRADITION!”  Well, yes and no.  Tradition is defined as “the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation.”  Nowhere in that definition does that say methods, procedures, routines, or techniques.  This is because those terms represent an actual way to doing something whereas traditions are the overall beliefs of a group or organization.  You can have a tradition of wearing black helmets, however you aren’t likely wearing metal helmets.  Your fire engines may be red because of tradition, but they are no longer pulled by a horse.  Consider for a moment that if things never changed we would still be using buckets as a primary suppression method, relying on open windows as an air supply, and wearing hip boots.  Although there are some seriously demented and ignorant individuals wearing our patches who think things should still be that way, I would say the majority of us realize that change does, and needs to happen in this business every day.  Many seem think if they ignore it, they can never become outdated or unimportant.  In actuality, the more you choose to ignore change and create your own fictitious reality, the faster you accelerate the rate at which you become irrelevant.  Remember, traditions are supposed to bring us together, not pull us apart.

(Photo: Fire Rescue Magazine)

The biggest problem with everyone constantly acting offended is the division it is creating between us.  The give and take which once existed has been replaced with finger pointing and name calling.  Nobody wants to work together, they just want to be right.  Every comment, suggestion, and observation is turned into a personal attack.  We have closed our minds, along with our fists, turning every interaction into a confrontation.  The art of communication has been lost.  We are blankly staring at each other waiting to respond as opposed to listening.  We hear noise, not language.  We take almost pre-planned pauses during our rants, granting the other party an opportunity to empty their agenda.  While this may be some sort of informal etiquette, it should not be confused with genuine interest or admiration.  This is simply a learned response which is designed to make the other party think you are paying attention to them.  In reality you are taking a breather to prepare your next list of demands so you can spew them out when it is your turn to accept the pause in your counterpart’s tirade.  This results in lower morale, freelancing, turmoil, and decreased production as we hear each other yet don't listen to anything that was said. 

(Photo: The Odyssey Online)

Accept the fact that not everything is about you once in a while!  When you operate under the delusion that your preference is the only way, not only do you drive others away, but you also create an environment which does not support growth and performance.  Why are we so concerned with HOW others do things rather than WHAT they are doing?  There is a significant difference in stopping someone from taking part in an unsafe action and stopping someone because you don’t like the way they are doing it.  You aren’t actually offended by their actions, you are simply passionate about the way you think things should be done.  Passion is not exclusive to those who seek to advance an organization or skill, it is processed by anyone who attaches strong emotion to a particular subject.  Therefore, you could have two individuals who are passionate in completely opposite ways about the same topic.  If there is no mechanism in place to bring the two sides to somewhat neutral ground, than one or both will claim they are “offended” when they really just cannot cope with things not going their way.  Have an open mind.  If they don't like your plan or way, SO WHAT?!  Agree to disagree now and then.  Have the hard conversations and admit when someone else's way is better than your own.  Someone doesn't always have to be wrong in order for someone else to be right.

Also, can we all please stop pretending that there has never been a conflict between generations in our profession?!  The only thing that is actually offensive in the fire service is the honest belief that one generation or the other is going to “destroy” it!  If I have to read one more story, article, post, or gripe about which generation is to blame for the current state of our craft, I may just vomit!  Every generation will inevitably have conflict with the one it is going to replace.  Why?  Well simply because the outgoing generation has come into their own, the middle generation is trying to make a name for themselves, and the incoming generation is ignorant with inexperience.  Each generation has likely had a slightly different upbringing resulting in different values in life and on the job.  If left unchecked due to lack of standards, expectations, and policies which are enforced fairly across the board, each generation will do as they see fit which will almost always cause conflict with the other two.  This results in division where we should have unification.  No one is entitled without someone enabling them to be privileged.  If you want to the "kids" to change, than you are going to have to lead them!  You can't simply break people down without building them up.  The military has laid the groundwork for this very idea in the way they conduct basic training; use it!

(Photo: MommyPoppins)

We have become so scared to be flawed that we have focused on exposing everyone else's flaws in order to hide our own.  The competition for career progression is now so entrenched with looking good by making others look bad, many are solely focused on the “me” rather than the “us”.  The is further compounded by those in “leadership” positions who condone and reward this type of underhanded tactic.  If you want people to act like adults, treat them like adults!  The reality is, if we are the “brotherhood” we claim to be, then we need to start treating each other like family instead of enemies.  Sure, we all have conflict in our families, but we almost always come together when it counts.  I intentionally used "we" often while writing this because WE own everything that occurs in our profession, good or bad.  YOU may not have an offended attitude, but WE as an occupation are ate up with it!  So how about we focus on being offended by something that makes sense, like the fact we have people taking up space on our rosters who are stealing our benefits and our good name!  It is time we stop whining about all the things that are amiss and start doing what needs to be done.  If we stop tolerating a lower standard, eventually it will disappear.  We need to learn how to work together, bridge the gaps, and accept the fact that our differences are in many cases the individual strengths which combine to make us a complete team!  Stop wasting your time on being offended and start using your time to help make things better for your replacements.  Perhaps it is time we stop blaming society and start taking some ownership of our profession!

Resurrection of the Senior Guy

(Photo: Salty Dog Apparel)

I have seen a growing number of posts and articles calling attention the disappearance and subsequent need for the “senior guy” lately.  The concept of an older, experienced firefighter just itching to take the new fireman under his wing and show him the ropes is certainly a desirable one.  In many ways the senior guy represents everything many are trying to bring back to our profession.  A firefighter, not an officer, who has a wealth of knowledge, real-world experience, and a burning desire to share what he knows with the newest members, is just what the doctor ordered right?  Well, perhaps the concept of the senior guy isn’t the problem but the expectation is.  Could the senior guy be just another part of our craft which we have failed to adapt with the times?

(Photo: Firefighter Toolbox)

Let’s break down the traits of the senior guy that make such a person so desirable and necessary in our firehouses.  First, the senior guy was a firefighter.  No rank makes him that much easier to approach and enforce the all-important “unofficial” rules of the house or department.  It also provides a common ground for other firefighters to approach him without fear of official reprimand or remediation.  The senior guy offers that big brother feel rather than the dad complex which often gets assigned to our officers.  Next, the senior guy knows his stuff!  He has been on for 15, 20, 25 years or longer!  In that time period he has taken in more runs than most of us could dream of.  He has seen it all and done it all yet remains modest and continues to learn even though he is likely well into the twilight of his career.  You will certainly have to be on your “A-game” if you are going to get one past this guy.  Finally, the senior guy’s main mission in life is to teach and develop the probies.  The senior guy is often considered the most knowledgeable person in the station or department, so who better to spread their knowledge than him?  Even better, he WANTS to share his knowledge!  He knows his days are counting down which means he needs to share everything he can so his legacy will live on through others.  The senior guy basically enables what all of us would want in a model firefighter.  The real question is; does he really exist?

The short answer is sort of.  No one can dispute the stories told of people who had the senior guy so he does exist, or at least he did exist.  I think the reason we seem to come up empty in our search for a senior guy these days is because we haven’t changed his image as our departments have changed.  With the exception of large metro departments, staffing is falling to what many consider unacceptable levels.  The days of 5, 4, and even 3 men companies are a thing of the past in many corners of our country.  Sure there are anomalies such as FDNY, Chicago, LA, and Boston who still have what most of us would consider more than adequate staffing, but they too are seeing cuts as well.  Not only does less staffing mean fewer people, it also means many of the tenured members have found their way out the doors.  Whether it was through normal attrition, collective bargaining, early retirement buyouts, health issues, or layoffs the average age of firefighters, particularly fire officers, seems to be getting lower all the time.  The effect of all this is a seriously shrinking pool of prospective senior guy candidates.

(Photo: Pintrest)

Part of the problem is the iconic vision we have in our minds of who our senior guy should be: the slightly gray-haired, weathered face, middle-aged, salty fireman just waiting to save us all from the perils of probation.  The reality of the situation is we need to adapt what a senior guy is to fit the makeup of our firehouses.  Sometimes our senior guy may not be so senior.  He may only have as few as 5, 10, or 15 years on the job.  This means he may not have a ton of experience or knowledge BUT he has been through probation, he knows how the department works, he knows more than the newest member, and can still be a valuable shoulder to lean on for the overwhelmed new member.  But wait, who says the senior guy even has to be a firefighter?  What if you only have a 2 or 3 man company?  One of the crew is going to be the officer and he, or she, may very likely be the most experienced member of the group.  While it will pose challenges, sometimes that officer will be forced to be both the officer and senior guy of the crew.  That is a slippery slope in some cases but you may have to make do depending on your staffing levels.  Speaking of crews, does the senior guy necessarily need to be on your crew?  Does he even need to be at your station or a member of your department for that matter?  Perhaps there is someone who fits the bill that you see at shift change, train with from a mutual aid agency, or someone who you have met at a conference or through social media who is willing to provide the mentoring you need.  While these individuals may not have that specific in-house knowledge a traditional senior man had, they can still be invaluable in your development.

(Photo: Heard County Fire & Emergency Services)

The moral of the story is perhaps we need to stop searching for a unicorn in a field full of horses.  Maybe our expectation of the traditional senior man is just not practical these days.  Like many things in the fire service, we may be forced to do more with less.  If we can learn to fight fire with fewer people, surely we can figure out how to continue the tradition of mentorship as well.  If your organization is fortunate enough to still have a traditional senior man covet, cherish, and protect this vital position.  If you are one of the many firefighters searching aimlessly where the senior man used to be, perhaps it is time to adjust your perception of what that individual looks like and where you will find them.  Sometimes we have to let certain traditions become part of our history in order to build new ones.  In the case of the senior man, it is time we resurrect his spirit into the form which fits our department in modern times.

The Interaction Contradiction

Something that has been bothering me recently is the confusing message we are sending to the younger/newer members of our departments.  I keep hearing and reading that anyone, regardless of rank, time, or experience level can have a great idea or change their organization.  However, when new members give their opinion they are often cut down for trying to be involved and speaking their minds.  Normally, their lack of time and experience is cited as the reason their opinions are not wanted.  Please understand that we cannot say one thing and then do another.  This constant contradictory cycle creates new firefighters who either become insubordinate or scared to speak up.  Over time this can create self-conscious or gun shy members who will make poor decisions while operating.  It also produces firefighters who will lack knowledge, fear education, perform timidly, and likely succumb to the status quo because they are too scared of being chastised for having and opinion or seeking clarification.  Somehow we have created an expectation that our first day firefighters will show up knowing everything they need to know, but when they try to show us we simply beat them down.  It is time to stop being lazy and get back to working on developing our people!  We, as an occupation, are sending a very mixed message to our most impressionable members and we need to stop!

First and foremost let me address the “everyone is a leader" phenomenon which seems to be slowly growing in organizations across the country.  While in theory everyone is capable of leading, we have a rank structure for a reason.  Rather than encourage the guy with 2 years on the job to strive to lead his crew, why not invest in the development of our people so the guy with 2 years on the job has positive role models to teach him the job?  We have allowed too many private sector management techniques to infect our operational structure and gotten away from the traditions and paramilitary influence which have helped guide us through situations where there is no time to question orders.  Once we engage in battle, the time for conversation has come and gone.  There is no suggestion box, question and answer session, or round-table discussion occurring in a dark hallway as we advance a line.  Promoting an atmosphere that allows the constant questioning of superiors will simply cause freelancing and insubordination during situations which have absolutely no place for it!  I think we are simply ignoring our shortcomings and allowing too many people without a clue to be entrusted with managing and developing those under their command.  To compensate we simply say that "everyone is a leader" rather than replacing those who can't hack it in leadership roles with people who can.  

While the theory of “you can be a leader at any level of your organization” has some validity, it is being misconstrued into something which results in a lack of structure, insubordination, and undermining of leadership.  Although it is true that there is always things that can be improved regardless of who is suggesting the change, I have learned during my career is that you have not matured enough in our craft early on to be as opinionated as many new members are today.  Yes, I too was a snot nosed, know it all kid when I started as well, but I also had great role models who put me on short leash and yanked me back to reality anytime I tried to stray too far.  They let me make my mistakes and then taught me where I had gone wrong.  This is what we are missing in the fire service today!  We have too many company officers who are scared to tell the back-step firefighter to shut up and listen.  We have too many administrations which are taking that power away from the company officers for the sake of the “kinder and gentler” fire service.  There are few things that piss me off more than watching someone with a handful of years on the job ignore or argue with a senior man or company officer while a higher ranking or Chief officer watches and says nothing!

In an occupation which constantly cites safety as the reason for change, we have sacrificed the biggest safety mechanism of all, a rigid chain of command, in fear of liability and complaints!  If we are brave enough to mitigate all of the horrible situations our occupation presents us with, why are we no longer brave enough to tell a 20 year old kid to shut up and listen?  Why are we too scared to tell the city manager there is a difference between discrimination and putting someone in their place?  Why are we more worried about losing our jobs than we are losing our lives when the actions of someone who won’t listen cause a run to go bad?  This is the atmosphere being created in our firehouses as we begin to recognize the chain of command only when convenient.  The rank structure of our craft is more than brass insignia and flow charts; it is the mechanism that aims to place those with more knowledge and experience in decision making roles.  We need to focus more on training and shaping leaders as they promote to company officer than we do on how we can be nicer to each other.

For all the young firefighters out there, these next few paragraphs are for you.  I understand you are excited, hungry, and full of great ideas.  We were all you when we started and believe it or not we all envy the traits of your character at that age.  You are fearless, tireless, motivated, and hungry for the job.  You are the workhorses of our crews and organizations and essential to mission success.  It is very possible for you to have great ideas, ways to make positive change, and possess traits that will make you the great leaders of tomorrow.  However, you haven’t been on enough runs to speak out of turn.  You haven’t performed enough repetitions of a skill to be a master of it.  You have not put in enough time to blatantly disrespect a fellow brother or sister with 30 to 40 years on the job, regardless of how they are treating you.  If you cannot follow the chain of command for stupid things like being picked on or station chores how can we expect you to follow it at 0200 on a multiple alarm fire where I NEED you to listen and not talk?!

We want you to shut up and listen because we want to teach you how to stay alive.  We give you shit because we like you and are testing your resolve!  If no one is picking on you early on, you have reason to be concerned that you are not liked!  Learn the appropriate time and place to interject your opinion.  Learn the appropriate way to accept criticism and plead your case.  Learn and follow how our traditions, chain of command, and unwritten rules effect how our firehouses run.  Solve problems at the lowest possible level and lean on your senior firefighters.  Stop being entitled and start working your ass off!  We will tell you when you can slow down, relax, or pass certain responsibilities down; you don’t get to decide on your own!  You will never know everything, you will never be too good to pick up a mop or wash a dish, and you are only as good as your entire crew; this isn’t an individual sport!  The senior men and officers have already proven themselves to get to where they are, you are the one who has something to prove!

It is really easy to get discouraged when you are new because it feels like everyone is trying to bring you down.  Yes, we all have assholes who love to pick on new guys.  However, we also all have all-stars who will point them out to you and are looking out for you even when you don’t realize it.  On the outside it seems like you have more responsibilities than everyone else, but trust me the rest of the crew does more than you see.  Never forget that every one of us was in your shoes at some point.  We know how you feel, we went through the same things you are, and we grew in our careers by doing the things I have suggested above.  Never give up, never give in, and never stop learning our craft.  Listen to your superiors, make suggestions or clarify lessons in an appropriate manner/place, and make sure you learn something every tour!  You are a part of the greatest job on earth, never forget it no matter how bad things get!

Now it is your turn company officers, you are not exempt by any means!  First and foremost let me congratulate you on being put in what I consider the best role in the fire service.  You are directly responsible for leading, shaping, managing, and teaching firefighters at all levels of your department.  You have also found yourself in a leadership role which still allows you the opportunity to get dirty and fight fire.  You have proven (hopefully) that you are capable and deserving of such a position.  In my opinion making company officer is the equivalent of having your cake and eating it too.  Now in case no one told you, we all know you have a different color lid and brass, we know you have a fancy title, and we know you are in charge so quit reminding us every tour.  If you have to tell your crew who is running the show than guess what, you aren’t!  Get over yourself and your position because you are simply part of the team.  Your crew puts the majority of the labor on their shoulders and makes you look good.  Just because they “have” to listen to you doesn’t mean they will or should.  Your rank is not an excuse to work less; it is a privilege to work more because you now work for them, your crew!  Respect is earned not given!

These new guys are no different than you were when you came on the job.  Stop pretending that this generation is the end of the fire service.  The only thing this generation is missing is GUIDANCE, and that guidance comes from you!  A younger member asking a question is not being rude or insubordinate; it is them asking you to teach them!  Stop being an asshole, get off the couch, and feed them knowledge!  If you are fed up with everyone getting a trophy, STOP HANDING THEM OUT!  It is your job to teach them and that includes when and how it is appropriate to ask questions.  It is up to you to set the standard for how things go.  Stop telling them that their opinion matters and then telling them they have no business giving one.  Either you want their opinion or you don’t.  Regardless of which avenue you choose, they need to know why and you need to be consistent.  The only person to blame for an insubordinate crew member is yourself.  You have many tools at your disposable to fix the problem from remediation to a recommendation for termination.  Stop being their friend and be their boss.  When things are going bad and they are forced to tap into their training, they won’t care if you were friendly or not.

Stop being too proud to learn something from a first year guy!  It is so disheartening to watch someone with 20 or 30 years on the job throw a temper tantrum because someone has opposed them or proven another method to be better.  If you want the newer members to recognize your time and experience you cannot act like a toddler every time you don’t get your way!  A great idea is a great idea regardless of where it comes from.  At some point we have got to put down our pride and do what is best for our crew and community.  The younger members have access to a vast amount of information most of us couldn’t have dreamed of when we started.  While all of the information out there is not good information, it is our job as company officers to help our people filter through it and select what is good and what is bad.  This is done by conducting training evolutions or discussions and encouraging everyone on the crew to give input.  The key is setting the standard for when it is appropriate to speak up and when it is not.

I am sorry but I simply don’t agree with the “everyone is a leader” flavor of the month.  I think everyone can have a great idea, but without followers there is no such thing as leaders.  I believe in setting up systems and procedures which groom and promote leaders.  The right people in the right positions know how to grow new firefighters into senior firefighters, and eventually company officers.  If your company officers are honoring their leadership role you shouldn’t need leaders at every level.  Don’t misinterpret the message of this article; anyone in any position can make a positive impact and improve the team.  However, where we are falling short as an occupation is how we extract these ideas and implement them.  Find ways to allow your junior members to be involved but still understand their role and place in the crew and chain of command.  Furnish methods and training which allow their ideas to be attempted but also show them the other methods you have learned along the way.  Give credit where credit is due and remember, just because you are the company officer does not mean you are always right or always have the best way.  The key is dictating when and how your crew can go about making suggestions.  I am pretty open with my crew, but they also know the situations where what I say goes without question.  Figure out what works for your crew!

Everyone reaches a point in their career where their head gets a little too big for their lid and position.  I have been there many times in my career and have been fortunate enough to find the advice and experience of some great mentors along the way who have kept my passion and motivation on the right course.  It is up to us to stop whining about the way things are going and start implementing solutions to get them back on track.  Never forget that we operate with a chain of command for a reason.  I see too many places that are showing up with individuals and using freelancing as their primary tactic hidden under the guise of limited manpower.  With fires down in many corners of the country, it is more important than ever to make sure we are operating as one cohesive team when a working run comes in!  It all starts with setting a standard and developing your people from day one!