We will now bring you a diatribe from our frustrated author:
I am sick and tired of hearing that the fire service needs to change our culture. It's what "Everyone Goes Home" is about, it's in the 16 life safety inititives, and hords of folks come out an comment when ever there is a LODD that we need to "Change the Culture of the Fire Service."
If the culture they are talking about is the one filled with out-of-shape men and women who have signed on because they want to carry a badge and a pager, and wear shirts that say something like, "I fight what you fear," while driving 63mph on a county road to get to a call, I agree. That is rarely what they are talking about. What they say is that we need to avoid things like, "Duty to Die Syndrome" and use "Victim Survivability Profiling" to determine if people can be alive before WE commit to the inside.
&^%$ me, are we serious? Firefighting is a combat position. If you don't want to go into combat you don't join the military. If you don't want to risk YOUR life in a burning building don't join the fire service. For the love of the memory of every firefighter who has perished in the line of duty please STOP advocating risk adverse policies and ideas in the name of safety.
If you want to be safe acknowldge that this job places the same physical strain on us as Navy SEALS are expected to cope with (12 METS during both firefighter and combat swimming operations). Train like a professional going into harms way!
If we want to truly reduce fireground injuries and fatalities let's start training our people to where they are physically incapable of making mistakes in the basic skills. "Amateurs train until they get it right; professionals train until they can't get it wrong." You know what happens when throwing a 24' two-stage ladder by yourself becomes instinctive? You can use your brain to worry about maintaining Situational Awareness and Sizing-Up the building. You know what happens when you have drilled on SCBA emergency procedures a 1000 times? When you have a problem you don't freak out and enter the cascading series of failure that comes with a run-away Sympathetic Nervous System reaction.
Let's quit tip-toeing around the facts, If YOU are unwilling to train until you can't get it wrong, maintain a level of fitness that with help you excel on the fireground, AND risk yourself because those neighbors we serve need US to do it... THEN LEAVE. There are other ways to lend a helping hand. Volunteer with the Red Cross, help out at a Hospital, participate in a clothing drive, but please, for &^$# sake get out of the fire service.
Own this job. Own your responsibility to your neighbors. Own your responsibility to your brothers and sisters.
We now resume our regular programing.
Bravo Chris, Bravo!! *standing ovation* Way to start the year off right
ReplyDelete"12 METS - "
ReplyDelete"Sympathetic Nervous System reaction."
Damn Chris, I thought I was the only one who considered tossing those terms into fire service writing. Nice job in getting the point - own the job - across.
Hit the nail on the head... again. Of all of the initiatives in the fire service, this is the one we should be pushing. Exactly what you talk about is exactly what will save lives (civilian and firefighter). Thanks Brother.
ReplyDeleteAre you running for public office any time soon? I'd like to be your campaign manager! Great stuff once again!
ReplyDeleteBro, If we ever meet I'm giving you a big hug and buying you a beer! Guys like you have the balls to call it like you see it and there are a few people out there that actually appreciate it! A 320 lb. fireman standing in the front yard with an SCBA half way on (waist strap doesnt reach!) is a scary site and quite honestly, embarrassing. This is most likely the same guy that thinks training is dumb because "we already know how to do that"... The 16 LSI should be reduced to four... 1.Eat better, 2. Exercise and get stronger, 3. Learn the job and train every day, 4. Love the job and train every day.
ReplyDeleteProud to see others unafraid to express what's truly on their mind...well said brother, keep preaching.
ReplyDeleteFracking "A", Brother.... your assessment is balls on accurate
ReplyDeleteAmen Brother....Well said!
ReplyDeleteYep, that nailed it. Well stated, well said, and well understood!!
ReplyDeleteAfter 21 years in being in Busy Companies... I Truely Believe my Extensive Training and Going to Seminars kept me alive. I Understood this from the beginning This was Dangerous and met the demand...But the Culture is the Problem!!! We have people here for a check and not for task at hand....Just my take on it???
ReplyDeleteThis pretty well sums it up.. Now lets get everyone to post this in their firehouse.
ReplyDeleteW Benner
F&%$ me! Right on brother~
ReplyDeleteChris,
ReplyDeleteAs usual another thought provoking piece. I agree so much with the training until you can't get it wrong. Hell I might even still your words for an upcoming Leadership Development program I am putting together for our group of current and soon to be promoted leaders. This is the stuff we are trying to get imbedded in the new lads brains as they enter our great career. Thanks for helping get those thoughts out there.
I can't speak right now...you said everything that needed to be said.
ReplyDeleteOutstanding post!
ReplyDeleteBetter words couldn't be said!
ReplyDeleteChris,
ReplyDeleteI could'nt agree more. You and I have had this chat before. I have a thought or two, Lets train like we operate, profile buildings,someone had to light the thing so the possibility of the building being inhabited is high. To use that risk benefit "MATRIX" risk alot to save alot. Know the two things to keep us alive BUILDING CONSTRUCTION & FIRE BEHAVIOR !!!!!! it drives me nuts that in this day and age we pay lip service to this Noble profession yet dont bother to know thw two life safety inititives that will get us home alive. Ok I'm done for know, Be safe
I agree with you that firefighting is an inherently dangerous profession due to the nature of the work, and that if you choose to do this type of work you have to be willing to accept the risks that come with the job. I believe a big part of why people are involved in firefighting is that they believe the benefits to their fellow citizens outweigh the personal risks to themselves. That being said, I'm not sure why you are opposed to initiatives that have the intent to make firefighting safer for the firefighter. To me it sounds like you are still in the days of smokeeaters and people blindly running into fires. What is wrong with properly analyzing a situation to determine if the perceived benefits outweigh the risks to the firefighter. I have been a firefighter and paramedic for 14 years. Certainly if there is any chance to preserve a life I would have no hesitation to enter a structure to do a search. But I certainly have no desire to risk my life trying to enter a structure that was already lost before our arrival and any occupants would have perished long before we arrived. I'm not trying to diminish the bravery of those firefighters who gave their lives in the line of duty. But we shouldn't glorify their deaths like you are trying to do. A community doesn't want it's firefighters to die for them. Yes we should remember the bravery of fallen firefighters, but also learn from those tragedies to make certain that we all come home. I for one take great pride in the work I do as a firefighter and paramedic, but if there are things we can do that will help us return to our loved ones, I'm not sure why you would be fighting this.
ReplyDeleteDavid S,
ReplyDeleteReally? Did you read the post at all? Where in the post does it glorify the deaths of firefighters? I read over the post several times after reading your comment just to make sure I didn't miss something in there. The post is about TRAINING.
Try this, intimately rectify yourself, then correct the cranio/rectal inversion that you are experiencing, then read the post again. If my 13 year old can comprehend the post, then a salty 14 year veteran that takes such great pride in his work should have no issue.
I'm not anonymous, Peter L says
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts. I enjoy reading your blog and the comments that follow. Perhaps it's the like-minded mentality regarding unmotivated individuals that fail to present the courtesy of preparation...complacent individuals that present more of a liability on the scene than contribution, but I digress...David S' comment above exemplifies the expected knee-jerk reactionary mentality that unfortunately dominates the discourse surrounding emergency services policy making discussions today. David S is right, but you can't fault him or the rest of the sheep for not understanding the warrior mentality.
While some may feel that providing the standard of care consistent with the local statutes as a moral remedy for inaction in the face of danger, I find that David S's ideal of self-preservation is mildly overreaching the duty to PREPARE and TRAIN every day like your life depends on it!!!
I find it offensive when I see an overweight and undertrained slob in turnout gear...why? Because this individual did not have the common decency to spend some time exercising or training, and my life is further endangered by the same offense. Firefighting is not a communicable disease, it's not a genetic ailment. You don't wake up one morning to find yourself suddenly stricken with "firefighter", and now must learn how to live with it. Complacency however, is a conscious choice, made every moment, to disregard the safety of everyone around you, and to label yourself as a liability. It is a choice to NOT train, and a choice to NOT exercise.
God bless you for your efforts and contribution to hold back to tidal wave of pussification-by-policy-making of the fire service.
Mike E
ReplyDeleteI hope your 13 year old doesn't take after you when learning the proper way to have a discussion or debate. Debating ideas and challenging statements is one thing, but personal attacks on an individual for stating an opinion is rather quite childish and makes me question your social skills. But I'm sure you felt quite good about yourself at the time. But I digress...
I read the post several times as well. The section where the author promotes proper training as a means to reduce risk, injuries, and fatalities to firefighters was great. The part I was mainly commenting on are the parts which seem to suggest that firefighting is a "macho" job and firefighters should be willing to risk their lives at all costs. The comments by the author that raised my attention included: "What they say is that we need to avoid things like, "Duty to Die Syndrome" and use "Victim Survivability Profiling" to determine if people can be alive before WE commit to the inside." and "For the love of the memory of every firefighter who has perished in the line of duty please STOP advocating risk adverse policies and ideas in the name of safety." Again, what is so bad about training officers and firefighters to properly assess a scenario and if the benefits (saving a life or property) outweigh the risks to firefighters, then yes a direct interior attack is warranted. I don't know how many times I read about firefighters dying inside abandoned warehouses. Where is the value in losing a firefighter for that?
David S. posted
ReplyDelete"I have been a firefighter and paramedic for 14 years. Certainly if there is any chance to preserve a life I would have no hesitation to enter a structure to do a search. But I certainly have no desire to risk my life trying to enter a structure that was already lost before our arrival and any occupants would have perished long before we arrived'.
Imagine if you took that approach at a medical call..
Your patient is dying but does not have a valid DNR.. and has AIDS, MRSA and CDiff as well.. he's "circling the drain".. so why bother treating him?
Your paramedic certification would disappear in an instant.
Brothers and sisters,
ReplyDeleteWe are all on the same page here but we all talk about it a little differently. I know Chris very well, we go back a ways and have had this discussion many times.
It is all about how we size up that building, the number of factors we take into account to make the go / no go decision. Perhaps "vicitim survivability profiling" is a bit myopic and does not take all factors available into account. It is a foundation for the decision making process that each of us needs to make before we commit to a structure under attack by an unconfined fire. I do not believe Chris is advocating the "Duty to Die" syndrome. What he and I do believe in is training, understanding construction, understanding fire behavior, practicing skills, talking with your still and mutual aid response companies, knowing your response areas and understanding the abilities and limitations of your equipment and your crew.
Gordon Grahm always reminds us of "Recognition Primed Decision Making" that picture file in our brain of things we have seen and done before and the outcomes we experienced based on the decisions we make. We need to review case history, good and bad and learn from the successes and failures of us and others. Do the fire service a favor, honor those that have fallen and those that have been injured by learning all that you can from their experiences so that we can prevent as many reoccurances as possible.
As David S suggests, we need to understand when too much is too much. When to say NO! Sometimes it takes more heart and guts to draw the line and say enough has been lost. The old adage "Risk a little to save a little...Risk alot to save alot" is a principal I can live with if all the factors mentioned above are taken into account.
Chief Brunacini made a statement at a very early incident command class I attended as I was starting out as a volunteer. I still hold this belief today as a career firefighter/officer, "There are only two kinds of firefighters...professional and unprofessional. It does not matter whether you get paid or not it is how you treat the job. You can choose to be professional and learn all you can about the job or you can wear the T-shirt and the hat and look for a discount at the local burger joint." Chose to be a professional or has my friend Chris says a Fire Service Warrior.
Stay safe
Doug
Kudo's Chris for your thought's. It's true what Mac & Double EE have said - This job is like going to war, so why not prepare ourselves for battle - If your not willing to learn as much as possible about the enemy, then stay home!
ReplyDeleteNext time we cross paths, the pint is on me!
This is dead on how every fireman should treat the profession everyday.I see the "T-shirters" all the time and nothing makes me more angry as that does. It's a disgrace to the Fire Service, their Department, themselves, and ultimately the community they are supposed to protect. If you can't do the job how it was meant to be done when the Fire Service was created, then as you stated in your article find yourself a new profession. The mission of the Fire Service is to protect lives and property, not keep the homeowner company as his or her house burns down. When someone meets you outside and says their brother or sister are trapped inside and you say it's not worth the effort or too risky; you just caused a huge disgrace towards the Fire Service and every fireman that has died in the line of duty. You have to make every effort to get in there and get them even if it includes risking your ass or your fellow brother's or sister's ass. Learn your job and do it how it's meant to be done.
ReplyDelete