By Kevin Milan
Published Friday, September 2, 2011
What’s most important: certification or competence? Throw this question out on the firehouse kitchen table, sit back and wait for the fireworks. The school of hard knocks and the ivory tower of academia represent two ends of a spectrum. But education and experience aren’t mutually exclusive; in fact, they’re synergistic. Together, each is more powerful than either is alone.
Push the question up the chain of command, and the kitchen-table fireworks become heavy artillery: Does the chief fire officer (CFO) designation or the executive fire officer (EFO) credential make for a better chief? The paper chase seems to accelerate with rank. So what gives? Do certifications and credentials matter? Obviously human resource directors place a great deal of value on the initials after a name—but do they really matter?
Credentials Matter
Certificated firefighters complete a course of study, pass written and practical examinations, and demonstrate the brains and brawn (necessary to do the job. The same holds true for a firefighter I certificate issued at recruit graduation or the Executive Fire Officer (EFO) certificate from the National Fire Academy. Credentials represent commitment and follow-through, a goal that was set and achieved. That stamp of approval with third-party validation is without equal as a means of officially recognizing a specific level of professionalism. And professionalism is exactly what our service needs.
City managers and mayors often see our chiefs as uneducated, blue-collar servants when compared with other department heads who hold advanced degrees. It’s no surprise, then, that fire department funding often suffers.
Police officers on the street often hold bachelor’s degrees, but the police chief often holds a master’s or a doctorate. As a result, they have the ability to draw up a funding request that contains extensive data collection and analysis, and therefore demands the attention of those holding the purse strings. We can learn a lot from our law enforcement brethren.
Use It or Lose It
Certification is like a new car: The minute you drive it off the lot, it starts to lose value. Similarly, the day a certificate is issued, it begins to fade. Only through commitment, continuing education and practice can an individual maintain the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) to do the job.
I wholeheartedly disagree with lifetime firefighter certification. Why? Because riding the laurels of a certificate for years is utter deception. We must demand recertification through documented skill demonstration with formal training and education. I ask that my doctors, nurses and pilots stay current on the latest information and technology. I hold my fire service to the same standard.
The extent of this degradation in KSAs/certification is an area ripe for current research. Following the “war years” in the fire service, Boeing conducted research with Seattle-area firefighters in 1974. Skill degradation rates were researched through controlled experiments (see http://tinyurl.com/3bhny33.) Various strategies were used to “refresh” the skills of a group of firefighters, and these were compared with a control group that didn’t revisit skills.
The findings: Skills degrade much faster than expected. Without refreshing for 90 days, it took an average of 1.5 times longer for the study group to complete a task (150% longer than the original time). After six months, retraining was required in many settings. Think about this the next time you’re waiting for water on the fireground. Though the study is dated, the message is clear: Use it or lose it.
It’s Not Like Ski Racing
Our job changes daily, so how can a certificate from yesterday’s fire service proclaim today’s competence? It can’t—it’s simply a license to learn. And knowing how to learn is the key to acquiring new KSAs.
I believe the majority of certified firefighters refresh their core skills often. Fire practitioners seek knowledge daily through formal education, peer instruction and self study; however, as a realist, I know this isn’t the case always and everywhere. The recliner claims some of our potential superstars, and too often, “good enough” is accepted in many organizations. Those who point to the certificate on the wall, years of service or bugles on a collar, are equally guilty of “side-slipping” the course. In skiing, this is a tactic for survival, not a path to victory.
The Jim Hinkle Method
Don’t get me wrong—some of our best and brightest don’t have extensive diplomas or certifications. I learned more about technical rescue from “Hinkle” than from any book or conference.
Hinkle graduated from high school and held only basic firefighter certifications. He demanded competence from himself and took the time to educate everyone who was willing to listen.
Although he didn’t articulate his techniques with adult learning jargon, he practiced andragogy (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andragogy ). His meticulous instruction and ability to field questions were incredible. He demonstrated practical skills with finesse and presented lessons in several different formats to address varied learning styles.
Motivating his students by showing them how to use a given skill on their next call was his greatest strength. The Socratic Method permeated his style when questioning his students, although I suspect his knowledge of Socrates was limited. We can learn a great deal from Jim’s teaching style.
Best of Both Worlds
So why not have it all, both credentialed and experienced firefighters on the job? When it comes down to it, when it comes to claiming our spot at the table, we need a credentialed and competent fire service. But it’s not enough to demand certification—departments must support the idea.
That said, everyone knows preparing for certification is expensive and time-consuming, maintaining and renewing certificates is difficult and scheduling courses while “covering the district” is a challenge. For these reasons, it’s easy to make excuses for why it “won’t work here.” Top-down support coupled with bottom-up leadership equals success in this arena.
Those firmly entrenched in either side of this argument are missing half the equation. I wholeheartedly agree certifications without competence are nothing more than expensive wallpaper. Similarly, KSAs must be validated by a third party. But the mutual-aid emergency or national disaster is not the place to take someone’s word that they can “do the job.”
Certifications and education are invaluable. Coupled with experience and competence, they are without equal.
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Kevin Milan
Kevin Milan is president of the Colorado Fire Training Officers Association and director at large for the International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI). He is a graduate of the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program, holds a master’s degree in Executive Fire Leadership, and is a doctoral student in the Fire and Emergency Management Program at Oklahoma State University. With 19 years of fire experience, Milan is the fire marshal for South Metro (Colo.) Fire Rescue Authority with previous experience as an architectural project manager and classroom teacher. Milan joined the IAFC in 2004 and is currently an instructor in the IAFC/COLS program. Read Full Bio
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