Before the days of advanced navigational equipment, when two ships of unknown countries would meet in common waters, the captain of one of the ships would order a “shot across the bow” to alert the approaching vessel to show their colors. If the other ship failed to identify itself, then the captain would order an attack to be launched.
A shot across the bow of a different sort was launched against the American fire service earlier this year. Oddly enough, the shot fired wasn’t from an enemy combatant, an outside source or a political adversary–it was launched by one of our own.
Since 2005, the IAFC has managed the National Fire Fighter Near-Miss Reporting System, which was funded by the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program. On Sept. 25, the IAFC was notified that the AFG funding for the program, which was set to expire on Sept. 28, would not be renewed. The decision to not fund the program was the direct result of a peer group assembled in Emmitsburg, Md., during the annual AFG review process to determine which applicants would receive grant funding for the following year.
Fortunately, the IAFC board of directors and IFSTA have come together to secure funding for the Near-Miss Reporting System through September 2013. Yet this short-term reprieve is not without limitations: The deliverables–data analysis, the annual training calendar and the development of training resources (in short, the stuff we need the most)–will be postponed until further funding can be identified.
Although I hesitate to say that the proverbial “shot across the bow” issued by a group of our peers was a good thing, it should serve as a wake-up call. For years we’ve been blessed with good fortune based on our long-standing reputation and the exemplary services we’ve provided. But today is a new day, and we can no longer take for granted what’s been previously issued without question. When we fail to educate and convince a group of our own as to the importance of a system that supports the health and safety of firefighters, a wake-up call is in order.
The Near-Miss Reporting System is not just a program for collecting, sharing and analyzing near-miss experiences, it’s a message about the culture of the American fire service. It’s a means to share critical information for the safety of our men and women.
For those who’ve become callous to the benefits of reviewing incidents related to firefighter injuries and fatalities, I’d ask you to reflect back to the mid-1980s, before the introduction of rapid-intervention teams and programs such as Saving Our Own and Get Out Alive. Each year, hundreds if not thousands of firefighters were injured or killed while participating in fireground operations, and the only thing that most firefighters would hear about these incidents was the memorial service. To talk about accidents and/or mistakes was considered taboo; you didn’t do it, and in some cases it was considered disrespectful to those who had been lost. In short, it was flat out wrong.
It was not until names like John Nance of Columbus, Ohio, and Mark Langvardt of Denver came to the surface that we began to talk about the tragic incidents of our past. To their credit (and in their memory), scenario-based training became the norm at fire academies and drill yards. Props were constructed, innovative rescue techniques were developed and new rescue tools and equipment hit the streets. The tragic loss of two firefighters created volumes of lessons to be learned by all.
To think that the American fire service would allow a critical asset such as the National Fire Fighter Near-Miss Reporting System to become extinct is disturbing. We owe it to ourselves and the next generation of firefighters who will follow in our footsteps to preserve the lessons of our past. Blood, sweat and tears have been shed to bring us to this point; it’s unconscionable that we would fail to pass on this collective knowledge.
Once again, the American fire service is faced with a challenge, a challenge to defend what we have rightfully earned and deserve. The battle before us is not outside our ranks; it’s with each and every firefighter who fills our ranks. We must make every effort possible to influence our firefighters, our officers and all those who conduct training of the importance of learning from our past, analyzing the events that cause injuries and/or death to our members with the goal of developing and implementing new tools, techniques and technologies to make us safer.
The shot across the bow has been fired. Will you show your true colors?
