Please take time to watch the below video. If there has been a recent example of how critical firefighter staffing is on the first alarm, this would be it. Keep in mind that’s not necessarily the fault of the firefighters, who like most firefighters, do the best they can.
Leadership
Be it at the political, administrative or the operational level have a responsibility to educate the community on what level of service they can expect…and what costs there are to impact the levels of service.
This isn’t tough stuff gang, but so many communities believe “rest assured” that behind those bay doors are a katrillion firefighters that will come running to save the day when their stuff is on fire. You know and we know that isn’t always the case. In some places, and not just rural areas but heavily populated suburban metro areas, the apparatus may or may get out in time to matter. In some places that’s almost always the case.
How many firefighters do you need on the first alarm? It depends on what you want to accomplish. If you want to wet down exposures and let the initial building burn- if it hasn’t already by the time the firefighters arrive -you can calculate that.
Sound stupid? How many communities absolutely know that they don’t have the staffing but act like, when there is a fire, it will all be okay?
No worries; we don’t have that many fires anyway.
Talk About Stupid
In almost all cases of poor staffing or poor turnout the outcome was totally predictable. As Gordon Graham says if its predictable, its preventable.
You absolutely know the question that if, in the case of an unstaffed volunteer fire department, your tones go off right now, how many members will show up? Look at your history. An immediate solution that some fire departments are using are systems such as www.iamresponding.com, one of a few programs that tell you immediately how many members are responding, so you don’t wait and you don’t set the tones off over and over, pretty much knowing “they” ain’t coming while someone or their stuff is burning up.
Your members, those members who show up an hour later “to sign the book”, that is bs; we are talking about qualified and trained members who can get the rigs on the road fast, with enough staffing to matter. What does “matter” mean?
Lets make this real easy; pretend it’s your house on fire with your stuff in there and maybe even your family? Now what do you want to happen? What matters now?
Take time to watch the video above as the Brothers and Sisters do their best, but at a fire where the staffing was predictable.
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