“The fire service will teach me all I need to know!” How often have you heard these words from those aspiring to positions of authority?
Professional and career development is critical for the future of the fire service for many reasons, including improving organizational efficiency and effectiveness, succession planning and acceptance as equivalents in academia and professional occupations. Speaking from the firefighter’s perspective, however, professional development has no greater mission than enhancing firefighter life safety.
Firefighter Life Safety Initiative (LSI) No. 5 states, “Develop and implement national standards for training, qualifications and certification (including regular recertification) that are equally applicable to all firefighters based on the duties they are expected to perform.” And that’s not all. Many other LSIs reflect professional development as well (visit www.everyonegoeshome.com/initiatives.html for a complete listing).
With a history of more than 100 line-of-duty deaths and up to 100,000 firefighter injuries each year, something must change. The fire service must educate. To that end, numerous higher-education programs are now available for members of the fire service. Some states provide tuition for fire service members. Online and distance-learning programs are available in subjects as diverse as fire service administration, emergency management, fire science and public administration, to name a few. Barriers to higher education for firefighters are being reduced every day. There are numerous advantages to capitalizing on these programs, including networking and problem-solving, core competency development and heightened awareness. Let’s examine each of these advantages.
Networking & Problem-Solving
You only have to attend a single National Fire Academy course to realize that the problems faced in your fire department have already been faced in another. This is where networking can help. Networking allows for a give-and-take of information with other departments. A solution used in one department may solve a problem at your department.
Additionally, as one mentor shared, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” The value of higher education rests not only in preparation for greater levels of responsibility but also in developing problem-solving skills. Higher education gives you tools for research, data management, statistical analysis and communications. All are vital for the initiation and management of change. These elements are essential when requesting funding from the governing authority or gaining acceptance from the community on a specific project. A poorly compiled presentation will likely fail and may erode presenter credibility.
Core Competency
Core competencies can be defined as a minimum number of fundamental skill sets necessary to perform a given function. For example, one core competency of a pump operator is the ability to transfer water supply from tank to hydrant with no interruption in fire flow. An additional core competency might be the ability to negotiate an emergency-driving serpentine course with no error.
The development and maintenance of core competencies is paramount to efficient operations and safety on the fireground. Certification programs are available for apparatus driver/operator and emergency driving, fire department safety officer, hazardous materials technician and a host of other fire and EMS certifications and licensures.
Certification in core competency categories not only educates or refreshes the firefighter on related subjects, but also provides instruction on new methodologies and technologies. An added value is that certification provides evidence that a firefighter demonstrated proficiency in that category. Fire service officers must be aware of the capabilities of supervised personnel. It’s dangerous and negligent for an officer to assign a task to a firefighter without knowing whether that firefighter is capable of completing it safely and effectively.
Certifications also enhance uniformity. National standards for certification in various core competencies will ensure that fire department A will perform a function similar to fire department B. This element is critical when responding on mutual aid or automatic assistance. Many departments depend on others to augment a structure fire assignment. Often, these departments do not share similar operating guidelines (i.e., standardized first-alarm assignments, residential commercial fires, firefighter maydays or distress protocols). An evacuation tone for one may mean something else to another. Some departments experience this on an internal level as well; each shift performs evolutions “their way.”
Heightened Awareness
Heightened awareness is another benefit of professional development. Do the following statements describe any firefighters in your department? “Firefighters become complacent following basic certification and want only to sit at the station and make emergency responses” or “Firefighters focus attention more on a part-time occupation than the fire service job.” Certifications with requirement for recertification compel firefighters to maintain awareness. Skill and proficiency may be lost through many conventional in-house continuing education programs as delivery may be sporadic and inconsistent.
In Sum
Firefighters are motivated for different reasons, but professional development keeps personnel on the vanguard of organizational improvement. Whether intentional or not, continuing education and professional development heighten awareness, which in turn keeps firefighters sharp and alert. After all, our actions in high-stress situations are a direct result of our past training. I often tell my firefighters it would be criminal to get anyone (civilian or firefighter) hurt or killed because of something I didn’t know.
