Realizing Cost Savings & Safety Through Standardization

Today’s economic climate is driving significant change and innovation in America’s fire service. Most of us are feeling the pinch to do more with less; in turn, this is opening our minds to new approaches to our daily operations. One area that we can no longer afford to ignore: standardization of operations.

Have you ever wondered why fire department field operations are so different? Isn’t a high‐rise in one city fundamentally the same as a high‐rise in another city, especially one located less than 20 miles away? Aren’t the risks associated with wildland/urban interface similar everywhere that such an interface exists? The mechanics and outcomes of a vehicle accident in Sacramento are no different than those along the scenic byways of the Florida Keys.

Yet many of us operate very differently, even within shared geographical regions. What are we risking? What liabilities are we creating by not taking a more deliberate approach to standardize our responses across jurisdictional boundaries? Given all the challenges our industry currently faces, there has never been a better time to expand mutual-aid agreements and automatic-aid agreements.

Build a Coalition
With almost everyone’s resource capacity being tested, it’s the perfect time to innovate and build new relationships or strengthen existing partnerships with our neighbors. But in order to do that, we’re going to have to do something that many of us have struggled with our entire careers: admitting that our organization’s way of doing things is not the only way, and that it may not even be the best.

To provide a higher level of fire and emergency services in your community, or in some cases to maintain the same level, you will need a “coalition of the willing” from your region. You need to connect with other chief officers who share the same challenges, who want–and are ready–to come to the table to make principled decisions that best serve the communities and departments involved.

Example: Over the last year, the Operations Chiefs Section of the California Fire Chiefs Association has promoted the concept of regionalized standard operating guidelines/procedures (SOGs/SOPs) as a best practice for fire agencies. The Section actively promotes regionalization and is in the process of creating a best practices repository for its members to share operational documents that have been approved and implemented by existing multi‐agency, regional partnerships.

The list of reasons for regionalization of SOGs/SOPs is exhaustive, at least in my mind, but I believe these reasons fit well into the categories of firefighter safety, efficiency of effort and the strengthening of relationships.

Enhanced Firefighter Safety
Regionalized SOGs/SOPs not only create standardization among shifts within your department, they also establish continuity among all of the agencies in your region. Perhaps one of the best outcomes of implementing consistency in operational practices is the ability to reap many of the benefits of an organizational merger or consolidation–without all the complexities.

Standardized equipment will surface as an outcome of common fireground operations, allowing personnel from any agency within your partnership to be able to proficiently operate all mission‐critical equipment from neighboring departments. To take this concept one step further, agencies can look toward standardization of fleet specifications as well. Additionally, if all departments in your area are now using the same equipment, each organization can potentially specialize in the repair and maintenance of specific equipment, reducing the cost associated with keeping your equipment in service.

Common/standardized terminology improves communication, reduces the likelihood of misunderstood commands and allows for common interpretation of all emergency scene directives.

Finally, having regionalized SOGs/SOPs in place almost automatically infers that you are adopting a single personnel accountability system amongst all the partners. This accomplishment alone is a significant safety advancement for many departments.

Efficiency of Effort
Collaborating to develop best practices as a group–as opposed to individual, repetitive efforts–results in greater efficiency. When multiple individuals within the same region are working on the same SOG/SOP, effort is duplicated unnecessarily. Collaborating to develop a single work product not only creates a best practices document for use, but also frees up productive time to be put toward other crucial programs and services.

The entire regionalization concept also drives agencies toward group purchasing, creating opportunities for savings. The Western Division of the IAFC is pioneering group purchasing for the nation. Your cooperative group effort could collaborate with the Western Division’s Group Purchasing Organization (Fire‐Rescue GPO) to establish new specs and create new contracts for goods and services from which all of us could benefit. Even on your own as a region, group purchasing gives you leverage with vendors to negotiate pricing for your new regionally agreed‐upon SCBAs, turnouts, flashlights, defibrillators–the possibilities are endless. Example: Because of piggybacking on a regional spec for turnouts in the Sacramento region, our department was able to purchase custom‐fit turnouts for our student firefighters at almost the same cost as generic, off‐the‐shelf turnouts. What opportunities await you?

Regionalization can also have an impact on training through the establishment of regionalized training bureaus. This step is the one that has the most potential for a significant and sustainable impact to regional fire and EMS operations. Through a tool such as a joint powers authority, you can capitalize on the personnel and talents of all training officers–both yours and those of your partner agencies. Regionalized training reduces costs and expands services while supporting the overall regionalization concept by ensuring that all firefighters are receiving the same training and learning the shared SOGs/SOPs.

Stronger Relationships
Form a regionalization committee that meets regularly. Start by developing your regional SOGs/SOPs and segue into other topics like joint purchasing agreements and regularly scheduled regional training and exercises. The investment of effort toward standardization not only helps build the relationships between agency personnel at the line level, but also strengthens the bonds between chief officers. Here in Yolo County, Calif., regional efforts to combine training and SOGs have strengthened relationships among departments through the simple act of meeting, interacting and collaborating more frequently on topics that go beyond jurisdictional boundaries. At the end of the day, it’s the interpersonal component of these discussions–which are sometimes debates!–that bring us all closer together.

Now’s the Time
In this economic climate, we must be willing to consider innovative approaches to fire industry operations. Collaboration is a mission-critical aspect of our ability to maintain the services our communities expect. We no longer have the luxury of self‐reliance; we must come together to address these contemporary circumstances with a new perspective.

If you decide to take on a project like this, it won’t be easy, but if there was ever a time in the fire service where we could freely innovate, create and break the mold on our norms, now is that time.