When I tell people where I am from, mostly what they hear is “Louisiana,” and they invariably ask, “How close are you to New Orleans?” Shreveport is about as far from New Orleans as you can get and still be in the same state, but I don’t mind the question. Most people seem to believe that New Orleans is not just the only city in Louisiana, but the only thing whatsoever in the Bayou State.
The fact is, Louisiana has three metropolitan cities and three metro fire departments. New Orleans, still struggling to repopulate following Hurricane Katrina, has a population of 350,000. The state capital of Baton Rouge sits at 250,000. Shreveport is third at 204,000.
Shreveport may be the smallest of the three metro cities, but our department holds the bragging rights of being the state’s busiest fire department–largely because, of the three, we’re the only one to provide EMS-ALS transport. Last year, Shreveport responded to more than 37,000 calls, and had the busiest firehouse in Louisiana (9,000 calls) as well as the busiest engine (more than 3,500 incidents). So take that New Orleans! We’re the busiest! We’re the best!
Wait a minute. Does being the busiest really have anything to do with being the best?
Competitive Roots
Most departments that participate in a run survey can’t wait to see where they stand in relation to other departments, particularly those in the same state. In my department, the anticipation around the release of the Annual Report is almost mouthwatering. This report is largely meant for external stakeholders (citizens and elected and appointed officials) to detail the accomplishments of the organization and show them exactly where their money is going. But the firefighters are primarily interested in one thing: the year’s response statistics and who will have bragging rights about being the busiest.
For a long time, the fire service has tended to regard the busiest as the best. A lot of people in our industry use FDNY as the gold standard simply because of its sheer size and number of calls. “Running” companies and the firefighters who staff them are still held in high esteem, as they were when I was a line firefighter.
This begs the question: Do top firefighters and officers gravitate to busy companies or do busy companies produce top firefighters and officers? The answer probably lies somewhere in the middle.
Time in the Street
The more education and training an individual receives, coupled with practical and real-world experience, the better they will perform at any job.
In that regard, the theory that the busiest is the best is partially correct. Firefighters in busy companies have continuous opportunities to test and reinforce their training at numerous emergency situations, as well as to critique and improve their performance. Compare that with someone who spends most of their 24 hours in the station; even if they’re studying, training and drilling constantly, they’re still missing out.
For officers, command skills greatly improve with increased exposure. Officers who routinely respond to emergencies have the tendency to be calmer in the chaos. They exhibit a “been there, done that” mentality, which teaches their subordinates the importance of maintaining composure, particularly in a crisis.
It’s critical that the formal training you receive in the academy be reinforced through practical street experience. “If you don’t use it, you lose it,” is particularly true in our business. Additionally, no two emergency scenes are the same. The more you come in contact with the variety of different call types, the more incidents your memory stores–what went right, what went wrong, close calls, how I/we can improve next time. These experiences assist in your decision-making and ability to reason the best outcome, either through conscious thought processes or subconscious intuition or instinct.
Get Busy
Shreveport can boast about being the busiest in Louisiana, but whether that fact also makes us the best is arguable (as in, I’ll argue with anyone who says otherwise!). However, at an individual level, particularly for firefighters and up-and-coming officers, there’s no mistaking the unmatched advantages, experiences and opportunities in becoming the very best, than by spending time on a running company. If you’re looking for one, they’re probably out on a call.
