We all joined the fire service essentially to be public servants.
We were the ones who wanted to be called when the 83-year-old grandmother down the road fell and hurt her hip.
We were the ones who wanted to be called for the car accident where we had to simply “pop” the door with extrication tools to help the uninjured driver get out of their vehicle.
We were the ones who wanted to go on that automated fire alarm at a hotel to make sure that everything was alright so the lone night shift receptionist could have peace of mind for the rest of their shift.
And, of course, we wanted to be the ones who were first in on the nozzle “slaying the dragon.”
When we first joined, we thought this job would never get old. The sleepless nights, the reports, the cold meals, it all started to add up. You suddenly realize that those heroic moments fighting the huge infernos that you watched in the movie “Backdraft” or the medical call where you, without a doubt, saved the patient’s life aren’t as frequent as you thought they would be.
Now the lift assist call seems to become more of an inconvenience as you quickly pick someone’s grandparent up off the floor so you can get back to the station to catch the game.
We begin to resent the dispatcher for a fluid cleanup call after an accident, finding out it was just windshield washer fluid.
We impatiently wait for the key holder for the local elementary school after we halfheartedly cleared the building on the 2 a.m. fire alarm.
What happened to us? When did public service become an inconvenience to us as public servants?
I believe in some degree we all go through this at one point or another in our career. That once eager probie who was willing to do anything on the call just to feel the accomplishment of helping out becomes the crabby firefighter who just wants the end of the shift to get here. But why?
In slower departments you have a few options: you can make the most out of every shift, become comfortable and complacent where you are at, or be miserable until retirement.
In my opinion, why would you want to stay in a career that makes you miserable every shift? It may be time to find a new career. Plus, think of what type of damage that can do to a shift.
Make Every Call Perfect
It is human nature to want to be comfortable, and in a slower department, it can be very easy to fall into that mindset.
We tend to think, “Oh, that won’t happen here,” or “Why train on that, when was the last time we actually had that happen?” Or worst of all, “I already know how to do that.”
Sure, these firefighters may be able to do their jobs when the time comes and for the most part will perform OK on the basic calls. But what about those calls that aren’t so basic? You may have heard the line, “That call just didn’t go our way.” Which may be true, some calls you could run textbook perfect, but you still won’t get the desired outcome. But on others if you really break them down and look into them, there is probably something that could’ve been done differently and that is unacceptable especially when the public counts on us to perform at our best.
Like Chief John Eversole from the Chicago Fire Department once said, “Our department takes 1,120 calls every day. Do you know how many of the calls the public expects perfection on? 1,120. Nobody calls the fire department and says, ‘Send me two dumb-ass firemen in a pickup truck.’ In three minutes they want five brain-surgeon decathlon champions to come and solve all their problems.”
I believe it was on one of Chief Rick Laskey and Chief John Salka’s Old School podcast episodes where they mentioned something like the busier the department is the more they seem to train. This may seem crazy. How are these departments running multiple fires a day finding the time and energy to train? I think it is because those departments are so busy, they are just used to being in the zone and constantly on the go. It is similar to when you are busy in the middle of a big project where you barely want to take time away from it to eat, or in the middle of a good book and can’t seem to put it down knowing that if you stop your progress it may be difficult to get up and going again.
Attitude Matters
So how can we in a slower department maintain that motivation? The answer is fairly easy: attitudes. Attitudes are contagious, and if we keep the attitude and the mindset of being the type of responders that we would want showing up to our emergency, it would go a long way.
If you think about it, what is our excuse in a slower fire department for not training? We shouldn’t suffer from burnout due to exhaustion from running multiple calls. We have the time to prepare for our difficult calls. We have the time to spend drilling on the training grounds.
For some, this attitude and mindset will seem easier than for others. Yet we need people with this attitude in our fire service. This positive attitude comes naturally to them, as does a charismatic aura that surrounds them. As a leader, if this is not a personal trait, it is one that needs to be developed. These positive, charismatic leaders just need to keep on doing what they are doing: maintaining that positive role model attitude, learning every day, and striving to be the best fire professional that they can be.
This unique group is usually not pushy, forcing their mindset on the other members, but rather inviting while letting each individual make the decision for themselves that they want to become better. When you start to see people making that choice, that is true buy-in.
Yes, sometimes people are just plain stubborn and almost fight the positive agenda, but over time these people become a minority in a department and will either fall off or begin to follow the majority. Nobody wants to be seen as the weak link.
Never Stop Learning
Learn something every shift. Today, we have so much information from podcasts, social media, and YouTube, that it is kind of a double-edged sword. We have thousands of tips, tricks, and tactics at our fingertips.
However, we also have to be cognizant that we separate the fluff from what is actually pertinent in our own specific situation. Master the basic skills that we use on every fire. We should approach these skills in a crawl, walk, run fashion. Sometimes when it comes to firefighter training, we like to jump right to the Instagram-worthy advanced skills when we are unable to consistently tie a simple halyard with gloves on or start flowing water within 90 seconds after the air brakes are set.
For example, it may seem like stretching a preconnect line in the parking lot is monotonous, but once we can constantly deploy said preconnect without a problem in the parking lot, start adding in obstacles. Once we get efficient with the obstacles, start adding in distractions. Progressively get more and more difficult.
When we do this, we are freeing up more bandwidth in our brain for the more difficult task by being able to run on autopilot for the basic skills. That will make our difficult calls seem easier and our basic bread-and-butter calls seem like a walk in the park.
Understanding the “why” in our tactics is huge, too. Resources like UL FSRI are great tools in understanding the “why.” They break the information down and make it easy to understand while backing the topics with scientific evidence. Once we understand the “why we do things,” we are able to make sound decisions when we are presented with different situations. The goal is to have firefighters who are critical thinkers and completely understand the ins and outs of the job.
Luckily for us, with a little creativity, we can turn anything into a training opportunity. The easiest training topic library is parked right out in our truck bays. The apparatus and tools could be a specific training topic. Talk about the specific capabilities of each truck: what is the tank capacity, what is the length of our hose beds for estimated stretches, what’s the scrub for the ladder? Open a compartment, grab a tool or saw, talk about the capabilities: what’s the mechanical advantage when using the fork end of the Halligan, what type of chain does it have, how to start the saw if it’s flooded.
On EMS assist calls, while walking up to the residential structure, try to guess the layout and floor plan from what you see on the outside and confirm your thoughts when we go inside. If you really stop and think about it, the training opportunities seem endless.
Fire alarms—oh man, don’t get me started—consider it as a dress rehearsal for the “big one.” Obviously, we treat every fire alarm expecting fire and victims, but when we find out it is a false alarm due to burned food or some other reason, take that opportunity to turn it into a training session.
Talk about apparatus placement. Stretch a line. Just pulling a preconnect to the front door of a building other than your station can be hugely beneficial. Look for the FDC and talk about how you would connect to it. What would you set the pumps at if the fire was on a certain floor? On a ladder, practice setting it up and going to the roof. Or just simply practice coming up with a game plan for that occupancy. What are the hazards? How would we search or evacuate the structure? Where is the riser located? Utilize these calls to smooth out all the wrinkles in your plans prior to the real deal.
Even if you aren’t constantly busy doing the cool stuff that you see in the movies, it doesn’t mean that you can’t prepare for that once-in-a-career call. Those calls that seemed “inconvenient” at times might not be so bad after all; you just have to look at them in a different light. Keep the positive attitude strong, and others will follow.
–Stay Safe–
BIO:
Lt. Jake Jorgenson has served 14 years with Watertown Fire Rescue in Watertown, South Dakota. He holds an associates degree from Lake Area Technical College from the Med Fire Rescue Program. He instructs FF I and FF II classes at the Lake Area Technical College Med Fire Rescue Program.
Photo by Ian D. Keating PxHere
