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Happy St. Patricks Day

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I hope everyone is getting to enjoy the holiday. Unfortunately for me I’m at work again tonight. I work for a correctional facility as a “Medic”, so tonight is sure to be interesting to say the least. I’ve been fairly fortunate in the past in having St. Patty’s off, unfortunately due to needing off next weekend to go to New York, I had to work this one.

A buddy of mine is going with me up to NYC next week. His cousin works for the FDNY, so we’re going to visit him and hopefully get to hang out and talk with those Brothers for a while. He’s been planning the majority of the trip since he’s been up there before (this will be my first ever trip to New York), so I’m not exactly sure what sites I’m going to be getting to see. I’m excited to say the least!!

The fire house has been busy the last few weeks with both calls and paperwork. I’m in the process of trying to identify and plan for my Training budget request for 2012-2013. So far it’s been a mess. I’m trying to involve the members in process by getting them to talk to me about what kind of training they need or want in the next year as well as what kind of fire ground/training experiences they have. Out of 25 active members, I’ve only heard from 3. As a member and an officer, I’ve grown tired of aimless, BS, last minute training that was not effective. I’m attempting to do better than that, but I’m having trouble due to the fact that I can’t get the members motivated to help themselves. If anyone has any suggestions on how to help motivate members when it comes to training, I’m all ears.

Recruitment for our department has gone to the way side in the last year or so due to a variety of reasons. We’re currently in the process of getting our department website back up and running and updated on a regular basis, as well as planning on going to local colleges and high schools to try to recruit from there. Something that I’ve been interested in trying to get going for a while now is a Live-In program. I’ve noticed other departments have had great success with such programs, and want to try to see if such a program could take off here as well. If any one has any first hand knowledge, or has SOPs about such programs, I’d love to talk to you about it.

Everyone enjoy what’s left of the evening. Have a drink for me, but don’t drive!

Posted by on March 17, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, Training, Training & Development, Uncategorized

Individual Responsibility of an Officer

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Fire officers have a wide variety of responsibilities. They range from in house duties to on scence duties. Everything from making sure that the reports get completed, to crew training and cleaning to making sure that a crew stretches the appropriate attack line properly as ordered, to commanding the scene just to name a few. Most officers, especially in a volunteer system, have other responsibilities such as meetings and committees that fall on days other than their duty. If an officer fails to attend one of these meetings they miss out on the opportunity to gain insight to new happenings, potential changes in SOPs or protocols, or they miss out on training that they can’t get another way. I very recently had a subordinate officer make a remark on a social networking site about the lack of a reminder for a meeting he was supposed to be in attendence for. When did the fire service begin being a hand-holding service?

My parents raised me to be responsible for my activities.  Track, Cross Country, working part time, Firefighter and EMT classes…. all were activities that I took part in while in high school. I was responsible to know where I was supposed to be and when. If I missed something, or there was a conflict – I had to be responsible for making the appropriate notifications to my boss, coach or instructor that I couldn’t be present and explain why. Now that I’m a “boss” I’m responsible for being on time for meetings, duty, training classes and committee meetings. If I can’t be present I HAVE to make other arrangements, whether that means getting someone else to cover for me, or rescheduling.

Are there any others having issues with officers not being responsible for themselves and their time? Does anyone have any advice on how to approach this issue? Because my parents taught me, I’m at a loss at how to approach this. What I’m afraid of is that this attitude of “Oh well” will begin to permeate through the ranks of the members and then there will be problems of no one taking responsibility for anything.

Posted by on March 15, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Health & Safety, EMS Topics, Fire Prevention & Education, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Funding & Staffing, Training, Training & Development, Uncategorized

A Few Busy Weeks

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The last few weeks have been busy. Vehicle accidents, one with hazmat involved, lots of EMS calls, working both jobs in addition to duty, and doing training classes. Training is an aspect of the fire service that I’m beginning to really get into. I’ve come to learn that the training that is done at the academy,or basic classes is not adequate for the world we operate in. The training for new people coming into the Volunteer fire service starts the day they become a member, not 3 months later when they start their official training classes.

I recently reconstructed my department’s ‘New Member Training’ that was originally put together approximately 15 years ago. In the last 3 or 4 years the department has gotten away from conducting this training relying on duty crew officers to make sure that the necessary information is taught. It’s been apparent that this isn’t happening though. Members not knowing what officer is in charge of what, where and how to use map books, or major streets in our first due area is a problem. A problem that can begin to be solved with proper education.

Beyond the initial training/certification of members, it is necessary for all of us to continue training. This training can consist of attending new and higher certification classes, or crew level training honing your skills in the basics – throwing ladders, stretching hoselines, extrication….. The low frequency tasks. When your crew/department trains, is it all classroom with no practical application of skills, or do you you get out and practice the skills that are rare for us to do?

In the past, my department has focused more on the classroom than the actual skill, however,now that I’m in charge of training this year I’m focusing on changing that. I hope to update (and seek advice) as we progress this year…

If you live in southwest Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky – be careful tonight and into tomorrow,as they are forecasting 4 – 8 inches of wet snow in the Roanoke area through Monday morning.

Posted by on February 18, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, Firefighting Operations, Fires, Funding & Staffing, Special Operations, Training, Training & Development, Uncategorized

What’s an emergency?

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I know that my 7.5 years pales in comparison to many of those that are on the Job currently, but I feel like I have seen my share of “emergencies” in this time. What constitutes an emergency though?

Merriam-Webster defines an emergency as “an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action”.

We’ve all been there – 2am, at the nursing home for “unusual labs” but the patient states they don’t really want to be transported – but their Doc says they have to. Yea, it gets frustrating, especially when they’ve had the labs for the past 18 hours and are just now calling us, but I’m not physician. Hell, I haven’t even finished college. I can read, and can see what the lab report says, but that doesn’t mean I would truly understand what it means. The other portion of this side of the spectrum are the patients who have a  broken nail (I have been dispatched to a call for a broken finger nail). We get these calls from years of telling patients “We’re here for you, calls us if you need us” or similar statements. We are here for the public, but phrases like these lead to over worked 911 systems. I’ve been told by a close friend that a large metropolitan area (not in VA) that utilizes a priority/triage based system of receiving and dispatching emergency calls. This method of dispatching helps to ensure that the most critical patients receive the most appropriate care as fast a possible, while more stable patients receive it as units are available. Now, I’m not familiar with this set up personally, so if someone has personal knowledge of it, please let me know.

What really brings this question to mind tonight isn’t the overworked EMS system, but the fact that I received a phone call the other evening from a family friend about an odor of gas in her house. She was calling me because her husband was out of town and she knows I’m a firefighter. Well, I was at work so there wasn’t much I could do for her personally. My response was simple – get out and call 911. Sure, it may just be a pilot light out, or something arbitrary like that, but why risk it? She wasn’t too keen on calling 911. As a firefighter with access to gas monitors and PPE, the odor of gas isn’t as great a concern to me. But for an average person it should be considered an emergency. Same as a CO detector going off should be an emergency (unless its a low battery alert which is a different noise from an alarm).

I have met more people on fire service calls apologizing for calling 911 and having us come out than any other call type. I look at it from the stand point that if you call because your CO detector is going off, or you have an odor of smoke or gas then calling us is a preventative measure. Similar to going and getting a yearly physical. Why put yourself at risk? We are here to serve the citizens, tax-paying or otherwise.

The public calls on us - Firefighters, EMTs, Medics – to come and assist them with something that they perceive to be an emergency, whether we see it as such or not is a different matter.

What is an emergency? Who decides?

Posted by on January 27, 2012 • Filed under: Command & Leadership, Fire Dispatch, Fire Prevention & Education, Funding & Staffing, Training, Training & Development, Uncategorized

A Long Weekend

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This past weekend I had a 36 hour duty crew at the station. The Friday shift was short an operator for the engine, and I had my 24 hour crew on Saturday, so I decided to give them a hand and stay over night (mostly so I didn’t have to get up at 6am to be at duty at 7). Friday was uneventful with the only thing going on was some training.

Saturday evening we held our annual officer installation dinner. This year it was decided to keep it a little more “low-key” and hold the dinner at the station allowing us to remain available for calls. This was beneficial due to the fact that one of the other departments in our area was having their installation dinner the same evening. I’d like to welcome Lieutenant Davies into the ranks of being an officer this year. He’s been with the department for about 3 years now, and has been progressing in levels of responsibility. I wish him the best of luck as he takes over being our EMS officer.

 

Saturday evening continued without anything going on. Sunday morning, however, is a slightly different story. Curly woke me up at about 0415am wanting to know “did you hear that call that just went out?” No, I was sleeping. As it turned out one of our neighboring stations in Botetourt had a fire at a gas station/convenience store. Thankfully no one was inside at the time. Due to the amount of fire and type construction, the IC called for additional manpower which added our Wagon crew to the call. The fire was knocked down by the time we got there, but we were assigned to division two to take out some ceiling and wall to extinguish any hidden fire. About a year ago I purchased a New York roof hook from Leatherhead Tools and had endured ribbing for doing so, but this tool proved its worth on this fire by tearing through the lathe and plaster faster and easier than all the other pike poles and axes on the floor. I’d also bought some products from MN8 (FoxFire Illumination) that were in use by me and FF Thompson (AKA – D.D.) on this fire, however I wasn’t able to get any “action” photos. Both companies products worked as expected, and then some. Unfortunately for the hook, it experienced a failure of the tube, but after talking to the company today they are going to look into why it failed and work on replacing it. I’ve always been of the opinion that as long as a tool is being used “properly” and it breaks then it’s just a cost of doing the job. Rob with Leatherhead Tools was very helpful and understanding. The FoxFire Tets on D.D.’s helmet helped me keep up with his location on the line, and in the rooms with me, even for the smoke and steam. I love their products, and so do all the guys at my station who I’ve shared the helmet Tets with. Clean up was quick and easy for us since we were called only for manpower. Topped off air bottles, washed the packs, tools and gear and packed it up for the next call.

 

I was told by a Captain on scene that the original parts of the building were something like 150 years old… built sometime around the 1860′s. I’m not sure how accurate this information is, but if it’s really that old, I’m very humbled. A building even 100 years old in as good of condition as it seemed to be to me.. wow.

I hope the owners/employees are able to get back on their feet quickly from this, and I’m again thankful no one was inside when the fire broke out and none of my Brother firefighters were injured.

 

Posted by on January 19, 2012 • Filed under: Command & Leadership, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fires, News, Uncategorized

Let’s get started….

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New firefighters and EMTs start on the job with a career or volunteer department almost daily. Some of these people breeze into the job and right back out. Others stick around and love the job for what it is – helping others in their time of need.

I started on the job seven and a half years ago as a volunteer at my local fire/rescue department. I was 16 at the time and was not planning on anything more than some volunteer service to look good on a college application. Not being familiar with the traditions or the Brotherhood of the fire service, I wasn’t prepared for the years to come. There comes a time in every person’s life where they find their niche. The one thing that makes them happy, where they feel at ease and they enjoy going to “work”. Firefighting is my niche. It doesn’t pay my bills, but it helps others.

I am beginning my second year as an operational officer at my department. I’ve been Deputy Chief (3rd in command) for just over 9 months now, after previously holding the rank of Lieutenant. As these “promotions” have been thrust upon me, I’ve had to do a lot of adjusting and learning. There are things as a firefighter that you just never think of until you’re place in a position of leadership. These past months have been challenging, and I feel as though the next year will be even more so as I embark on both recruiting new members and retaining the ones we have already brought on, as well as trying to change the training and readiness mindset of my department.

In my short (and long) 7.5 years on the job I have had both the pleasure and displeasure of incidents that will be branded into my mind forever. As the new year turned over, I decided that it was time for me to begin a form of a record of some of incidents, how they affect me, my crews and my family. For those out there contemplating getting into the fire service, I want to share these experiences as straight forward as possible to help them know what they are getting into. I also want to share what I’ve learned as a young officer, so that hopefully others that are in similar positions as myself can learn from my mistakes. Above all else though, all of my opinions belong to me and me alone.

Posted by on January 13, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Health & Safety, Fire Dispatch, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fires, Funding & Staffing, Training, Training & Development, Wildland