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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

Experience based training

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The best training come from experience. Experiences in the fire service need to be shared from one fireman to another. The only thing better than receiving this shared knowledge is to experience the basis for it first hand.  As my department’s current training officer, I’m responsible for making sure that everyone gets the appropriate training they need. In the case of this evening, that’d be some SCBA familiarization and “confidence” training. It is rare in the academies that my department’s personnel go to, to experience a sucking face mask from running out of air, let alone what it’s like for the vibralert to go off. I do not condone spending so much time in an IDLH environment that you run out of air, but you need to know what it’s like so you can train on what your actions will be before you run out.

 

This evening I took 2 of our younger guys who know the basics about the air packs, but don’t have any real experience in their use, and I got them just that… some experience. We started off with “2-minute” drills where they are supposed to put on all their gear (and SCBA) properly in 2 minutes or less. These drills help get the mind set of putting the gear on fast, and right the first time. Unfortunately, even though they both were familiar with their gear, they couldn’t hit the 2 minute benchmark. Since they were geared up, I figured now would be a good time for them to gain experience using the SCBA while “in motion”. We have a fairly sizeable parking lot here, so I was able to set them out (as a team) and walk/jog around the lot. They had a few questions, like how to hook up the EBBS and how that part of the system worked. So, myself and the Lieutenant showed them and explained it to them. Since the question was raised, they got to see what it was like to “share” a bottle. They were impressed by the amount of time they were able to continue jogging and still have air.

 

Learning about the EBBS

 

They were both eager to learn and were actually disappointed when the bottle went dry and they had to stop. They both have potential. They just need to stay focused. Now that all the equipment has been placed back in service, and we haven’t had a run since early this afternoon when our part-time medic crew was on, it’s time to wind down so I can get ready for a long day ahead of me, 24 more hours (7am – 7am) of providing Fire and Rescue (EMS) services to the community.

Posted by on January 14, 2012 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Technology & Communications, Training, Training & Development, 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