We will now bring you a diatribe from our frustrated author:
I am sick and tired of hearing that the fire service needs to change our culture. It’s what “Everyone Goes Home” is about, it’s in the 16 life safety inititives, and hords of folks come out an comment when ever there is a LODD that we need to “Change the Culture of the Fire Service.”
If the culture they are talking about is the one filled with out-of-shape men and women who have signed on because they want to carry a badge and a pager, and wear shirts that say something like, “I fight what you fear,” while driving 63mph on a county road to get to a call, I agree. That is rarely what they are talking about. What they say is that we need to avoid things like, “Duty to Die Syndrome” and use “Victim Survivability Profiling” to determine if people can be alive before WE commit to the inside.
&^%$ me, are we serious? Firefighting is a combat position. If you don’t want to go into combat you don’t join the military. If you don’t want to risk YOUR life in a burning building don’t join the fire service. For the love of the memory of every firefighter who has perished in the line of duty please STOP advocating risk adverse policies and ideas in the name of safety.
If you want to be safe acknowldge that this job places the same physical strain on us as Navy SEALS are expected to cope with (12 METS during both firefighter and combat swimming operations). Train like a professional going into harms way!
If we want to truly reduce fireground injuries and fatalities let’s start training our people to where they are physically incapable of making mistakes in the basic skills. “Amateurs train until they get it right; professionals train until they can’t get it wrong.” You know what happens when throwing a 24′ two-stage ladder by yourself becomes instinctive? You can use your brain to worry about maintaining Situational Awareness and Sizing-Up the building. You know what happens when you have drilled on SCBA emergency procedures a 1000 times? When you have a problem you don’t freak out and enter the cascading series of failure that comes with a run-away Sympathetic Nervous System reaction.
Let’s quit tip-toeing around the facts, If YOU are unwilling to train until you can’t get it wrong, maintain a level of fitness that with help you excel on the fireground, AND risk yourself because those neighbors we serve need US to do it… THEN LEAVE. There are other ways to lend a helping hand. Volunteer with the Red Cross, help out at a Hospital, participate in a clothing drive, but please, for &^$# sake get out of the fire service.
Own this job. Own your responsibility to your neighbors. Own your responsibility to your brothers and sisters.
We now resume our regular programing.
Bravo Chris, Bravo!! *standing ovation* Way to start the year off right
"12 METS – "
"Sympathetic Nervous System reaction."
Damn Chris, I thought I was the only one who considered tossing those terms into fire service writing. Nice job in getting the point – own the job – across.
Hit the nail on the head… again. Of all of the initiatives in the fire service, this is the one we should be pushing. Exactly what you talk about is exactly what will save lives (civilian and firefighter). Thanks Brother.
Are you running for public office any time soon? I'd like to be your campaign manager! Great stuff once again!
Bro, If we ever meet I'm giving you a big hug and buying you a beer! Guys like you have the balls to call it like you see it and there are a few people out there that actually appreciate it! A 320 lb. fireman standing in the front yard with an SCBA half way on (waist strap doesnt reach!) is a scary site and quite honestly, embarrassing. This is most likely the same guy that thinks training is dumb because "we already know how to do that"… The 16 LSI should be reduced to four… 1.Eat better, 2. Exercise and get stronger, 3. Learn the job and train every day, 4. Love the job and train every day.
Amen!
Proud to see others unafraid to express what's truly on their mind…well said brother, keep preaching.
Fracking "A", Brother…. your assessment is balls on accurate
Amen Brother….Well said!
Yep, that nailed it. Well stated, well said, and well understood!!
After 21 years in being in Busy Companies… I Truely Believe my Extensive Training and Going to Seminars kept me alive. I Understood this from the beginning This was Dangerous and met the demand…But the Culture is the Problem!!! We have people here for a check and not for task at hand….Just my take on it???
This pretty well sums it up.. Now lets get everyone to post this in their firehouse.
W Benner
F&%$ me! Right on brother~
Chris,
As usual another thought provoking piece. I agree so much with the training until you can't get it wrong. Hell I might even still your words for an upcoming Leadership Development program I am putting together for our group of current and soon to be promoted leaders. This is the stuff we are trying to get imbedded in the new lads brains as they enter our great career. Thanks for helping get those thoughts out there.
I can't speak right now…you said everything that needed to be said.
Outstanding post!
Better words couldn't be said!
Chris,
I could'nt agree more. You and I have had this chat before. I have a thought or two, Lets train like we operate, profile buildings,someone had to light the thing so the possibility of the building being inhabited is high. To use that risk benefit "MATRIX" risk alot to save alot. Know the two things to keep us alive BUILDING CONSTRUCTION & FIRE BEHAVIOR !!!!!! it drives me nuts that in this day and age we pay lip service to this Noble profession yet dont bother to know thw two life safety inititives that will get us home alive. Ok I'm done for know, Be safe
I agree with you that firefighting is an inherently dangerous profession due to the nature of the work, and that if you choose to do this type of work you have to be willing to accept the risks that come with the job. I believe a big part of why people are involved in firefighting is that they believe the benefits to their fellow citizens outweigh the personal risks to themselves. That being said, I'm not sure why you are opposed to initiatives that have the intent to make firefighting safer for the firefighter. To me it sounds like you are still in the days of smokeeaters and people blindly running into fires. What is wrong with properly analyzing a situation to determine if the perceived benefits outweigh the risks to the firefighter. I have been a firefighter and paramedic for 14 years. Certainly if there is any chance to preserve a life I would have no hesitation to enter a structure to do a search. But I certainly have no desire to risk my life trying to enter a structure that was already lost before our arrival and any occupants would have perished long before we arrived. I'm not trying to diminish the bravery of those firefighters who gave their lives in the line of duty. But we shouldn't glorify their deaths like you are trying to do. A community doesn't want it's firefighters to die for them. Yes we should remember the bravery of fallen firefighters, but also learn from those tragedies to make certain that we all come home. I for one take great pride in the work I do as a firefighter and paramedic, but if there are things we can do that will help us return to our loved ones, I'm not sure why you would be fighting this.
David S,
Really? Did you read the post at all? Where in the post does it glorify the deaths of firefighters? I read over the post several times after reading your comment just to make sure I didn't miss something in there. The post is about TRAINING.
Try this, intimately rectify yourself, then correct the cranio/rectal inversion that you are experiencing, then read the post again. If my 13 year old can comprehend the post, then a salty 14 year veteran that takes such great pride in his work should have no issue.
I'm not anonymous, Peter L says
Thanks for your thoughts. I enjoy reading your blog and the comments that follow. Perhaps it's the like-minded mentality regarding unmotivated individuals that fail to present the courtesy of preparation…complacent individuals that present more of a liability on the scene than contribution, but I digress…David S' comment above exemplifies the expected knee-jerk reactionary mentality that unfortunately dominates the discourse surrounding emergency services policy making discussions today. David S is right, but you can't fault him or the rest of the sheep for not understanding the warrior mentality.
While some may feel that providing the standard of care consistent with the local statutes as a moral remedy for inaction in the face of danger, I find that David S's ideal of self-preservation is mildly overreaching the duty to PREPARE and TRAIN every day like your life depends on it!!!
I find it offensive when I see an overweight and undertrained slob in turnout gear…why? Because this individual did not have the common decency to spend some time exercising or training, and my life is further endangered by the same offense. Firefighting is not a communicable disease, it's not a genetic ailment. You don't wake up one morning to find yourself suddenly stricken with "firefighter", and now must learn how to live with it. Complacency however, is a conscious choice, made every moment, to disregard the safety of everyone around you, and to label yourself as a liability. It is a choice to NOT train, and a choice to NOT exercise.
God bless you for your efforts and contribution to hold back to tidal wave of pussification-by-policy-making of the fire service.
Mike E
I hope your 13 year old doesn't take after you when learning the proper way to have a discussion or debate. Debating ideas and challenging statements is one thing, but personal attacks on an individual for stating an opinion is rather quite childish and makes me question your social skills. But I'm sure you felt quite good about yourself at the time. But I digress…
I read the post several times as well. The section where the author promotes proper training as a means to reduce risk, injuries, and fatalities to firefighters was great. The part I was mainly commenting on are the parts which seem to suggest that firefighting is a "macho" job and firefighters should be willing to risk their lives at all costs. The comments by the author that raised my attention included: "What they say is that we need to avoid things like, "Duty to Die Syndrome" and use "Victim Survivability Profiling" to determine if people can be alive before WE commit to the inside." and "For the love of the memory of every firefighter who has perished in the line of duty please STOP advocating risk adverse policies and ideas in the name of safety." Again, what is so bad about training officers and firefighters to properly assess a scenario and if the benefits (saving a life or property) outweigh the risks to firefighters, then yes a direct interior attack is warranted. I don't know how many times I read about firefighters dying inside abandoned warehouses. Where is the value in losing a firefighter for that?
David S. posted
"I have been a firefighter and paramedic for 14 years. Certainly if there is any chance to preserve a life I would have no hesitation to enter a structure to do a search. But I certainly have no desire to risk my life trying to enter a structure that was already lost before our arrival and any occupants would have perished long before we arrived'.
Imagine if you took that approach at a medical call..
Your patient is dying but does not have a valid DNR.. and has AIDS, MRSA and CDiff as well.. he's "circling the drain".. so why bother treating him?
Your paramedic certification would disappear in an instant.
Brothers and sisters,
We are all on the same page here but we all talk about it a little differently. I know Chris very well, we go back a ways and have had this discussion many times.
It is all about how we size up that building, the number of factors we take into account to make the go / no go decision. Perhaps "vicitim survivability profiling" is a bit myopic and does not take all factors available into account. It is a foundation for the decision making process that each of us needs to make before we commit to a structure under attack by an unconfined fire. I do not believe Chris is advocating the "Duty to Die" syndrome. What he and I do believe in is training, understanding construction, understanding fire behavior, practicing skills, talking with your still and mutual aid response companies, knowing your response areas and understanding the abilities and limitations of your equipment and your crew.
Gordon Grahm always reminds us of "Recognition Primed Decision Making" that picture file in our brain of things we have seen and done before and the outcomes we experienced based on the decisions we make. We need to review case history, good and bad and learn from the successes and failures of us and others. Do the fire service a favor, honor those that have fallen and those that have been injured by learning all that you can from their experiences so that we can prevent as many reoccurances as possible.
As David S suggests, we need to understand when too much is too much. When to say NO! Sometimes it takes more heart and guts to draw the line and say enough has been lost. The old adage "Risk a little to save a little…Risk alot to save alot" is a principal I can live with if all the factors mentioned above are taken into account.
Chief Brunacini made a statement at a very early incident command class I attended as I was starting out as a volunteer. I still hold this belief today as a career firefighter/officer, "There are only two kinds of firefighters…professional and unprofessional. It does not matter whether you get paid or not it is how you treat the job. You can choose to be professional and learn all you can about the job or you can wear the T-shirt and the hat and look for a discount at the local burger joint." Chose to be a professional or has my friend Chris says a Fire Service Warrior.
Stay safe
Doug
Kudo's Chris for your thought's. It's true what Mac & Double EE have said – This job is like going to war, so why not prepare ourselves for battle – If your not willing to learn as much as possible about the enemy, then stay home!
Next time we cross paths, the pint is on me!
This is dead on how every fireman should treat the profession everyday.I see the "T-shirters" all the time and nothing makes me more angry as that does. It's a disgrace to the Fire Service, their Department, themselves, and ultimately the community they are supposed to protect. If you can't do the job how it was meant to be done when the Fire Service was created, then as you stated in your article find yourself a new profession. The mission of the Fire Service is to protect lives and property, not keep the homeowner company as his or her house burns down. When someone meets you outside and says their brother or sister are trapped inside and you say it's not worth the effort or too risky; you just caused a huge disgrace towards the Fire Service and every fireman that has died in the line of duty. You have to make every effort to get in there and get them even if it includes risking your ass or your fellow brother's or sister's ass. Learn your job and do it how it's meant to be done.
People need to learn to keep it short and sweet… i dont care if your black, white, fat, skinny, chinese, american, or purple for christ sakes! if you can pass a phisical and a mental evaluation and do the job you signed up to do without making the fire service look like a bunch of idots then thats fine if not QUIT. ITS THAT GOD DAMN SIMPLE!!!
I don’t think I’ve ever heard the Everyone Goes Home advocates ever say that firefighters should not train or prepare for the challenges of firefighting or that firefighters should not go into a burning building. Ignorant statements like “Quit Telling Me to Change My Culture” demonstrate the little you know about the first of the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives. The fact is that the initiative says to “Define and advocate the need for a cultural change within the fire service RELATING TO SAFETY; incorporating leadership, management, supervision, accountability and personal responsibility”.
The Culture they are talking about is the culture that thinks that it’s okay to have firefighters die, a culture that that is willing to believe its own rhetoric and yet is unwilling to knock on a door and tell a survivor their loved one is not coming home because after all that’s what the signed up for just like the Navy Seals that die for their country.
Training being fit, driving responsibly and wearing a seat belt are all things that the fire service should be doing. Going in and putting out a fire is what we do and the willingness to risk a firefighter’s life should only be reserved for those incidents when there is a citizens life at stake. I don’t know which branch of military service Chris served in but I can guarantee that the command team that sent Navy Seal Team 6 to extract Osama Bin Laden did so because the risk was worth the potential loss of the brave men that got him. That’s right, they made a risk assessment, the same risk adverse policies that save the lives of our men in women in Afghanistan and any other combat situations every day.
Firefighting is not complicated, however it requires teamwork. Learn the basics , refine what you have learned and learn more. I retired from the fires-service 9 years ago after 40 years. (Baltimore City) I Worked in both engine and truck companies. In Baltimore we had pride in aggressive firefighting, using proper ventilation and proper placement of hose lines. On a dwelling when advancing a hose line to the fire, I knew that the roof was going to be opened, windows would be coming out and the smoke was going to clear. Many civilians are alive today because of aggressive firefighting tactics. The premise of aggressive .firefighting contain the fire keep it small , search and rescue!
Thought it was interesting that after several months this post has re-surfaced. Let me add a few things to all the comments above.
I am an Advocate for the 16 LSI. Yes the can seem vauge, but that’s sorta the point. This way they can be adopted by any shape, size or type of fire department. I also fully believe in the FSW Ethos. So where do I stand? Their are 2 times when you get to volunteer in this profession (career and vollie), once when you sign up and the other is when you leave. Everything in between is mandatory. Did you have to pass a test when you signed up?Then you should have to be able to pass it time and time again.Whether its a physical or skills test, the standard shouldnt change, yet it does. Why? THE CULTURE. Once your accepted, your in and in for life if you choose. You did make the choice to be apart of this organization, it’s all or nothing.
Now a little on culture and this is from my point of view. The culture change that is needed, which culture is defined as a groups behaviors and/or beliefs, the fire service stays the same as the world around us changes. The fires of 40 years ago are not the fires of today. The fires of tomorrow will be even different. Yet we the fire service “run in as everyone else is rushing out, to put the wet stuff on the red stuff”.
WE need to put the SERVICE back into the FIRE SERVICE. Do what is best for the customer, you know those people that buy us the gear and trucks and tools to SERVE THEM, and for some PAY US! If the best way to serve them is to make a calculated move, which includes properly trained and equipped personnel, at a high risk level to protect and save life, then that is what is needed. If all we are going to do is waste time, money, resources and create false hope be committing personnel to a situation that gains no benefit, then why do it.
The fire service beliefs must make a shift. Perceptions and beliefs are skewed when it comes to the culture change. I believe that the FSW concept and movement is where I need to thrive, but how do you change the hearts and minds of 1.5 million men and women? Most would look at the FSW Ethos with shock. The 16 LSI is more of a baby step approach and can be more tangible. Should Firefighters be Warriors? I say hell yes, but how do we get there?
Preach, preacher!
What a great article I remember coming out of the academy and getting the whole risk benefit analysis driven into my thick skull and one day I was riding with a Captain that had 30 plus on the job and he just as nicely as a captain can say “wow thing have changed when I came to work here they told me if someone is inside you go inside if you die doing that …thats your job” Now in saying this I want to say we have to become a “smarter” fire service and you hit the key point Master you job save yourself while protecting others thanks for your article definetely a much needed kick in the pants.
PS this will get posted in the station Thanks
Chris,
I am sorry to be a year late to this discussion, but since your interesting column has been making the rounds again, I thought I would provide some input.
As one of the architects of Everyone Goes Home® and the 16 Life Safety Initiatives, you may be surprised to know I agree with a great deal of what you have written here. You have hit on key points that the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the EGH program have identified as crucial to reducing the number of firefighters who die in the line of duty each year.
1. Heart attacks and strokes kill more firefighters than anything else. Too many firefighters are overweight and out of shape. Proper exercise, together with a healthy, well-balanced diet may be the two most important things that firefighters can do to stay safe.
2. Training constantly is vitally important to firefighter survival.
3. A lack of situational awareness is a key factor in many line-of-duty deaths.
In fact Chris, it appears you only left out a few items from the agenda we have at NFFF. Key among them is encouraging firefighters to wear their seat belts and to drive responsibly. As you know, vehicle accidents are the second leading cause of death and injury for firefighters. With your influence in the fire service, we would love to have you take part in one of our videos encouraging firefighters to buckle up.
In addition, we encourage the fire service to promote the use of fire sprinklers and fully participate in community risk reduction efforts. Risks to firefighters are greatly diminished when there are fewer fires to fight. Taking your lead and making a military comparison, this is similar to how the U.S. Military has worked to improve the infrastructure of the cities, towns and villages they have fought so hard to liberate.
The real purpose of EGH and the 16 LSI is to serve as a blueprint to prevent line-of-duty deaths. The initiatives are not intended to tell anyone how to be a firefighter. Instead, we want firefighters thinking, each and every day about what it is they do and how they can work smarter toward the most important job of the fire service, the preservation of life.
The fire service leaders who helped create EGH and 16 LSI, never for a moment wanted firefighters to stop being firefighters. But we have learned from reading the details of hundreds of line-of-duty deaths that firefighters continue to die needlessly because the same mistakes, some of which you pointed out, are made over and over again.
One of our most recent efforts is the video with the Chicago Fire Department released just before the end of last year. Commissioner Robert Hoff and the men and woman of CFD shared their stories and the lessons they have learned after some of their colleagues were killed or seriously injured. FDNY helped us produce a similar video and another one is in the works. These films, featuring leaders from the front lines, are an important element of EGH.
Where we seem to differ is I don’t see how helping firefighters learn from these mistakes with EGH is a bad thing. In fact, the expansion of EGH across the country has coincided with a three year downward trend of firefighter fatalities, which I know you will agree is a good thing.
One of the biggest threats to firefighters is putting on the blinders. It happens when we demonize and polarize. We want firefighters to be armed with the best information available to help them do their jobs. That won’t come from a steady diet of just EGH or by only paying attention to the Fire Service Warrior and no one else. It comes from firefighters and fire service leaders who use critical thinking to absorb the best of what’s out there and putting it into practice on each response.
In other words, we should be taking in all of this information with an open mind. Using the best of it to make our departments better, and in the process helping to reduce injuries and deaths for the public and firefighters, while still doing the job we signed up to do. To me, that is the culture of firefighting.
I invite you to contact me directly and/or any of our Everyone Goes Home® leadership or advocates to share your ideas on how we can make these important lessons from EGH even better. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts.
Sincerely,
Ron Siarnicki
Executive Director, National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
I have to agree with the article too. NOW having said that I also have to say as in all things Balance is the key. We must remember that there is a fine line (a razors edge if you will) between Hero and Zero. I am all for agressive (Pit Bull) Firefighting, but that is no good wihtut discipline. Never underestimate the power of a measured responce. That is not to say WE SHOULD NOT OVERPOWER the FIRE, Matter of Fact Safe Firefighting is EFFECTIVE firefighting. Go Heavy (water) early, put the Fire out and 99% of the safety problem goes away (paraphrasing here).
While I do believe in TONS of TRAINING here, I do have to speak up against the often popular “Rookie Roast”, Yes we need to give our recruits realistic training, but when we DO STUPID and EXCESSIVE stuff to affirm our MACHONESS, all that comes of that are further restrictions and Black Bunting. Be Smart, Train Hard, BUT BE SMART.
Holy crap what a breath of fresh air. Nicely said my brother. We need more leaders with your attitude at the top, in the middle and everywhere else in the fire service. You speak the truth about what has needed to be said for so long. Too many departments try to safety us out of a job and are more worried about putting up caution tape and wearing their safety vests than doing the job and doing what needs to be done. Don’t stop spreading the word of firefighting being a combat position.