By Deputy Chief Billy Goldfeder, E.F.O.
FireFighterCloseCalls.com
 Photo Jamie Thompson Deputy Chief Goldfeder addresses a session at FDIC in Indianapolis in April this year. |
It seems that for Firefighters and Chiefs, things have not been real good lately ... related to more line-of-duty deaths. Maybe when it comes to structural firefighting, perhaps we just stop going in.
Never go in? Of course not. Well, then again, maybe that is the reality. Maybe that’s how it must be in some communities. After all, you cannot respond to a working house fire with occupants, a fire that absolutely requires 30 firefighters performing specific tasks (which is all pre-plannable and predictable and can’t be downgraded until we get there and determine the problem) and expect to have any level of success with only eight firefighters on your first alarm. It just won’t work. Maybe allowing your firefighters to “run right in” isn’t what the 1st due company does when other resources are not yet on the scene, or haven’t even been dispatched.
As a Chief, you MUST constantly think about what is worth it and what isn’t. This has nothing to do with your firefighters being brave, dedicated or courageous. It has everything to do with thinking about what you are allowing your personnel to do to get hurt or killed for — and what resources (including firefighters) are deployed to a 1st due fire. As Chief, you can ignore that stuff and hope it doesn’t happen or you can lead some cultural and organizational changes, including some that your firefighters absolutely will not like. Fires will still get put out. Lives will still be saved. Your firefighters will just be around longer to do what they do. Sometimes as a Chief you have to take extreme measures and make life-altering decisions to manage the risks your firefighters take for people. But not for those people’s belongings. It’s LIFE (very big letters) and property (small letters). But you knew that.
We have to always do our best to stop the fire -- and there are many ways that can be accomplished. Sometimes it may mean going in at great risk to your firefighters — and sometimes that is an acceptable risk. But sometimes it may mean not going in. The fire can still get put out. Heck, sometimes maybe the option is to run out of building. I didn’t write run out of the building, I wrote RUN OUT OF BUILDING. Meaning, there is nothing left to burn. Sound extreme? I can send you a list of Chiefs who would rather have run out of building on a very specific day than to run an LODD funeral. Naturally, we also have to continue to move forward and think about what is worth it and what isn’t when it comes to your responsibility in getting your firefighters hurt or killed. So how do you get “them” to get “it?”
Pictures in wallets
One thing that recently came to mind for me is to think about the people whose pictures are in your and our wallets. Think about who is in your wallet and in the wallets of those you work with at the firehouse. Sometimes you, as the Chief, have to risk your firefighters’ lives for people — that’s the nature of the business we are in. People trapped? Occupied building? Your members normally must take huge risks and we all understand what can happen. But we also have to look back and think about what is worth it and what isn’t.
In so many cases, it isn’t. Especially when talking about the things in people’s homes and structures compared to the people trapped in those structures. But even then, if there are not enough resources on your 1st alarm assignment to match and exceed the risk, you may not be able to provide the service levels that the community and elected officials fantasize they have. And speaking of that, as The Chief it is clearly your responsibility to keep your elected officials and community well aware of what capabilities your FD has — and what they may not be able to do. We cannot “do it all,” at least without the needed resources.
Make sure they understand what your FD capabilities are during budget time especially when swings, green ball parks and new police cars are being funded. Like most things, it’s all about choices. And as Chief, depending upon the choices your elected officials make, you then must make choices as far as what levels of service your FD can provide — and with that come risk management. It is critical to think and make tactical decisions based upon “who we are risking ... for what.” We are not advocating not ever going in. Not at all. We just have to do our absolute best to make sure the conditions, size-up and most critically the immediately available resources best match the actions being taken with regard to the firefighters that get sent in.
Planning ahead, determining available resources and making choices. That is what this year’s Fire/EMS Safety, Health and Survival Week is all about. Wellness, fitness and vehicle safety are this year’s focus in addition to what I discussed above. Wellness and fitness affect everyone, not just firefighters and EMS personnel. However, our personnel are subjected to much more than the typical person in our society and therefore attention to this issue is a critical requirement. By focusing on their wellness and fitness with specific programs, the pictures in the wallets of your firefighters smile a little bit more.
Another way to make the people in the wallet pictures smile? A strict and no-nonsense policy related to how your firefighters will operate and drive your emergency vehicles. And I purposely emphasize POLICY vs. GUIDELINES. Why? Policy should be looked upon as LAW. You must do it as stated, there is no other way. A GUIDELINE allows for some discretion by those who read or follow it. When it comes to driving your FD vehicles, Chief, what do you want? Do you want your officers, drivers and firefighters to have some discretion when it comes to seat belt use, vehicle speed, running red lights and stop signs? If so, what kind of discretion do you want or have? It’s a very gray area-and it doesn’t have to be. When it comes to the complete qualification, training and operations of any of your FD vehicles, make it POLICY with a clear understanding of what you expect, what the policy and laws are and what the consequences will be if those are not enforced (by the officers) and followed by the firefighters.
When it comes to firefighter safety, health and survival, the warm cozy “management by floating around, hugging everyone and asking their opinion in a democratic participatory manner” doesn’t always work. Sometimes, as the Chief, the communications must be clear, direct and no nonsense to insure your internal and external “customers” get what’s best for all affected. On the other hand, when it comes to developing those policies and setting up the training for that, there are few better ways than you and your department’s participation in this year’s Fire/EMS Safety, Health and Survival Week. Every possible resource is available to you, as The Chief, to do all that is possible to keep the wallet pictures smiling. No one else can have the impact that a Chief can when we want to — and the buck stops there.
Chief Billy Goldfeder, E.F.O. is a Deputy Chief of the Loveland-Symmes Fire Department, Ohio, is the Chair-I.A.F.C. Safety, Health & Survival Section and a member of the:
- Board of Directors-National Fallen Firefighters Foundation
- Board of Directors-September 11th Families Association
- Board of Advisors- National Firefighter Near-Miss Reporting System
- Ohio Fire Chiefs Line of Duty Death Response Team
He can be reached at FireFighterCloseCalls.com.