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Drivers for Chief's Cars
Do you have fulltime drivers for your Chief's cars (paid departments)? We used to have them here and lost them a few years ago during amalgamation. We've had a couple of incidents recently that would have been avoided with drivers. We have Chiefs who have pagers to respond to, as well as radio dispatch (they are paged for major calls, as well as dispatched... not sure why) and in some cases, for the Acting Chiefs or Chiefs who are covering other areas, there is a need for maps (large city). No matter who you are or what level of experience you have, you cannot give proper attenion to driving when you have many other things to worry about (let alone mentally preparing for the call).
Does your city see a need for drivers for the Chief's and the public's safety?
Does your city see a need for drivers for the Chief's and the public's safety?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Engineco913 on
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I am unfamiliar with this concept, never seen it. In your case, once the driver arrives on scene with the chief, whats their role on the fire scene? Do they become firefighters, or are they assigned to the command post to assist the chief? Whats the requirement for the job? EVOC? What about Insurance? If maps are the major issue, buy the chiefs some TOM TOM's they are great and don't cost 50 grand a year
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Permalink Reply by Spanner 122 on
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They are fully employed firefighters, most times injured, unable to perform full duties for one reason or another, or ready for a break or ready to retire and not in an officer role. EVOC is required for all drivers on all aparatus so there is no issue there. they are not civilians, but have come through the job as everyone else so are already covered by the department/city insurance; and not on the car for a long time... moved around back to a station after a stint as the driver.
Once on scene they would become the Chief's runner, help get Accountability set up until the Accountability pump shows up (we have a pump assigned for level two accountability for any working fire). They would also assist in getting equipment off the car (it's actually an Expedition or Excursion depending on the district or the Chief) for RIT (RIT bags are kept in the Chief's cars), accountability boards, Thermal imaging cameras, etc. If needed to help out on the fire ground, then yes, their gear would be in the truck as well as a pack which is checked the same way as it would be if they were riding the pump or aerial.
It's done in a lot of major cities up here, with a Chief responding to thousands of calls a year, especially downtown, it's not a bad idea (each station in the downtown district runs 3-6000 calls a year on average). A GPS system would be great, but again, something else for them to fiddle with on the way.
We have had a couple of incidents in the past few months that has brought the issue up again. We have many other things that need "fixing" first, but it's always on the forefront.
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Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on
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Being a volunteer, I have no personal experience with chief’s drivers. But I have read several of Leo Stapleton’s books (Boston FD Commissioner, retired) and I’ll try to paraphrase what he has said about them.
First, they are called aides, not drivers. The chief’s aide is an extra set of eyes, ears and hands for the chief. The aide is often sent into, above, in the rear or adjacent to a burning structure by the chief to gather and relay vital information such as where the fire is going, what’s happening out back, how the hose lines are operating, or where additional hose or manpower is needed. The aide also relays the chief’s instructions to incoming companies, and relays orders to companies already working inside. Thus the chief receives and sends the information needed to keep evaluating the situation and planning for what may be required next.
Of course, en route to a fire the aide drives the car while the chief reviews information relevant to the building, neighborhood and conduct a pre-arrival size-up of the situation.
Aides are personally chosen from the ranks of active (not injured or limited duty) firefighters by the chief after his/her promotion. Experience, reputation, personality and trust all go into the decision process. The helmet shield says “Aide to Battalion X” but everyone knows the chief’s aide.
The Commish says that the aide can make or break a chief, therefore the selection process is very important.
Many cities have eliminated the aide position as part of cost-cutting campaigns. I’d imagine that in most cases the ultimatum was “either the aides go, or this ladder or that engine company goes…”
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Thats pretty neat, Again I don't have much background with the way paid departments all work. I know the chiefs in Rhode Island (so far as I know) all drive themselves to the scene of any fire, paid or volly. I appreciate the imput everyone
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