The Social Network & Community JUST for Firefighters
Old vs New
I am realizing more and more there is a large disconnect between the older "Veteran" members and the newer (0-5, heck 10yr) recruits. As I look around on training night I see two groups. There are the ones (same every week) that take firefight training to heart. They strive to improve and learn and help those around them that might be lacking in certain areas. They train to prepare themselves for the unknown, as many have yet to "feel the heat". The ones that are consistently taking courses as if their life depends on it, Oh wait, it does. Only to look across the hall on Monday night to see another group shooting the ... breeze. Laughing and joking without a care in the world.
Slowly the the enthusiasm starts to diminish and questions arise, "Why don't they train?", "are they laughing at us, because we are breaking a sweat?", “Why do we have to train if they don't?" Oops, almost forgot a group, the ones who show up on meeting night to devour some snacks, crack jokes and offer complaints, but no solutions.
I have often thought of ways to correct the problems. I’ve tried to encourage the veterans to help the newbie’s. Give them some insight to what they may expect. This quickly was shot down as the "latest to learn" group would interject "but that's not how we were taught!" "Its safer to do it this way" or "that's the old way, its changed now".
Soon the bickering escalates and the famous line is spoken.... "We've always done it this way, its always worked, we're NOT changing". And that's that! Suddenly its The Old against the New! The rookies holding fast to training and strategies recently provided by structured lessons, and the elder’s sticking to "I've been in the department longer than you've been alive."
How do we break this internal self-destructive cycle? The disconnect spills into company operations and response. As members are discouraged to learn because in the long run ... everyone is allowed to go to the scene, regardless if they have met NFPA guidelines. (I don't even want to tackle the method of arriving to the incident. We'll leave that for another post)
We need to work TOGETHER and promote learning! Fires have changed, and so has the technology and methods of attack. As safety, early warning devices and prevention education continues to improve, the number of on-the-job learning experiences diminish. Along with it, are the opportunities that once held us together as ONE!
Suggestions welcomed.
Slowly the the enthusiasm starts to diminish and questions arise, "Why don't they train?", "are they laughing at us, because we are breaking a sweat?", “Why do we have to train if they don't?" Oops, almost forgot a group, the ones who show up on meeting night to devour some snacks, crack jokes and offer complaints, but no solutions.
I have often thought of ways to correct the problems. I’ve tried to encourage the veterans to help the newbie’s. Give them some insight to what they may expect. This quickly was shot down as the "latest to learn" group would interject "but that's not how we were taught!" "Its safer to do it this way" or "that's the old way, its changed now".
Soon the bickering escalates and the famous line is spoken.... "We've always done it this way, its always worked, we're NOT changing". And that's that! Suddenly its The Old against the New! The rookies holding fast to training and strategies recently provided by structured lessons, and the elder’s sticking to "I've been in the department longer than you've been alive."
How do we break this internal self-destructive cycle? The disconnect spills into company operations and response. As members are discouraged to learn because in the long run ... everyone is allowed to go to the scene, regardless if they have met NFPA guidelines. (I don't even want to tackle the method of arriving to the incident. We'll leave that for another post)
We need to work TOGETHER and promote learning! Fires have changed, and so has the technology and methods of attack. As safety, early warning devices and prevention education continues to improve, the number of on-the-job learning experiences diminish. Along with it, are the opportunities that once held us together as ONE!
Suggestions welcomed.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Dustin J. Millis on
-
I think just about every dept. on the planet has this problem. Everywhere you go, the fire service is faced with basicly the same issues. This issue is quickly turning into a problem. We had the very same things going happening on my dept. Of the now 24 members, we had 6 or 7 older guys ( by older I mean over 55 or 60) that had a big problem with any change that was even thought of. Issues like women in the firehouse, replacing old and worndown apparatus, younger guys being officers, etc... (you get the idea) were all considered absolutly propostorus by those guys and yes the famous line "It's the way we've always done it" was said at almost every meeting. Our chief (one of the older guys with the same issues mentioned above) decided to retire in Jan. of 08. Our new chief, a 29 year old guy, takes over and things start changing. All neccesary changes and all positive changes but just the fact that it was change drove all 6 or 7 of those guys to a point where they decided to leave the dept. One of them had the courage to come to a final business meeting and announce their retirement. All the rest silently crossed their names off the roster and left their gear hanging with cobwebs still on it. Its sad because I dont see any end in sight to this problem and even though I lost alot of respect for these guys because they counldnt even come down to announce their retirement, I still learned from them and I still respected them for their 30+ years service to our dept. I dont know a solution to this but I hope one is found soon!!!!!!!!!
-
Permalink Reply by Edward Fleming on
-
Doug what is your states requirments? Here in N.C we are required to have 36 hrs a year training i know its not much but a lot of firefighters barely make that and some don't. I am the training officer in my dept. and i have been a firefighter for 28 yrs. in a volunteer dept. I am always going to training classes and trying to learn new stuff so i can teach new and old stuff. When i am having a training class everyone has to train and get hands on training if you do not than you do not get credit for it. At the end of the year if you dont have your 36 hrs. you are dropped from the dept. simple as that,yeah some will always get mad but to bad. I always have people say i was at that training or this training, yeah i know but they did not train and just stood around and talked. So they did not get credit. Talk to your training officer and chief and good luck.
-
Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on
-
How to break the cycle... it's called Leadership.
Chief and company officers need to set the tone and example. And if I you have a group who is there for "social reasons alone", perhaps the next training and as many as it takes, you should have these individuals come up with the training topics and run the training, forcing the issue. I believe the appropriate saying here is to train as if your life depends on it... because it does... And wouldn't it be fun to purposely have the old guys sit in the back of the room and mimick the behavior of the E-Generation firefighters (entitlement)... Just a thought, not a serious one but never the less, fun to write down and ponder... : )
TCSS, Mike
-
Permalink Reply by Asst Chief Tim Cook on
-
My issues with this are: Just because it's NEW doesn't make it right or the only way to go. Not all new ideas are good,not all old ideas are bad. There is a nice mix of both and that's the platform I prefer to work off. I've had too many "kids"(and yes,we need them)think they become fireproof when they put their gear on. We reinforce,THEY ARE NOT(fireproof).The whole attitude has changed and it starts in the schools. How do we fix it? I wish I knew. We've appointed a new training officer who has a knack for getting all involved,and I'm gonna make sure he has all he needs to keep going. But oue "entitled"society sure isn't making the job easy.
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Next ›
© 2024 Created by Firefighter Nation WebChief.
Powered by
