How often do we hear this statement: Firefighters are held to a higher standard.  So my question is; a higher standard of what?

It is just not unusual to read that:
A Chief is accused/arrested/sentenced for misappropriation of department funds;
A firefighter is accused/arrested/sentenced for arson;
A firefighter LODD for a 70 plus y/o firefighter;
A firefighter LODD responding in a POV;
A firefighter thinks that NFPA standards are too much to require;
It's okay to allow a minor into or near an IDLH environment.

What is that "Higher Standard" that everyone talks about?  Clearly most people seem to agree that felons have no place in the fire service, since trust is a huge issue within the fire service.  We don't want to tarnish our image and lessen the public's confidence with us by allowing felons to enter their homes/places of business.  We are there to help them, not steal from them.

Yet when we do show up on scene, with all of our firefighters felony free, what else does the public expect from us?  Competent leadership?  They may not immediately be able to put a finger on it but I'm sure that they do indeed expect competent leadership.  Are we providing that?  How can we prove it?

If the NFPA actually provides for standards of training, are these not in fact the "Higher Standards" of which we speak?  Should not the Chief be meeting -if not exceeding- these standards?  What of the Officers, are they too following NFPA Standards in training and education for leadership?  Or have they simply become an officer in a department popularity contest?

If we as firefighters are "held to a higher standard' then why are we losing firefighters in apparatus accidents?  Doesn't the law require all motorists to wear seatbelts?  Then how is it that some firefighters are NOT wearing them?  They aren't meeting THE standard, much less the "higher" standard.

Firefighters are still killed or injured responding or returning, mostly in POV's, why is that?  If the standard says obey all motor vehicle laws/regulations why then are firefighters speeding, driving recklessy, not wearing seatbelts, not stopping at intersections?  Why are firefighters NOT setting the example for all others?  You know, that "higher standard."

We have 60, 70 and even the odd 80 year old firefighter succumbing to a LODD.  Which standard is that?  What physical have they had that cleared them for active duty?  One recent article in Fire Chief Magazine said that perhaps 60% of all firefighters have NOT had a physical since their initial one.  Which standard again are we being held to?

Why are there 'firefighters' setting fires?  How did they even get into the department?  Did their background and reference checks fail to find such proclivities, or were those checks even done?  Are we more concerned with having firefighters than with having competent ones?

Federal child labor laws, NFPA, OSHA and NIOSH are very clear about the dangers and the acceptable hazards of firefighting and the rules by which we must operate.  Yet why are minors being injured on the fireground?  What is going on that is sending a clear message to adults and children that they are entitled, that it is their right, to be exposed to the same hazards as adults?  Yet those same kids can not legally run a wood chipper, band saw or operate heavy equipment because there are laws governing such activities, or "standards", if you will.  And we're being held to 'higher' ones?

NFPA standards are clear about the minimum level of training to be a certified firefighter, how to burn an acquired structure, who may operate apparatus, how healthy and fit one should be, what they need to know to be a leader and so many other things.  These indeed ARE the standards by which we are supposed to operate.  They are supposed to be the MINIMUM standards.  And we are supposed to be held to a HIGHER standard.  But are we?

Or is that sentiment just that, a sentiment, a "feeling" that we should be held to it but accepting the reality that we are not required to do so?  Is it just so much lip service?

Is the idea of being held to a higher standard nothing more than yet another "I fight what you fear" tee shirt saying?  Does this 'higher standard' get in the way of doing the job?  Or is the argument simply one of not enough money or time?  Is an unfunded, undertrained, poorly led fire department better than none at all?  Isn't that like cutting out the seatbelts and disabling the SSR in a brand new car?  It will get you where you're going but you've given up all the safety protection.

We need firefighters, call out the juniors.
We need firefighters, let granpa be on the knob.
We need firefighters, ignore the rules of the road.
We need firefighters, leave your smokes on the dashboard, next to your twinkies and giant slurpy.
We need leaders, everyone seems to like you, you lead!
We're independent, we do what we please, as we please.
We'll decide the standards to which we are held, and lower them as needed.

It's funny, professionals have standards and work not just to meet them, but to exceed them.  It's what the public expects.  It's what being professional is all about.

So for those of you that think the fire can't tell the difference, that it's all about "heart"  and pithy tee shirts, that no one should be telling you what to do or how to do it, think again.  You can meet the standards and be professional or you can ignore them and solidly maintain your amatuer standing.  What's it gonna be?