Fire/EMS Safety, Health and Survival Week: Day Seven; “The Courage to be Safe”

Protect Yourself: Your Safety, Health and Survival Are Your Responsibility

Today is June 20th, the seventh day in the Fire/EMS Safety, Health and Survival Week. This is the culminating day of what hopefully has been an opportune week to dedicate time and energies to focus on the mission critical and life sustaining functional areas of our fire and EMS profession.

The theme this year was Protect Yourself: Your Safety, Health and Survival Are Your Responsibility and encouraged chiefs and fire/EMS personnel to focus on what they personally could do to manage risk and enhance their health and safety. This year’s theme reflected the need for personal responsibility and accountability within a strong safety culture.

There were recommended activities and materials provide that would incorporate four key areas where standard operating procedures, policies and initiatives—along with the training and enforcement that support them—can limit fire/EMS personnel’s risk of injury or death. These focus areas consisted of;

Safety: Emergency Driving (enough is enough—end senseless death)
• Lower speeds—stop racing to the scene. Drive safely and arrive alive to help others.
• Utilize seat belts—never drive or ride without them.
• Stop at every intersection—look in all directions and then proceed in a safe manner.

Health: Fire Fighter Heart Disease and Cancer Education and Prevention• Don't smoke or use tobacco products.
• Get active.
• Eat a heart-healthy diet.
• Maintain a healthy weight.
• Get regular health screenings.

Survival: Structural Size-Up and Situational Awareness
• Keep apprised of different types of building materials and construction used in your community.
• Develop a comprehensive size-up checklist.
• Always complete a 360° walk of the structure to collect valuable, operational decision-making information.
• Learn the practice of reading smoke.
• Be familiar with the accepted rules of engagement.
• Learn your accountability system and use it.
• Master your tools and equipment.
• Remain calm and concentrate.

Chiefs: Be the Leader in Safety• Become personally engaged in safety and make it part of your strategic vision for the department.
• Be willing to make the tough decisions regarding safety policies and practices and their implementation.
• Hold members of the organization accountable for their safety and the safety of those with whom they work.
• Ensure that resources are available to accomplish activities safely and effectively.

The IAFC and IAFF encouraged all fire/EMS departments to devote the period of this week to;
• review safety policies,
• evaluating the progress of existing initiatives and
• discussing health and fitness.
• Fire/EMS departments were encouraged to make a concerted effort during the week to correct safety deficiencies and
• provide training as needed.


The Consciences Observer or Activist
So the operative question this Saturday is this: What did you do, participate in, contribute, join in, share, lead, promote, instruct, present, facilitate, help, assist, aid, or neglect, disregard, undermine, abuse, challenge, demoralize, undercut, damage, torpedo, circumvent, or avoid?

A considerable and tangible effort was made by most organizations, departments and staff I had the opportunity to talk to around the nation this week. It was clearly evident that a majority of online fire service trade magazines, journals, services, blogs and eMedia, social + networking communities also dedicated editorial attention and perspectives towards the themes and focus of Fire/EMS Safety, Health and Survival week.

With that being said, it also doesn’t take long to also see what I alluded to in the, “what did you do this week question?”. Many organizations, personnel and leaders specifically preferred, NOT to participate or did so under a thin veil of apparent involvement. To think otherwise, would be naive and ignorant. For let us not forget, these are the times in which the culture of suppression is contending with the culture of safety.....But, I digress; we’ll leave that alone for the time being.

Were you an active participant, engaged and contributing or were you the consciences observer, passively or aggressively sitting on the sidelines of the apparatus floor? Campaigner or militant; advocate or protester? Where do you stand?

I began this discussion today with one distinct, poignant contemplation and value; Do YOU have the Courage to be Safe? The resonating theme that challenged all of us and carried the banner of the week was; Protect Yourself: Your Safety, Health and Survival Are Your Responsibility. YOUR Responsibility-Not someone else’s, but your; responsibility, task, job, duty, charge, accountability conscientiousness, and obligation.

Taking it to the Streets
The adage that the fire service has more recently adopted states; “There are no “routine calls”; referring to the safety consciousness that all responding companies should endeavor to consider when responding to an incident.

• We have a tendency to treat a lot of things as equal and very routine based upon the periodicity and frequency of the alarm type and the typical, inconsequential nature of the incident outcome or the commonality of the fire and suppression efforts that routinely are employed by our operating companies.
• We seem to do a lot of things at times out of common practice and repetition, you know; “We’ve always done it that way….” syndrome.
• There’s a resonating theme that is making its way around the fire service dealing with an apparent “culture of extinguishment” and the suggested and inaccurately described “diametrically opposing” fire service safety culture promoted by those on the “Dark Side”
• There’s the daily experience, expectations, and our comfort zone;
• We’re pretty good at what we do-Regularly….
• We develop profound habits and methods…
• We treat a lot of things as equal in many respects...
• We’ve grown accustomed to certain operational modes..
• We don’t really think anything is going to happen to us, certainly nothing so adverse that I don’t go home after the call.
• Nothing is going to happen to YOU; it happens to someone else….
• BUT to everyone else-YOU are the other Guy!

On any give day, at any give alarm, the dynamics around us at times may be in or out of our direct control. We may not be able to see what the cards have in store for us, BUT we must ensure we use every fragment of training, fortitude, knowledge, skills, courage, bravery, insights, luck and sometimes (other divine) intervention to get us through. We must have the fortitude and courage to be both safety conscious and measured in the performance of our sworn duties while maintaining the appropriate balance of risk and bravery.

The demands and requirements of modern firefighting will continue to require the placement of personnel within situations and buildings that carry risk, uncertainty and inherent danger. As a result, risk management must become fluid and integrate all personnel. We must manage dynamic risks with a balanced approach of effective assessment, analysis and probability within command decision making that results in safety conscious strategies and tactics.

Stop and reflect today, where do you stand? What are your true beliefs and convictions in regards to the developing safety culture that is being forged and institutionalized within our fire service? Are your professing one thing, but implementing or allowing another circumstance?

Think about the following and attach you own significance or connotation;
• The Courage to be Safe
• Setting the Example
• Doing the Right Thing, at the Right Time for the Right Reason
• Courage to do the right thing in order to protect yourself and other firefighters
• Fortitude & Limitations
• Consequences of Actions
• Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
• Balanced Risk Management
• Command Presence & Leadership
• Role & Responsibility
• Life and Death-REALITY
• Measured counteracts Aggressive
• Be Measured in your suppression assignments and task duties
• Know When to Alter the Mode and When the Risk Profile is Appropriate
• Understand the Calculated Risks- And When they are Appropriate
• Know YOUR Companies/ Teams Limitations & Capabilities
• Don’t Over Extend – Don’t Push the Envelope-Right Time/Cause
• Learn from the Past (HRE)
• Don’t Fall under The “Superman Syndrome”
• Courage to Improve our Culture…

The Courage to be Safe….if not now….When?
Take a look at the video HERE, you’ll hopefully understand…..

Remember: “ Building Knowledge = Firefighter Safety”


Take the time to check out these excellent programs and initiatives from the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives Program; HERE

The Courage to Be Safe SM Program
Firefighters must have the courage to face a multitude of risks in order to save lives and protect their communities. Their courage allows them to willingly risk their own lives so that others can be saved. A different type of courage is required to stay safe in potentially dangerous situations, avoiding needless risks and tragic consequences.
This provocative and moving presentation is designed to change the culture of accepting the loss of firefighters as a normal occurrence. Building on the untold story of LODD survivors, it reveals how family members must live with the consequences of a firefighter death and provides a focus on the need for firefighters and officers to change fundamental attitudes and behaviors in order to prevent line of duty deaths. The central theme promotes the courage to do the right thing in order to protect yourself and other firefighters and ensure that "Everyone Goes Home" at the end of the day.

Courage to Be SafeSM consists of a PowerPoint presentation on a CD, as well as an instructor guide and sample handout materials. The CD includes embedded video clips of fire service leaders and excerpts of the emotional presentation made at FDIC-2005 by Reverend Bevon Smith, father of Paul Smith, a firefighter who in died in the line of duty in 1989.

The Safety Through Leadership Program
In the summer of 2006, National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Executive Director Ron Siarnicki and the Everyone Goes Home® Life Safety Initiatives (LSI) Team attended a meeting in San Diego of the National Wildland Coordinating Group to look at the leadership material the NWCG had developed for the Wildland community. The LSI Team crafted a proposal to develop a course for the structural firefighter based on the NWCG model.

Shortly thereafter, Lieutenant Tony McDowell, company officers' section of the Virginia Fire Chiefs Association, contacted the LSI Team seeking help to develop a leadership course that would embody the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives. The VFCA was invited to collaborate with the LSI Team in the development of a leadership program that would include relevant aspects of the NWCG model and embody the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives.

In order to fully understand the NWCG L-380 Leadership sequence, the Everyone Goes Home® Program sent two safety officers, one from Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service and the other from the Virginia Beach Fire Department, to the San Diego Fire Department to participate an L-380 course being conducted there. The two officers reported the experience as life-changing in terms of what they learned and what they came to believe about the linkage between firefighter safety and leadership.

The pilot was presented in June (2007) at the University of Richmond's Jepson School of Business, to thirty students from across the state of Virginia and five others who had seen the course advertised on the VFCA website and applied. Over one hundred students applied for the course. By any measure, the Safety Through Leadership was a phenomenal success.
Over the next year, FLSI course developers carefully evaluated the material from Virginia with an eye toward developing a national curriculum. While most of the format of the VFCA was retained (including material from the L-380 course) new material was developed and added to the national model curriculum. A call was put out in the winter of 2008 for thirty students to come to the National Fire Academy. Quickly, all the seats were spoken for, including the return of three who had attended the Virginia pilot. The Train-the-Trainer program commenced on June 24-27, 2008 on the campus of the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Md.

Safety Through Leadership focuses on the company officer and his or her attitude toward the safety of firefighters within their span of authority. It is a role-play based curriculum which begins with several cooperative exercises, including the naming of the fire department under which all activities will proceed for the duration of the training program. Five modules regarding safety and leadership were presented to the students, ranging from effective supervisory practices to threat and error management (utilizing the model of crew resource management).

The modules are meant to make the program both easy to deliver (one a month, for example) and scalable to the particular audience. A series of excellent video role-plays were developed to reinforce discussions. The central goal of the Safety Through Leadership program is to create an emotional impact within company officers so they are encouraged to reflect on their own leadership styles and create changes always with a mindset toward safety.

Safety Through Leadership is not meant to replace other leadership programs that may be in place. Rather, it is a value-added approach that requires company officers and other supervisors to set the example of safety in every behavior they model for the firefighters they supervise. This means that safety and leadership are linked not only on the fireground (where we would expect it) but also in training and in the long hours of "everyday living" in the station.

• The Train-the-Trainer, therefore, spent a good deal of time reviewing and reinforcing the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives so that the trainers will become living ambassadors for Everyone Goes Home®.

Safety Through Leadership is a program appropriate at both the station-level and to broader audiences such as regional or state training opportunities. It can be delivered as a four day academy, or it can be sequentially delivered via the modules.

• The bottom line is that company officers hold the key to modeling a safety attitude and for doing everything they can to make sure their firefighters go home safe after every call.

The Safety Through Leadership program is one way this burden can be lightened, and this responsibility wholeheartedly endorsed.

If you would like more information about Safety Through Leadership, please contact the Everyone Goes Home® program directly via the website at www.everyonegoeshome.com

End Note: I had the profound privilege to participate with an exceptional cadre of national instructors in the Safety Through Leadership Train-the-Trainer program in 2008 at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Md. I can attest that this program and content will stimulate, enlighten and inspire you to comprehend and embrace the values of safety within the modern fire and emergency services. Take the time to check it out.