Ben Waller's Blog (46)

Don't save Safety for the Critique

Over at All Hazards Contemplations, we're observing a continuence of the 2009 Safety, Health, and Survival week, even though it technically ended yesterday. I'm sitting here sadly shaking my head. June has been a bad month for the U.S. Fire and EMS services. This month there have already been 10 reported… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on June 21, 2009 at 2:03pm — 9 Comments

The Monkey Parable and Resistance to Change

Once upon a time, some researchers conducted an experiment. They obtained five monkeys and placed them into a single cage. In the center of the cage was a stairway that terminated in thin air. After a hungry night in the cage, the monkeys saw a researcher lowering a bunch of bananas through the bars above the stairs. The monkeys immediately charged up the stairs toward the food. Other researchers immediately blasted the monkeys with ice cold… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on June 7, 2009 at 10:12pm — 4 Comments

Good Luck, Bad Luck, and SOGs

We're supposed to be responders to All Hazards - in other words, we don't do just one thing. In the range of things we do, it never ceases to amaze me how many times I hear or see really bad ideas espoused as the way to do things. Examples abound;

1) Refusing to wear seat belts in the rig "So we can go right to work at the scene".

2) Putting a vent crew on the roof… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on May 25, 2009 at 1:00pm — 21 Comments

1st Due Arithmetic

The "When is it Vacant...?" discussion on Firefighter Nation brings up a basic question about balancing the response to the incident. I don't have all of the answers to such a complex question, particularly in a short venue in a blog like… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on May 16, 2009 at 2:59pm — 1 Comment

Safety Culture vs. Extinguishment Culture – Smart Fire Departments Can Have BOTH!

If you have a personal or departmental "Extinguishment Culture", would you grab a line and enter this flashed over abandoned house that is showing signs of impending collapse? If you have a personal or departmental "Safety Culture", would you wear your SCBA , a traffic safety vest, and crank a PPV fan while sitting in the rig a half-mile down the street? Chances are, if you are a U.S. firefighter, you'll choose an option somewhere… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on May 1, 2009 at 8:30pm — 12 Comments

Putting generic Strategic Priorities to work

From my All Hazards Contemplations blog:

One of the things I do with my all-too-rare spare time is that I read. My favorite genre is science fiction and sci-fi fantasy, because it often fuels my imagination. A lot of yesterday's science fiction ends up being tomorrow's science fact, too.

I recently finished a book regarding an unusual twist on a fairly standard… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on April 21, 2009 at 10:01pm — 1 Comment

To evaluate progress, Take a SEET

From my All Hazards Contemplations blog...

During simple call like a room and contents fire, it's usually fairly easy to evaluate progress.

The black smoke turns to white steam, the fire goes out, the building cools down, we go home, and the invetigators take over. The next morning, the local newspaper reports the wins and losses...hopefully with a box score that… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on April 11, 2009 at 10:31pm — No Comments

Rolling the Window Down on Safety

From my newborn All Hazards Contemplations blog:

Skip Kirkwood's Jems Connect blog had an excellent post about the recent multiple shootings at the nursing home in Carthage, NC, Binghamton, NY, and todays triple police officer murder in Pittsburgh, PA. Skip made some excellent points about how to approach dangerous scenes.

Skip's post triggered reminders of some old street safety… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on April 4, 2009 at 10:57pm — 2 Comments

Organizational Schizophrenia

Does your fire department or EMS system suffer from Organizational Schizophrenia?

Most career departments have at least three shifts or platoons. A 24-on/48-off shift schedule is fairly common. In this type of department, different shifts often do things in very different ways, based on the personalities of the firefighters, paramedics, and officers that gravitate to that shift. In departments with a Shift Commander position, each shift often mimics the shift commander's personality… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on March 29, 2009 at 9:30am — 1 Comment

Second-Due Syndrome

There is a classic attitude that I've seen in quite a few places throughout my career. It is a side effect from the fact that all of us want to be members of the first company to a fire, but another unit gets to the fire first.

The result is what I call "Second Due Syndrome". If you're not there first, there's a subconscious pressure to drive a little faster, mask up a little quicker, and rush to get into the building before someone else gets all of "our" action.

Second… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on March 13, 2009 at 7:30pm — 11 Comments

Interpretation - Of Standards and Symphonies

From my blog at The Kitchen Table

http://thekitchentable.firerescue1.com/

A symphony orchestra spends a lot of practice time on their musical pieces before they perform in concert.

There is a lesson in that for fire-rescue departments. The time that we - the “orchestra” - spends with our “instruments” and in practicing with each other, the better the "concert" will sound to our audience. Most of us realize how important training on both individual and team skills,… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on March 5, 2009 at 9:00pm — No Comments

It CAN Happen Here: The Crash of Continental Flight 3407

Thursday night, Continental Communter Flight 3407 crashed into a house less than two blocks from the firehouse in Clarence Center, New York. This incident killed 50 people and injured several others. It also destroyed a Dash 8 aircraft and the home into which it crashed.

How many of us have heard the phrase "It can't happen here"? This can be heard when firefighters and medics don't want to take NIMS training or to consider EOC or logistics roles because "That's… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on February 14, 2009 at 10:34am — 1 Comment

Training is important, but is perfect practice really necessary?

From my Kitchen Table blog at: http://thekitchentable.firerescue1.com/

Vince Lombardi, the legendary Green Bay Packers coach once famously said "Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect."

Old Vince had a good thought but face it, perfect practice on a regular basis is unattainable for most people. More importantly, is perfect practice really important to the fire service?

An unknown author's reply to this was "Practice makes… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on February 11, 2009 at 10:26pm — 13 Comments

The Three Cuts Approach to Managing During the Economic Downturn

Cut Back

You may have to cut back on your use of metered services, fuel for non-essential apparatus movement, and out-of-town training. This includes keeping the thermostat at 68 degrees F, turning off the lights when everyone leaves the room, using energy-efficient light bulbs, bringing the meals to work instead of going shopping in the engine, and training locally as much as possible.

Caution - Look at the economic downturn as a chance to do more… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on February 7, 2009 at 6:30pm — 6 Comments

Does your dog wear a sweater?

From my blog on The Kitchen Table at http://thekitchentable.firerescue1.com/

When my wife recently got Molly - our puppy - a sweater. I - in my most loving and tactful way - questioned the need and the expense. I think I said something like "Have you lost your mind? A sweater for a dog??? Frankly, I thought it looked silly and was unnecessary.

She then proceeded to explain that unlike our other dog, Molly's short hair… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on January 31, 2009 at 9:39am — 14 Comments

Be a PUPIL and be successful

When confronted by a big fire, big emergency, or big project, it's easy to fall into the temptation to think that if you're in charge, you're the teacher. You can control outcomes, you can have all of the good ideas, and you can make the kiddies do it your way. Then reality intrudes. Sometimes we are faced with situations, personalities, or budget limitations beyond our control, no matter how in charge we think we are.

Approaching a big fire, emergency, or staff project with the mindset… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on January 19, 2009 at 5:30pm — 2 Comments

New Year's Resolutions vs. the Same Old Stuff

A lot of us make New Year's Resolutions to break bad habits, make positive changes in our lives, or to set a goal that we want to meet during the new year. We often see firefighters who make New Year's Resolutions to improve safety for their departments. These changes can be as simple as reminding ourselves to pay attention to details, to base our actions on size-up and not on thoughtless reactions, or something similar. They can also be as complicated as implementing a new safety program… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on January 2, 2009 at 4:54pm — 1 Comment

You are Disposable

We live in a society that has changed dramatically from what our parents and grandparents knew. They lived through the Great Depression. We didn't. They knew how to do a lot of work with a little machinery and a lot of poorly-paid or unpaid manpower. We have to do the same amount of work with a little more machinery, fewer but slightly better-paid manpower, or fewer numbers of unpaid manpower. They knew how to re-use simple items until they wore out or broke beyond repair. They returned glass… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on November 19, 2008 at 2:30am — 2 Comments

Leading by "Looking out the window"

I’ve spent a lot of time studying successful fire-rescue and EMS organizations. One of the things I look for is how they establish their organizational structures and how those structures contribute to the organization’s overall success. One organizational structure element is present so consistently that I developed a simple model to explain it. The model is “Looking out the window”. In this model, the Chief and the Deputy Chief stand back-to-back at a picture window. The window represents the… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on October 7, 2008 at 5:00pm — 2 Comments

What is the highest compliment you can give another firefighter?

Earlier in my career, I made the mistake of thinking that being a firefighter was about me. I sometimes sat around the firehouse and wished for bad things to happen to other people because I was bored. I was completely overwhelmed with testosterone and adrenalin poisoning. I did stupid things, partially because back then stupidity was an entrenched part of firefighting culture, partially because I had the mistaken belief that I was going to live forever, and partially because I was selfish and… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on October 1, 2008 at 2:00pm — 9 Comments