Well, it looks like I not the only one that's going through some of this. Again, over the last 6 or 7 years of going around and teaching & learning from firefighters, I keep seeing us making the same mistakes. As I see it, it's the same problems over and over. Look, I don't know everything, matter of fact, what I have learned, I've had to pay for most of these lessons. All I ask of my students, is please don’t repeat my mistakes, make your own, just don’t repeat mine.
With that being said, let me start with a saying that I was taught when I entered the fire service. My chief use to tell me “you don’t have time to think or plan during an emergency, you have to react because lives are on the line”. Wow….I thought he was God’s gift to the fire service with great wisdom like that. You know at 18, everyone was so smart….boy did I learn the hard way. So I’m sitting around one day thinking about the chief and how he may not be superman and it hit me…..that life that was on the line….it was MINE. So while he’s not thinking/planning, my life is on the line????
So this leads to rule #5….for 300 years or so Mrs. Smith has called 911 (or some way) and asked the fire dept “fix it”. You seen when you show up Mrs. Smith says fix it….fix the fire, fix papa’s heart attack, fix the wreck…..and yes fix it, get kitty down. That’s why we’re the good guys….think about it. Why do folks hate donut eaters? I know, I know, but if they had scored a little higher on the test they could have been one of us. They don’t like them because, the po po takes mommy/daddy to jail and they write tickets. You ask them about us and they say we come and help (a.k.a. “fix it”).
So your wondering, what the crap is rule #4? We it’s kinda a 2 part rule.
Rule #5: Mrs. Smith DOES NOT deserve for you to use her house fire/medical emergency/extrication as a training session. Now here is are the 2 parts of it.
Rule #5.1 For my volunteer brothers/sisters, do not get anger (cause I probably won’t care), you guys have to stop having monthly social meetings that you call a training session. I DO NOT care who Sally is sleeping with, I DO NOT care if Bubba is over at her house, I DO NOT care who killed the biggest deer. You want to have a social meeting, please put it on the calendar and just know that I will not make it. I have enough social events in my life. You want to train, put it on the calendar then I’ll be there ready to go. You can have both….1st Tues of every month we’ll have a social meeting. 2nd Tues of the month, training session.
Now, don’t start your hate mail just yet….I’m fixing to get all up in my paid brothers Corn Flakes.
Rule #5.2 For my paid brothers/sisters…you don’t know everything. Just because you trained on an SCBA 94 years ago, does not mean you remember everything about it. Just because you took an extrication course in from Henry Ford, does not mean you don’t have to train on the new cars…..yes there are some new ones out there. When you come to a training session, go in with the attitude of….maybe I can learn something new here today. Not….man I know all there is to know on this, what’s this guy going to teach me. Every course I’ve taken, I have learned something, even if that was to never take a course from that instructor again.
Seriously though, as I go around teaching, I see us making the same mistakes over and over. Everyone thinks they are “trained” and when you go out for hands on, it’s looks like they have never seen a tool or air pack.
As I think about it what Mrs. Smith wants is professionalism. That has NOTHING to do with a check, it’s about pride. Pride in yourself, your department and your community. If you can’t take pride in yourself (your training, your skill level) then you can’t take pride the others. If you can’t take pride in yourself, then why are you here?
No really…….if you don’t have pride in yourself, why are you doing this. I have 300 years of service behind me pushing me to be better. If nothing else, recent history should do that…..I think of brothers that have paid that price doing the job. If for nothing else, for them I owe them, by doing my best, being my best. I think of Worcester, Hackensack, Lake Worth, 9/11, if you can’t want to do better for those brothers, then don’t let the door hit you where the good Lord split you.
WE HAVE TO DO BETTER! WE OWE IT TO THEM!