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Acts of Kindness At Fires
In an attempt to better the type of discussions here, i would like to ask what kind of enhanced "customer service" you or departments provides. What i am asking is what "little acts of kindness" do you do as a firefighter that endears you to the people you serve? Heres an example i gave to a rookie as something he should consider doing which is in my opinion the sign of a professional
At a house fires I used to take important papers and pictures and place them in the refridgeerator (not the freezer). Unplugged, the unit will preserve them from smoke and water damage (when was the last time you saw a burnt out interior of a fridge?)
I was busted by a lieutenant for doing that under the "thats not our job and you might get in trouble for it" thing. I countered that that what i did was for the resident who just lost everything. During overhaul would'nt you appriciate it if some firefighter put the pictures of your kids or some important looking papers in a safe place? He wrote me up anyway then the chief got a letter from the family THANKING me for preserving their non replaceable photos and papers.
Now you know tha the lieutenant does not admit...i mean make mistakes, so the letter stayed as a "informal counciling" so he could save face because it became a department issue. Half thought that was cool and the other half sucking up to get points thought not. I kept doing it all my carrear and nobody ever complained. At apartment fires i would ask the residents on the lower floors if they wanted tarps put in their apartments to prevent or stop excessive water damamge. They allways welcomed that.
I was taught early in my carrear that fire is the great equalizer. It hurts the rich and poor the same way. If you can preserve something for a resident, DO SO! you can dry out anything, you can't un-burn it. I encourage everyone to post their feelings about this pro and con. Maybie we can do our jobs a little better
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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The Guiding Principles of the fire service:
1. Life Safety
2. Property Conservation Whatever works
3. Fire Suppression
4. Public Education
Seems pretty clear to me.
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Permalink Reply by blair4630 on
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I think salvage is talked about, but not performed enough. We definetely need to be thinking salvage once the overhaul stage is being performed; as long as safety is first of course. This is definetely the biggest piece of customer service that we can improve on.
I think another thing that would be huge, that I haven't seen from a dept. would be to hold a fundraiser for the family if there was significant property damage. Especially around the holidays, but anytime. That would be excellent for the family, and excellent PR for the dept...it's a win-win situation.
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Permalink Reply by John Rulli Jr. on
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I like the refridgerator for salvage. Just make sure they know its there
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Permalink Reply by Doug on
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My department is pretty big on salvage when conducting overhaul. Covering up with tarps what we deem to be important and valuable. Many times we bring the smaller un-replaceable items right out of the structure and hand it directly to the residents or business owners. Sometimes they don't say anything, being too distraught, but you can see it on their faces, their appreciation. We also carry a teddy bear, or two, or some type of stuffed animal on one of our trucks. I believe our LEOs also carry them in their cruisers.
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Permalink Reply by Reg Mathis on
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We rely heavily on our local Red Cross office. They are great about getting alternate housing and providing for lost necessities such as clothing and toys, etc...
We make sure a RC Liason is on scene before we leave and "hand off" the victims to them. And we also make liberal use of salvage covers during our overhaul. The very first assignment I was ever given on a fireground was to rescue a stack of smoldering photo albums the Chief brought out of the house. I've done my best to keep that sentiment in mind during overhaul.
TCSS
Reg
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That's a great idea. Seen it in ambulances, never even thought about it on an engine.
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The Red Cross is also very helpful in our area. They are great about placing families, and providing necessities. Also, on anything beyond a room and contents, they deploy their response vehicle, which provides coffee, water, gatorade, light sandwiches, and the likes for emergency services. Another great (and often overlooked) group of volunteers.
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Actually, I have seen a few departments sponsor fund raisers for displaced families.
My department has an emergency fund which we have used to buy grocery items, or things like diapers, formula and clothes.
We had a call several years back where an elderly man was injured when he fell through his rotted front porch. We acquired the materials and supplied the labor to tear down and build a new porch complete with a wc ramp.
Even though it got no publicity, that man and his family knew what we did, and that was enough.
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Sure, it's by no means about the good PR...I was just saying it's an added perk.
That's great that there are dept.'s out there doing that sort of thing.
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