Thank goodness such horrific practice fell by the wayside after tripod lights, light towers, and self contained generator/lights became commonplace. If you think my take on overall scene lighting is negative, don’t get me started on personal lights of the era (6 volt lanterns and flashlight/battery combos purchased from the local store).

All fun aside, the eighties and nineties were a time of much change, including: implementation of a variety of management theories and systems, heavy adoption of ICS, technical rescue, and the start (for many agencies) of compliance with many OSHA safety standards. In my observation, those dealing with change included three types of people: 1) those willing for change at the drop of a hat; 2) those willing to change if he/she understood the change or the technologies needed for the change; and 3) those that were not willing to change, no matter the benefit, ease, or understanding of the technology needed to implement the change (aka “sticks in the mud”).

Without exception, those changes were ones where I felt the “change was for changes sake”. Whether it was the “management style of the month” from a new city manager or the new “super tool” from a firefighter who went to a seminar at Big County FD, if it didn’t pencil out after a effort vs. benefit analysis, buy in was difficult.

We have also had difficult changes that were accepted without too much grief. This was possible because a need for the change was demonstrated, it was “sold” properly by a credible source and the desired change was accepted as one with a likely positive outcome.

As with most difficult issues, a little common sense, rational analysis and trust goes a long way.

Change is good. If I was going to have by-pass surgery today, I would want it done based on the technology of 2009 and not the technology of 1984.