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Tillered Aerials and Safety Collaboration

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Hilton Head Island Truck 6 working in Palmetto Dunes.

In the years before becoming a chief officer I spent the very large majority of my career as a truck company officer. The last ten years of my assignment to Truck 6 was spent on the tractor-drawn aerial we currently have. The crews assigned to Six-Truck will have a “new” ride soon; our reserve tiller is off being re-tractored and the trailer refurbished. Once the new one returns, the ALF piece that served us valiantly for all these years will then rotate to reserve status.

Since I was the lifer truckie captain and one of only three in the department who had even sat behind the wheel of a TDA before (I’m pretty sure that’s the only reason I got the job), I got to shop, spec, purchase, equip, and train the company in our new concept. We brought in an expert who was likewise, a lifer truckie, and learned to drive the TDA the old fashioned way (drive it around the parking lot for a while).

My observation was such that, as an educator, there was probably a more effective method of developing drivers for this specialized piece of machinery. When we were doing research on writing a course on driving tillers, I found a shocking lack of information (at that time) on them and ultimately, a few colleagues and I developed the coursework from which we certify our personnel to drive. This, to satisfy the naysayers, also involved INTENSIVE driving of the vehicle: beachfront parking lots during summer, night driving, driving in the rain, and lots and lots of situational stuff. Needless to say, when we were done, that first round of drivers was pretty proficient.

Lately we have been finding that there is a desire for some to want to reduce the requirements for TDA chauffeurs and tiller operators and I expressed my opinion that this was not the way to go. Our organization does all kinds of stuff in our community in conjunction with our customer service outlook, as well as respond on emergencies. Time is very valuable, but I also know of a long and distinguished history of TDA mishaps that each time point to a missed element of discipline and training. There are basic laws of physics that really come into play with a tractor-drawn aerial that don’t in your basic straight frame aerial, and I have been less than tolerant of relief drivers who don’t understand that.

So you can imagine my interest when I found out about this video collaboration between the Raleigh and Seattle Fire Departments as can be seen here:Raleigh and Seattle Collaborative Training Video I have been watching to see what lessons we might get out of the Raleigh TDA rollover and it seems as if we will have a very valuable tool for educating not only TDA drivers, but all firefighters as well.

But while this could evolve into an entire lesson on driving tillered apparatus, the discussion I want to actually have is that there is a wealth of information out there that you all have the opportunity to obtain. We find too often that people are unwilling to accept the observations and experiences of others and instead “reinvent the wheel” regularly, wasting time and money in the process. But these two departments saw needs and worked together to produce a valuable teaching tool.

There is no shame in finding out what mistakes (or positively, what efforts) have been previously made in our business and asking questions about he good, the bad, and the ugly. This is called research. We ask questions to determine an answer to a problem and rely on science and experience to make decisions. The problem is, it requires effort and it requires being candid about the issues. But no progress gets made without learning about what went right and what went wrong.

Check out the video and tell me what you think. I have already viewed it a number of times and take away something new each time. We are fortunate (and thankful) that no one was killed in this event. And it goes without saying, I thank both departments for their sincere effort in making the job safer. But the lessons learned are no good to anyone if we keep them locked up in a closet. Share the knowledge, collaborate, and learn from one another.

Note: I meant to add this link as well and failed to do it: The Fire Engineering article that spurred my interest. I like to give credit where credit is due.

Posted by on April 20, 2011 • Filed under: "accident prevention", administration-leadership, change, customer service, education, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, fire service, Firefighter Nation, Firefighter Safety & Health, leadership, motivation, News, officership, planning, professionalism, rollover, safety, seatbelts, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics, Vehicle Operations & Apparatus, Videos • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Living Up To Chief Croker’s Ideal

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Chief Croker, FDNY

Chief Croker, FDNY; Image from the New York City Fire Museum found on the Croker Fire Drill Corporation website

When Chief Croker suggested that in our choice to become firefighters, the act of professing so made us heroes, and everything after that was in the line of duty, I respectfully take exception to that. We aren’t due heroic respect because we ARE firefighters, we are due this respect when we do the job in the manner of our calling. To maintain that respect requires us to be noble, virtuous, brave, and compassionate. Lacking those, we are just someone who happens to be tagged with a job description we can’t meet. Anyone can put on the uniform. It’s living up to the traditions and expectations of our predecessors that makes us either valiant or heroic.

Suggesting Croker was wrong would be misstating his intent. He was pointing out that the profession, at the time in which he served, was a profession of heroic service. Things haven’t necessarily changed, but taking his quote out of context, which seems like some of those among us seem to do, would be a disservice to all. In this day and age, we have a number of people among us who don’t share Croker’s opinion of “The Job”. I say this because these mutts are quick to quote Croker, insisting that because they are a firefighter, the public should bow down and kiss our collective asses, but these same people fail to recognize reciprocal suggestions of sacrifice or humility or valor, except where they choose it, and on their terms alone.  Saying because you are a “firefighter”, you are a hero, means that even the slimeballs who set fires because they’re “bored” and happen to have filled out a membership somewhere get to hide under the badge as well.  I just don’t buy that.

I’m not hip to those who choose to wrap themselves in the flag of our profession but won’t do anything but criticize others as well.  If some of these trolls really had respect for the job, they’d take the time to mentor and provide positive help for their brothers, rather than subjecting them to public ridicule on a regular basis.  I guess every niche on the internet has a moron drooling on their keyboard, waiting to attack.  When I read some of these comments in places, I just want to let some of them have it with both barrels. I have long learned, however, that doing so would require my lowering myself to their level, and honestly, I’m not interested in that level.  Try being a real professional and setting an example of leadership.  Any idiot can tear something down; it takes skill to build a masterpiece.

There is no reason why insisting on a higher standard for our profession should be indicative of less-than-valiant behavior.  It occurs to me that when someone elevates our expectations anymore, we have someone from the peanut gallery shouting what a real man he is because he doesn’t use incident command, or safety vests, or whatever. Likewise, we have those who think that it’s okay to just plug along with no expectations of excellence whatsoever, and they fail to understand their need to grow, and continue to make the same mistakes over and over again.  You two groups are made for each other.  Leave the rest of us out of it.  Call yourselves something else, because you are giving firefighters a bad name.

I’ve been seeing more and more of the rhetoric lately and much of it coming from a select few. But amazingly enough, I’ve also been seeing more and more people lately choosing to call out the boorish behavior and point out that while we are all capable of making a poor decision, its those of us who find good lessons and earnestly pursue sharing education with others that I choose to call “brother”. I’m proud of you guys and its people like you who deserve the kudos.  You guys are the real heroes among us.

So if you want to strap on your wacker belt and have at it with a someone because they chose to share video that we could all learn from, have at it, Slappy.  While you are portraying yourself as the Nation’s Numero Uno Bombero, the rest of us are quietly toiling away and doing the job.  Perhaps instead of being the best firefighter (because some of you are so infinitely perfect), you can all form a fan club for yourselves and trade war stories.  There’s a term we use for that group that involves an involuntary movement and a geometric figure that I can’t describe on my G to PG-rated blog, so you’ll have to figure it out for yourselves.

In the meanwhile, if you truly want to honor the legacy of Chief Croker and the bar he set for us, you’ll be real heroes.  If you’re a salty vet, you’ll take one of these young bucks aside and show them the ropes.  If you’re the new probie, find a mentor you can respect (and others do as well) and learn at the foot of the master.  In either case, the people I consider exemplifying valor are those individuals who honor the profession and set a positive example for others not only in a burning building, but at the medical calls, doing inspections, dispatching, maintaining apparatus, and every other job necessary to do The Job.

The rest of you special ones who think you’re so great, someday too you may screw up and when you do, you’d better hope everyone else is a little more forgiving.  In case you didn’t know, hubris isn’t a type of shrubbery.  Remember: “Pride goeth before a fall”.  Don’t be the next casualty.

Posted by on September 6, 2010 • Filed under: change, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, fire service, Firefighter Nation, In the Line of Duty, leadership, motivation, officership, professionalism, seatbelts, Training & Development • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Little Safety Parable

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You too could be roadkill. Photo courtesy of aanimalcontrol.com

You too could be roadkill. Photo courtesy of aanimalcontrol.com

So I’m walking from our house to the beach with my three daughters.  There’s a road we have to cross in between here and there that’s pretty busy.  On occasion tourists come flying around the curve, not realizing that there’s an area where you have to cross (although it’s not a marked crosswalk).  While no one has been hit at that spot in the 29 years I have been living on the Island (that I know of), I know it’s a bad section that you can’t see around.  It occurred to me today when I was making that crossing that it’s a lot like the risk we endure as firefighters.

I had the opportunity this weekend to read a recent article on Stat911, that seems to have created some serious wailing and gnashing of the teeth between people who call themselves brothers.  Honestly, it was pretty sad to me as I read these comments.  I admit, it is a little bothersome when a video comes out and a number of people point out the obvious mistakes made, but as I mentioned in an earlier article here on FHZ, we should be looking at things that go wrong and learning, and resolving to keep from repeating events that maim and kill our brethren.

Conversely, instead of saying how stupid some of these people are, perhaps we should offer some constructive criticism and offer suggestions on methods that would help solve the problems, rather than lowering the bar into that angry pit of accusatory language.  And when we generalize about whole departments or organizations based on a squirrely few, we aren’t doing anything other than trying to piss one another off.  I agree 100% that some of the repeated actions (or inactions) taken by other firefighters that endanger themselves and their their colleagues are a little infuriating (like refusing to wear a seat belt), but like the point I have also made over and over again, people aren’t going to learn when you rub their nose in it, they will learn when they see the logic in changing.

But back to my story.  There is, of course, risk in crossing the street, but we accept that risk when we go for a walk, don’t we?  As a pedestrian, we take a calculated risk every time we go out in the road, but it doesn’t stop us from doing it.  In fact, walking in the middle of a busy street is exhilarating.  There’s a certain adrenaline rush when you run out in front of moving cars.

As a responsible father, however, I’d advise against running in front of a moving car.  I’m sure I’d get in a little trouble with my wife, the law, and probably get a few death threats if I just let my children run out in front of cars.  If my four-year-old got struck by a car there, after having  just let her run out there, knowing the risks involved, wouldn’t that make me a little bit liable?  But given the logic espoused by a few of my more enlightened colleagues, I suppose I am overreacting when I tell my girls it’s a wise idea to look both ways at that intersection.  After all, no one has ever been struck or killed here.  If I insisted on having the street marked with lines and a sign, I might be construed as overreacting if you ask some of these folks.

I eat risk for lunch.  I eagerly chose to pursue a fire service career because it was exciting.  Even more so, I focused my whole career to concentrate on special operations.  I’m the Deputy Director of a US&R Task Force.  I used to teach high-line rope rescue, and hold internationally recognized instructor certifications in SCUBA and water rescue.  I hold NPQ and IFSAC certifications as a HAZMAT Technician.  Two of my favorite hobbies are mountain biking and skiing.  I’m not in the slightest bit worried about taking risks.

But there is a serious difference between taking stupid risks and calculated risks.  Firefighting isn’t Jackass.  We have a serious job to do that involves serving the public, and using our personnel as cannon fodder doesn’t do the job.  If you take a risk and die trying to save a life in our job, I’ll be the first one to sing your praises.  If you take a risk and die trying to save a burning trash pile, I’m sorry, I’m not impressed.  If you get burned because you failed to use the safety equipment we provide you, I guess my first question will be, why wasn’t it used?

I think some of the plastic vests and hard-hats are a little much sometimes, but I can understand the effort to make ourselves more visible and to avoid having something clonk us on the head.  But as a leader and chief officer, I also know what can go wrong, what can go seriously, seriously wrong, and to ignore it because I’ve never seen it first hand would be folly.  And to just turn my back on personnel who fail to use good safety practices, knowing what the outcome could be, would be negligent.

Quit the name calling and sand throwing and act like grown-ups.  You can argue that it’s just “ragging”, but it’s not.  The language some of you all out there are using is just plain wrong and malicious.  And it certainly doesn’t represent your side of the argument professionally at all.  I can give people crap all day long with the best of them, but that’s not what some of you are engaging in.  What you are engaging in is simply destructive behavior, and it’s one of the reasons why our profession isn’t always taken very seriously. The only people we are hurting here is ourselves.

Posted by on August 7, 2010 • Filed under: "accident prevention", change, EMS Health & Safety, Fire Rescue Topics, fire service, Firefighter Nation, Firefighter Safety & Health, In the Line of Duty, leadership, Line of Duty, LODD, motivation, officership, professionalism, safety, seatbelts • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Safety Message With A Parental Advisory

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Repeat after me: "It will all be okay." Breathe deeply.

That got your attention, didn’t it?  However, I strive to maintain a “G” rating on FHZ, and the language is not that bad.  I’m not interested in pushing any of your buttons; I just want to get this safety message across.

So let’s just jump right into it.  Depending on where my shift falls, I drive my youngest daughter to school three or four times a week.  Without fail, there is one dumbass who every morning, manages to tie up the carpool line for an extra five minutes while she yaks incessantly to one or another of the other parents waiting in line.

When she finally decides to pull up her tricked-out Escalade and discharge her whiny little brats, she ties up those exiting by stopping and talking to someone else.  Thus far, I have not succumbed to the (strong) urge to walk up and pull her out through the partially open window of her status machine.  But even as I originally contemplated this post, she ran a stop sign, swerved across three lanes of traffic at carpool pick-up, cell phone in one hand and double decaf frappe crappacino in the other, cutting cars off, just so she could pull up next to one of the other moms (there for the afternoon social, of course) and gab some more. (Breathe deeply).

“Where is he going with this?” you ask (cautiously).  Well, while watching this daily comedy of the bizarre, I was thinking that perhaps our apparatus operators are also too distracted while driving very large, inertially-challenged, parade beasts, and maybe this is part of the cause of so many minor and major vehicle collisions each year.

Take for example, the discussion that I encountered this past week.  I am the Chair of our department’s standard operating guideline committee and people sometimes pull me aside to discuss recent changes to our manual.  With recent changes to the way we back our apparatus, our logic is to make everyone get off the apparatus (except the drivers, obviously) and act as spotters to provide some more eyes on the blind sides of the apparatus.  As you can expect, there are those who think more than one spotter is a bad idea.  I think that given the number of accidents we have had, we should be doing anything in our power to change things, since the current modus operandi doesn’t seem to be working all that well.  If one spotter isn’t working, two or more might be better, but one certainly doesn’t seem to be doing the job now.

In our organization, the command staff (unreasonably, I guess) believes that any number greater than one is an unacceptable statistic for collisions.  We LIKE being proactive.  Consequently, we have people who think a few collisions is okay.  ”It’s the price of doing business”, I heard someone say.

Of course, when assigned to spot the apparatus, if we happen to be doing so with a spotter who can actually manage to do more than fog a mirror, that’s all well and good.  I say this because we have drivers who still manage to back into something even with an individual out there to plausibly prevent such an occurrence.  Of course, that’s if THE SPOTTER isn’t themselves distracted by their own cellphone, the hottie crossing the street, shiny objects, or the flashing lights.

Between the radio going, the siren blaring, the other distracted drivers, the officer ordering, and the three swans-a-swimming, our modern fire apparatus operator has a serious challenge when it comes to paying attention to the road and the myriad hazards encountered between Point A and Point B.  In today’s emergency services, and having read some interesting posts by members of some of the forums, while many of us believe the foremost concern of the apparatus operator should be the safe operation of their vehicle, there are people who are more concerned with what music they should be blasting on their way to “the big one”.  Then we wonder why we have accidents.

Years ago, I heard someone say that if every vehicle on the road was equipped with a nine-inch stainless-steel spike in the center of the steering column, we would probably decrease the number of traffic accidents ten-fold.  While I agree that a sharp object pointed at my chest would probably cause me to think twice before exceeding the speed limit, I think a less lethal solution, like a machine that would punch you in the balls for exceeding the physical limitations of the rig, might just be the answer.  Trust me, if I were smacked in the cajones every time I unlawfully exceeded the speed limit, it would get my undivided attention.  I certainly wouldn’t make that mistake twice.  So, if you’re sincere about avoiding this terrible contraption: FOCUS ON DRIVING THE (Pick one: engine/truck/medic/rescue) SAFELY, because I’m off to get the patent.

It is painfully obvious each time we roll a vehicle, smash one into a car at an intersection, park one on the train tracks, or run over our back-up man that there are serious issues of attention at play here.  Instead of focusing on getting to the fire first, we need to focus on getting to the fire in one piece.  And so long as officers on these rigs sit silently and pray that the ride ends up well instead of speaking up and ordering the driver to slow down and drive reasonably, we will continue to lose our brothers and sisters for what- so some hopped up adrenaline junkie can pretend he’s Mario Andretti racing in a 25-ton killing machine?

Just as my story about the clueless soccer mom riled some of you up, so should the image of a fire apparatus driver ramming into the side of a carload of kids be equally, if not so much more, reprehensible.  After all, our subject mom is just another dumbass civilian with a cell phone.  But you, my friends, are caretakers of the public trust.  The taxpayers chose to allow you to drive the biggest, shiniest example of the American Fire Service down its public thoroughfares because they had a semblance of trust that you wouldn’t mow them down like a dog when you were running to that alarm activation.

Let’s be serious about safe driving of our trucks.  If you really want to kill yourself, do it at the scene where at least you can pretend you were saving someone’s life.  Driving down the highway like a maniac isn’t helping anyone, may likely kill someone, and is really just an excuse for showing off.  Don’t be a dumbass.

Do your job and be proud you are a firefighter, and keep your community safe by easing back a little on the throttle.  Focus on what is important; delivering your highly trained crew with the necessary equipment to the scene of the emergency, and insuring that not only they arrive safely, but everyone and everything encountering you in your travels survives the experience as well.

Posted by on June 1, 2010 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Nation, Firefighter Safety & Health, In the Line of Duty, Line of Duty, LODD, motivation, officership, professionalism, rollover, safety, seatbelts, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances, Vehicle Operations & Apparatus • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

To The Easily Offended

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sctf1-tx-060aIn another post, I mentioned a great homily by Father Chris where he spoke about getting the message out (you know, THE Message).  I specifically discussed one of his points about how, when someone in today’s society doesn’t agree with you, the expectation is that they have a “right” to be offended.  How if you have decided you don’t want Christianity in your life, you have a right to be offended by the manger scene on the corner, or if someone says that they believe that ___ is a sin, people have a right to be offended that you are talking about religion.

I guess where I am going with this blog is that there are a lot of people who should pretty much lighten up about some things, but it seems to me there’s a few people who should also lighten up and get with the program about things like firefighter safety, or more accurately, accountability, use of IMS, and not sending people in to fight fires in “lost causes”.

It seems that whenever one of these subjects comes up, there are always one or two out there who say, “Hey, we’ve been doing it this way for years, and I’ve been fighting fires since you were in diapers, blah, blah, blah, blah.” (I wrote that because that’s about where I stopped listening).  I remember one particularly spirited discussion on NIMS and what a crock of crap it was and that members of the XYZ (read: big city) Fire Department, by God, have been doing it this way without that NIMS stuff and maybe you all shouldn’t be a bunch of sissies (that’s not the word he used), blah, blah, blah.

So I guess what you’re saying then, is that despite any meaningful adaptations there are from the way we did stuff to the way the rest of us are doing stuff (in the 21st century) all of it is pretty much useless and we should go back to fighting fires with buckets and grappling hooks.  That would be fine, except that building construction has changed significantly and you aren’t going to pull much thatch off the roofs in my neighborhood.  Or maybe using single 2 1/2-inch supply lines and booster lines is really okay, except that in my city, we have large properties with huge fire loads that give off mega-amounts of BTUs that you won’t overcome with that red garden hose.  And being grossly out of shape is okay, except that now we carry more equipment than we did before, including the fact that we are going to have to go up and down stairs wearing SCBA and the heat being produced by today’s burning couch and other contents far exceeds the heat output of fires in the 50′s and 60′s.

Maybe, just maybe, it’s time some of you dug some of the wax out of your ears and listened to the voices of today’s fire service, and if you can’t fathom why change can be good, consider maybe it’s you that needs to change (a change in profession, that is).  Learn more about where we are going by studying the traditions of our past, but realize that tradition is nice when it comes to parades and retirements, but it has absolutely no place in the field of modern combat we call the fireground.

Posted by on April 4, 2009 • Filed under: "accident prevention", change, education, fire service, firefighting, leadership, motivation, officership, professionalism, revolution, safety, seatbelts, technology • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

The Smorgasboard of Safety

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First off, I think everyone is familiar with what a smorgasboard is (For my whole life I thought it to be exclusively a Pennsylvania thing, but it’s apparent everyone knows what one is), but I’d call it more of a plethora of safety issues.  You know, plethora, like a “large amount, to the point of being undesirable.

In my search for a safety message for my crew this morning, I found plenty to discuss, all at Firehouse.com, all of them posted within the last few days.

What are our choices today in getting injured or killed? Let’s look and see; would it be the continued reluctance of some in our profession to use their seat belts?  Or would it be the problems associated with maintaining a safe perimeter while working in traffic?  Of course, you could work at this department where staying out of the emergency room seems to be a serious challenge.

Other than the seat belt issue (which I can’t understand how a firefighter on this planet hasn’t had this beat into them by now), there is likely more to the story and I certainly don’t insinuate that anyone screwed up without having the facts.  But what I am pointing out is, it doesn’t just always happen “somewhere else”.

What things do you see around your department that can get you injured or killed?  In this New Year, I challenge you to look at the possibilities and make the right choices, that is, the choice to be safe.

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Posted by on January 6, 2009 • Filed under: "accident prevention", change, fire service, professionalism, safety, seatbelts • Tagged: , , ,

Buckle Up!

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As noted on http://www.firefighterclosecalls.com/, there have been quite a few apparatus rollovers in recent days. Fortunately, firefighters are getting the message to buckle up and lives are being saved. The first article on there this morning has to do with a rollover where just this same thing happened. There can be no debate: Seat belts save lives. You have a responsibility to yourself and your family to buckle up, not to mention your organization. If you won’t do it for your brothers, do it for yourself. There is no reason for the fire service to continue to repeat the tragedy of LODD events related to firefighters failing to heed this warning.

Have a safe day- use common sense and prevent accidents before they occur.

Posted by on November 25, 2008 • Filed under: "accident prevention", LODD, rollover, safety, seatbelts