Distance separates us. Of course it does, you are probably thinking. That’s not that much of a revelation. But distance separates us all the more so because by being distant, or more so, by not being alike, it also indicates a schism between you and I. The fire and emergency services are united in our history, but at some point we evolved into many different representations of the same idea: service to others. As to whether that space can be broached or not is the big question. While we can all claim brotherhood and a desire to do this job, whether we are career or not; whether we are urban or not; whether we provide EMS or not; and a whole host of other differences keep us from effectively saying “We Are One”.
Over the past decade, the efforts Dave Iannone and Chris Hebert have put together brought a lot of us old crusties to the digital age. These innovative experiences took firefighters (and non-firefighters) from around the world and brought us closer together. But while this has been a good thing because I now know and can better understand the perspectives of a volunteer firefighter in Moosejaw, AK as well as a firie in New South Wales, Australia, it is saddening because I see some of what I had hoped not to see.
Although I was first promoted to officer rank in 1985, I’m afraid I wasn’t a very good officer. Sure I could run tactics and make sure people were doing their jobs, but I lacked maturity and looking back on it, depth. In 1988, my eyes were opened. During a weekend seminar on Fire Service Leadership, Chief Harry Diezel (Ret, Virginia Beach Fire Department) opened my eyes and put me on the path that I have since continued along. Twenty years ago, this guy said that networking was one of the single most important elements of leading. Yes, twenty years ago.
I quickly found out what firefighting was and was not about. In that one class, I realized that there was firefighting, there was being a fire officer, and there was fire service leadership. While I never had the opportunity to work with Chief Diezel, his words have never left me. Although some of his ideas still are met with resistance from some of our colleagues and did that weekend from people in the class, the ideas have only been confirmed over the years to me as his concept of emergency service delivery made Virginia Beach one of the model departments of the Eighties. Over the years, people like Howard Cross, a legendary instructor at the National Fire Academy, have also reinforced those concepts to me.
Like these individuals did for me, I have always wanted to do for others. Firehouse Zen is part of that legacy. I want others to look at this job with renewed perspective, to comprehend, rather than simply demonstrate knowledge. To understand, rather than to just repeat memorized information. To seek alternatives, to improve, and to be about positive change rather than to be about the status quo.
FireEMSBlogs.com is just a natural evolution of sharing this body of knowledge. Dave and Chris have done a tremendous job to bring us together and to allow us to share experiences, to bond, and to better appreciate the situation each of us must face daily. We have, however, light years ahead of us and so long as we refuse to acknowledge that our differences are actually a good thing, we will never be united.
To effect change, we must seek to understand. To understand, we have to be presented with knowledge and that knowledge comes from others. As the internet bridges the miles and brings our world closer together, we are finding that we share a lot more than we thought we had in common, and yet we also find ourselves unwilling to accept the views of others and even assault those who happen to share a contrarian view. In order to grow, it is imperative that we open our minds and take the tools we are given, and use them to the best advantage. Do us all a favor this year; point a colleague toward some of the networking opportunities out there, especially the one afforded by FireEMSBlogs.com, and tell them that there’s no time like the present to start working toward tomorrow.
For the past year or so, our department has been building a training facility of our own. We officially dedicated it on the 29th and christened some of the props with a little demonstration burn to wow the VIPs who came out to celebrate with us. It’s a nice facility and was designed with more than just training in mind, given our organization’s desire to find multiple uses for things. The site was designed to also be an effective staging location for after hurricanes, or to be used as a distribution center in the event of the same, and can support our semi-annual HAZMAT roundup. But to me, one of the best things is no more begging.
Recent Comments