In this case the researchers are using the Green June Beetle, but given the size of the cockroaches (or Palmetto Bugs, as we like to call them in South Carolina) I have seen, we could probably equip them with a hammer drill and let them tunnel the victims back out of the rubble once they find one.

Cyborg insects are low maintenance, can get into very restricted and virtually inaccessible areas, and with these new developments, can be adapted for a number of different tasks.  Some of these cyborg applications could also be used for monitoring hazmats or terrorist attacks, doing pre-entry search and recon for SWAT teams, or spy work.  As far as our use of these creatures, the sky (or the basement) is the limit.

Never lose sight of this constant: Change is inevitable.  It''s how we deal with it that makes the difference. What we know today as the way we do business may be radically different tomorrow.

It may take extra time that you don't think you have. That time may seem very valuable. The shortcut you take may seem like it saves those precious seconds. But I have seen in my life, many times when those shortcuts have proven catastrophic, and in most of those situations, I look at them and wonder, had someone taken a few extra moments to do it right, what the outcome might have been.

While the historical issue between response to rescues in New York City is frustrating and sad, since it seems to me to be the confluence of a power struggle and turf battle, instead of celebrating a terrific save the other day, instead we have this tragedy to contend with, as shared with us by Dave Statter on his blog.

I have always learned and always taught that when lifting, we "crib to the lift". And while the spreaders are not the desired lifting tool, I have used them before and they have worked just fine. I preface that, however by explaining that I am also passionate about physics and when I have used spreaders, I also understood that the force applied must go somewhere, and if the load isn't stabilized, the force is going to create motion we don't want. In this case, the force displaced the object alright: lateral to the support (the spreader) and with nothing to support the load (cribbing) the load went to ground (and victim).

I don't care if you are FDNY, ESU, or anyone else. I have seen this very same shortcut taken before in departments that have had identically catastrophic results. I also recall other times when the load has shifted on the column, in one case, three stacked air bags.  In this case, the firefighter, who happened to also be the salesman of the lift bags and should have a little expertise in their use, himself was killed.

There's a lesson to be learned in every tragedy. Aside from the physical principles that apply to all of us here on this planet, there's another very important one. Driving recklessly, failing to wear your seatbelt, not wearing proper PPE, not paying attention to overhead power lines, and in this case, not providing an alternate column to support the load via cribbing, all might seem like they are saving precious seconds, but failing to do the right thing the first time, ended instead in tragedy.

Take a moment to ditch the emotion and be the professionals you are. Do the right thing the first time.

Being so focused on one thing, it is very easy to lose track of your surroundings.  If there is ever a scenario when situational awareness is completely hampered, it is at these moments.  Even if, as a leader, you were to "get up on the balcony" to observe from a different perspective, chances are that if your focus were so narrowed on one subject, you still might miss the subtle and even the obvious, when considering impact upon whatever is actually occurring.

Sometimes the challenges we face are so daunting or so in need of our engagement, that we forget to consider alternatives.  These issues may cause us to hone in on only the details that are immediately apparent to us, as they may jump right out and comand our attention, and cause us to lose sight of the process: to define the problem, gather the facts, consider alternatives, and implement the solution.  Instead we may become completely absorbed in whatever element of that process that causes us the most challenge and we may be paralyzed due to that restricted sightline.  And just as importantly, peripheral vision helps us to consider other factors as they intercept our path and instead of navigating away or turning to combat the issue head on, these factors take us completely by surprise.

Consider that while we may be too close to our problem to be objective, we may even not resolve that perspective by standing back from it, because we are fixed on the issue and unwilling to pay attention to subtleties.  When faced with a monumental challenge, it helps to step back from it, but it also helps sometimes to put the issue down altogether, to walk away from it and reflect, and then revisit the problem with fresh eyes.

Note: Thanks to my traveling companion for his insight and sharing his observations.  And as an FYI, depending on what Irene does, I'll probably be a little busy, so if you don't see anything on FHZ for a while, please stop back by because once I get time, I'll get caught back up again.  Thanks for reading.

In between class sessions here in Colorado, Chief Ron and his wife, Linda, and I took a scenic tour of Rocky Mountain National Park by way of the Western Portal, going up to the Gore Range before turning around and going back into town.  While the park is incredible and the vistas breathtaking, it occured to us that settlers going west centuries ago must have been awestruck coming off the plains and facing this massive roadblock.

We were also listening to a talk radio show at the same time and the moderator was indicating that we are never just given the keys to leadership, we have to earn them through trial and survival.  Only after being faced with hardship and making it through do you realize that these challenges fortify you for any battles ahead.

Sitting in an air conditioned car on the paved road and using GPS to find our path, it became apparent to me that the next time I am faced with adversity, I need to consider these individuals.  How daunting it must have been, going to a land unknown to them, packing up everything they had and moving it across the Rockies to forge a better life for themselves.  Yet they not only overcame those challenges, they led the making of a new nation.  What right do I have to worry about my petty issues? 

If you believe in what you are doing, nothing can stop you. Consider the triumphs of others when given impossible odds and realize that you can do anything you dream.

Do you want to recharge your batteries?  Teach.  Take what you have learned and share it with others.  You don't have to be a certified instructor to teach.  Even the lowest man on the totem pole can learn something and share it with others. Sharing knowledge changes the world.

According to this pilot, Chief H said, when there is a landing that isn't perfect, there is a culture of not pointing fingers that encourages the flight crew to report the event, discuss the factors, and to come up with methods to improve their performance.  Sounds a lot like a near-miss policy to me, but the difference is that apparently, there is absolutely no resistance to reporting these issues because there is no threat of repercussion.

Now we have the Secret List and the Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System, and in our organization at least, we discuss standard operating guidelines in post-event critiques, but I don't know that those concepts even go as far as what Chief H was suggesting they do in this airline program.  To me, it sounds a lot like common sense: instead of focusing on the situation that has already occurred, focus on the events we can fix or those we can grow to recognize and solve, and move forward.

But there is no way this kind of concept can evolve on many of these blogs.  Hell, if anything is seen, like a glove missing or God forbid, someone isn't wearing their SCBA, it becomes a litany of what a dumbass the individuals are and how is it that these people are even still fighting fire.

Now while our department is very strict about the use of safety equipment and insuring best practices are followed, it is hardly a slamfest out there.  If we see you don't have something, we suggest (pretty strongly) for you to go get it and wear it.  This happens pretty rarely because we have squared away people who have been doing this stuff fairly often (with the exception of some of the rookies, of course).  But really, we do make mistakes and there's a lot of times we laugh about it because once pointed out, everyone is pretty good about doing the right thing.

I'd hate, however, for someone to take a photograph of us when we rolled up on a scene, however, and someone just so happened to have missed putting a glove on.  In the case of a recent fire we had, there was significantly enough fire on the outside to cause the arriving officer to order a transitional attack.  His company deployed two lines to the exterior to knock down the rapidly extending fire, which they did without donning masks.  

The next due engine stretched an attack line to the front door and using proper PPE, made the knock on the inside.  Confined to the two rooms we found burning when we got there, nobody hurt.  Nobody was coughing or hacking and honestly, the most difficult part of the evolution was dealing with the mosquitoes.  But just on the chance there was a picture taken of those first few seconds, we'd have heard cries of "sissy" and "outdoor firefighter" from half the crowd and angry accustations of unsafe activity and amateurism from the other half.

Instead of showing the world you are the resident expert on firefighting (which I suspect half of the trolls would run crying at the sight of a real fire), why not use what you see on the blogs and posts to learn something from it and instead of sharing your incredible insight with us all, perhaps make some intelligent observations that could help others remember not to make those mistakes.  I doubt any of the haters are reading this, so I doubt it will have much impact, but perhaps, maybe it will.

Lo and behold, a quote from the author, Linda Holmes, describing the actions of the management team for Two and A Half Men.  From the article: "They [the management team] voluntarily ripped a key piece of machinery out of one of the most successful money factories on television.  Things actually got that bad."

That's not "#winning" folks.  That's stopping the hemorrhage. At what point in your wildly successful organization does the presence of a key individual become so dysfunctional that you just have to say, "Enough"?  Conversely, I know people who say they would work for any psychopath Chief if the money were right.  But there comes a time when a line must be drawn, as has allegedly occurred in Weirton, WV, according to a post by FireGeezer.com.  

It's tragic that there are people who are "in charge" who exhibit this kind of behavior.  While this individual may have some other issues we don't know about yet, I know of ex-chiefs of departments who have fought employees, threatened them, or just acted like total sociopaths. I know business "leaders" who act similarly to their employees.  Years ago, I had the opportunity to work for one of those psychopaths I refer to and frankly, I took the inconsistent, hypercritical, hypocritical direction for a period of time, then ultimately, parted ways.  I have always been considered a pretty decent employee, if I say so myself, but this guy made no sense to me whatsoever and I knew I could do a better job for someone who was a little more balanced.  So I left.  Ultimately, so did he, but that's a story for another time.

I tell you all the time about leadership and mentoring.  I am positive that even as a buck recruit you can influence and impress others where you can in fact, be considered a leader through positive contributions.  But there are just some people who happen to rise to power and are either corrupted on the way, or didn't have a good sense of values to begin with, who should simply not be in a leadership position.

And forgive me for saying so, but there are people who may have all the right intentions, but simply don't have the chops: they may lack command presence, or conversely, may be too overbearing.  But I can work with someone if they are pointed in the right direction and are willing to allow me to help them go in that direction.  But if we are diametrically opposed in our vision and our values, someone is going to have to change or go.  Unfortunately, in some cases, it might be the forces on the side of "good" having to leave because they can not positively influence the direction the organization is going in.  And no amount of money, fame, or awards will change that.

When you have just started out somewhere, it may be immediately apparent that this isn't the place for you and cutting your losses can be a little easier.  But aside from the investment you have made in an organization, when you have been in the business long enough that you have built up some chips and got your resume positioned correctly, it makes the decision tougher because you really do believe you can turn things around, if you happen to get the chance.  

Successful warriors are so because they choose their battles wisely.  They seek advantage in terrain, timing, and resources.  They attack when they see weakness and they withdraw when they sense resistance.  Just as a skilled butcher doesn't chop through the bones lest he damage his knife, he finds the joints and cuts through those at the weakest points, making the job easier and extending the life of his blade.  So should we seek our opportunities to advance and withdraw, to put forth ideas to improve the service we provide, or back off until the timing is right, or we have the right analysis of our idea, or we have the resources to fund the concept.  But when those elements aren't ever made available, a decision has to be made.  

As I asked earlier, at what point in your wildly successful organization do things become so dysfunctional that you just have to say, "Enough"?

A few shifts later, we did end up with one of these transports and the same crew was back on rotation.  I called the station to let the crew know what was going on.  I hung up from that and went back to my computer.  After a few minutes, I still hadn't heard the medic unit check in on the radio.  When I called the station to find out what was going on, I'll bet you know what the answer was. That day I learned a lesson the hard way.  The lesson: Don't give someone an order and then, when something unusual comes up, expect your orders to be followed without question.

Individuals who become supervisors, and subsequently leaders, must understand that when they play pranks like that, the result is that people don't see you as credible. I do have examples of officers who have been able to be pranksters and be credible, but they are VERY far and few between.  In retrospect, a friend and colleague who I consider one of the best officers I have ever worked with was one of those.  But my observation is that he had the ability to pull off pranks that didn't require his active involvement.  And while never calling attention to his ability to pull a fast one, he wasn't the class clown either.  

Conversely, there are those who when they pull off the joke, they have to be in the middle of it.  This obviously detracts from their respectability.  They are not seen as credible.  The crew just sees them as an extension of themselves, with some added paperwork responsibilities.  When it comes to playtime, these characters are right there in the mix, setting someone up for a "bunny tail", throwing someone else's car keys into a bowl of water bound for the freezer, or throwing a bucket of cold water over top of the shower door on some unsuspecting boot.  And what's even worse is that when the officer engages in this behavior, it also means that to be a good sport, you must be okay with being the mark in some of the practical jokes. Otherwise, the argument is that you can dish it out, but can't take it, and depending on how you react, you may very well end up looking foolish, which certainly isn't going to do anything for your respect.

There are ways to not be a prankster and not be seen as a tight-ass either.  We have a long standing "tradition" of wetting individuals with ice cold buckets of water when they get promoted.  The day I got the official letter, I overheard some of the crew debating the wisdom of wetting me, since I don't engage in that nonsense.  But when all the work was done that day, I finished up a report, walked out into the kitchen and said, "Okay, if you're going to do this, let's do it and get it over with."  

Each of the other six guys at Station 6 that day got a shot at pouring ice water on a newly minted chief officer (see the picture).  I'll admit it was cold and that it took my breath away.  But I sat there and when they exhausted their last bucket and they were all standing around, I shook the ice off my shirt and stood up.  I then asked, "You guys done?"  They all acknowledged that they were, I simply said "Thank You", went inside to my rack and changed into a dry uniform.  Then I went back to my office to finish up my evening reports with a smile and a business as usual attitude.

Likewise, if you have that kind of attitude and someone does take a chance to pull one over on you, the best bet is to maintain a sense of humor about it, but remind the entire crew that it isn't smart to prank the chief.  I've said something like, "Are you sure turning the heater on high in the chief's car is a good career move?", which gets some light laughter, but everyone gets the point.  Later you can take the individual aside and actually use it to discuss this very same lesson here with them, so that perhaps they learn from it for when they become an officer. 

When you are a leader, it requires you to not take yourself too seriously.  But if you are busy dreaming up new practical jokes rather than dreaming up new training scenarios, the likelihood that you will be given the respect you desire as an officer is going to be slim. Officers who engage in practical joking with their subordinates are only asking for reciprocation; the biggest downside is that reaction may come at the time you least want it to.  Best to leave the funny stuff to the kids and stick to being the responsible adult. 

Consider the events in Holyoke, MA over the past week or so. If the action you are about to take would cause undue embarrassment to you or your organization, or your family and loved ones, would you still do it? If your action was the cause of something that makes the front page, or the national news, and it's not something you are proud of, would you do it? If the action you are about to take would invoke criminal or civil penalties against you, would you still do it?

What happened here was a very innocent practical joke on the part of an interim chief.  I feel badly for him and I really don't believe this chief to be an idiot (as some have stated) or a criminal (as others have), or even a bad guy.  I don't even know the man.  But what he did, especially in the anti-public servant climate within which we are currently suffering, was not exercising good judgment.

There is nothing about this incident that suggests that anything happened here other than an attempt at a little levity, albeit at the expense of violating the laws about calling in false alarms.  Am I judging the man or his actions?  No.  I don't know all the facts, although they seem pretty apparent on their face.  Do I understand the mentality?  Yes.  I have moved a fire engine parked at the supermarket to the other side of the parking lot along with a few other practical jokes. But the next blog post will be all about THAT angle regarding leadership, so stay tuned.  I don't believe anything other than that this was a practical joke gone wrong. 

But in light of this incident, maybe instead of testing someone's physical fitness, their aptitude for reading a sentence, or the many other things we should be testing and aren't, maybe we should put at the top of the priority list, a test for maturity.  Because other than the only test that seems to be important in some departments these days – that would be the ability to fog a mirror – we insist on knowing all these important things about how much someone can lift, or how fast they can run stairs, or how fast can they calculate 2+2 and we miss out on what seems to be the heart of our industry's problem.  If you haven't picked up on it, that would be a test for whether or not the individual we are about to hire or promote is capable of objectively separating their inner teenager from the responsibilities of adulthood.

Again, lest you think this is all about pranksterism, there are actually many examples of where a certain level of maturity is important, and why it's not a good idea to have people associate with us that think it is okay to video someone lighting fireworks out of your ass.  The public perception these days is swinging toward the "bunch of overgrown kids pretending to be important" side and away from the "upstanding citizen who is here to keep us safe" side.  While some of our colleagues might not see that as being important, the public, when choosing to spend their hard earned dollars, are really not interested in sending money in the direction of waste and frivolous behavior.  They want to be reassured that the individuals to whom they are entrusting their tax dollars are responsible, thoughtful, and perceptive.  People who are making the news wire for setting fires, calling in prank false alarms, stealing from treasuries, and any other number of violations of society, are NOT considered as being responsible, thoughtful or perceptive.  In fact, if this is news to you, haven't you probably ALSO been the ones complaining because the public doesn't love you anymore?  Acting like you are still a member of Delta Tau Chi is not okay when you pin bugles on your collar (and I am the number one Animal House fan, remember?)  Sophomoric behavior is best left to sophomores. 

There are a number of us who are frustrated with the eroding public trust that comes about when certain participants in our field act like a bunch of day care refugees.  The failure for some to consider the ripple effect their actions have on others is incredible.  We are in a real struggle to define the fire and emergency services.  There are daily reports of communities downsizing departments, "renting" them out (that would be privatizing them), or simply reallocating funds that would have been spent on fire and emergency services to other competing interests.  We are at war here for our very existence, and every negative report is used against us, implicitly or not, to give rationale as to why we (fire and emergency services) shouldn't get the support we need.

There is no need to comment that I'm sucking the fun out of the job.  Right now, we need to be working harder than ever to save our standing in the community, be it as a career or volunteer professional.  We definitely don't need our own people shooting our efforts in the feet.  Fun is when we can come out of a good worker safely, with a smile on our face because we did a good job; or high-fiving in the nurse's lounge because we just pulled an asystolic patient out of their nose-dive and they are sitting up talking in Bed 2.  Fun is when we are on the training ground joking around with each other while resting after a particularly challenging evolution.  

Grow up. Fun doesn't come unless you earn it.  It's not fun being a loser.  You can have fun all day long, but in the end, if you haven't accomplished anything, you're just one more clown among many.  When you are truly professional, you can work hard and have fun at it too.

Now, I do read a lot and listen to podcasts, etc. and I will check my quotes with a deep internet search to make sure I haven't stolen someone else's ideas, but I'm pretty sure I said this stuff at one time or another.  I also left off anything I paraphrased (I hope) and added some stuff that exists in unpublished posts (there are a few dozen of those).  Believe it or not, we here at FHZ have standards.  They are low, but we do have standards.  

So here you are, from the beginning of FHZ, some of the more memorable ones:

• "When I give you an order, I want to see it done, or your dead body where you died trying to do it."
• "Never eat more than your mask can hold."
• "I am not your friend, I am your boss. If you want to be friends, that's okay, but that doesn't change the fact that I am your boss first."
• "The company officer is the designated adult supervision in the station. Act like it."
• "There won't be a group hug at the end of this. I don't do Kumbaya."
• "When I call for a resource I'm gonna give you type and kind. If I call for a Lincoln-ful of Panamanians, I don't care where you got it, just give me the closest one."
• "Let's put this in terms you can understand: Confined space rescue is nothing more than HAZMAT on a rope."
• "Being a truckie requires resourcefulness. You are presented with a problem no one else knows how to fix and you fix it with what you brought to the party or what you can swipe. After that, it's all magic."
• "Individuals have given themselves the freedom to make poor decisions, then be let off the hook because we 'shouldn't judge them', or because their mommy didn't hug them as a child, or whatever the victim story is this week." (Okay, I just used that one again the other day).
• "The base cause of indignity is usually the result of inconsiderate behavior." (Oh, and that one is new. But I liked it).
• "Conflict in life is inevitable. Conflict escalation and intractability is not." (Alright, that one is new as well.  Back to the old stuff).
• "There's enough ugly going on around us right now without our own people bringing it down on us."
• "Each of us should be serving as a positive example of how to do the job, volunteer or career, and without acting like a bunch of amateurs and whackers."
• "The important part in our lives, really, isn't necessarily what we can fill up our minds with at every moment, but about creating space to let more in."
• "There are a few things that you should raise the stakes for, like your faith, your family, and your country.  But when faced with an unwinnable scenario and a profound lack of resources, sometimes it is best to save what you can save and live to fight on another day."
• "Where t = tempo, r = resources and f = frustration: increasing t multiplied by decreasing r = exponential increase in f."
• "The taxpayers in your community ultimately decide what level of service they want.  If they are insistent that giving you no resources is okay, then they have to be educated to what extent that investment will reap disaster.  Risk is proportionate to return."
• "There are other sides to every argument that get squashed by the rush of the ADD crowd to comment.  Don't fall into the trap of the unenlightened.  Think before you post."
• "I can think of no rational society that thinks it is okay to screw the disadvantaged for the benefit of the privileged.  Taking advantage of the less fortunate is simply bullying."
• "When we use the phrase 'customer service", if that's not appealing to you, try saying it like this: 'doing what is right for our neighbors and the people who visit and work in our community'.  That should be a little more pleasant."
• "Successful coaches match schemes to personnel, not vice-versa."
• "If you are going to successfully implement change in your organizational culture, there should be a reluctance to be where you were and a desire to get where you are going."
• "I'm pretty sure that when my ticket , I'm not going to be quoted saying something profound, poetic, or heroic.  It is likely going to be something that can't be repeated around children or the faint-hearted."
• "If we really want our industry to recognized as professional, it requires consistent conduct that is professional."
• 'Legitimate power, in the sense of leading others, is limited to the amount of leverage the followers will permit."
• "Tansformative leadership requires commitment, honesty to self, and an understanding of the world.  It's yours if you can embrace change, open yourself up to it, and set the example to others."
• "Our business is too dangerous to leave the teaching to amateurs."
• "Perhaps if you guys are going to fight fire like you are in the '70's, you should be paid like we were then too."
• "If as a team, you can't agree on the destination, someone needs to get out of the car. Ultimately, getting to the destination requires assessment, negotiation, understanding, cooperation, and ends with commitment."
• "More often than I care to, my 'command presence' comes out at inopportune times, like when I am talking to my wife (she doesn't like it), my kids (they're not crazy about it either), or my colleagues (they probably think I'm insufferable anyway)."
• "If you fail to illustrate a clear picture of who is in charge, someone else will come in and fill that drawing in for you."
• "Sometimes the best we can do is to pin it down to the neighborhood of origin, if that's what was burning when we got there."

Since at some point perhaps I'll add another page of these for the next years, if one of the sentences I uttered strikes a chord with you, point it out to me and I'll add it.  I'm all about customer service.  Until next time, thanks for reading.