Are fires getting worse, or are the firefighters?
Training Culture in Our Fire Service
Today more than ever fires are becoming more dangerous. I wouldn’t say so much as different, we know they burn at the same temperature, they just get there faster and collapse a little faster, all predictable and preventable circumstances and if you can predict it then you can train for it. What makes the fires more dangerous for us today is the frequency. Not so long ago in the fire service, fires were a high-frequency and low risk event because we were running them a lot more. Today they would be classified as a low-frequency high-risk event, firefighters aren’t getting the real experience and subsequently training far less than ever before on such an event. In addition our advancements in PPE have allowed us to get further into these buildings than ever before- See the red flag yet?
We need to train harder than ever before, study fire more than ever before and ultimately be ready more than ever before.
We find our selves diving into technical rescue operations and advanced medical care or in some instances para-medicine, while training maybe once a year in a concrete building that doesn’t burn with fake smoke in sub-par conditions that hardly provide a glimpse of what the real deal will look or feel like. What used to be basic and fundamental is no longer. Stretching hose, flowing water while moving down a hallway, coordinated ventilation and even search and rescue. All tactics that by today's standard are a “specialty”. Without having to even look at a report we the firefighters are the ones to blame for not showing such a force the respect that it has earned.
We need to train harder than ever before, study fire more than ever before and ultimately be ready more than ever before. We owe it to them, the stakeholder, the community, the ones we swore to protect, the ones who’s safety we put before our own... As a younger guy on the job I find my self in search of mentor(s). When I started as a volunteer firefighter there was no shortage of the “senior man” ready and willing to showmen the ropes, today I find that they are far and few between, when I look to the training divisions they are far to busy on classes or writing lesson plans and preparing power points to send out to the companies.
So we find ourselves taking to youtube or other public forums of media to search out the information we crave. We take classes outside of the country and then come home to find ourselves at the brunt of every joke for doing so. Tell me that's not backwards! In my opinion I find the training culture in the fire service to be lost. Not among all, but certainly among the many. If a tool is found in the un-ready position then we are scrutinized for leaving it in that condition but then forget to point the finger at ourselves for not being ready to do the jobs that lay ahead, your tools are of no value to you if they are not trained with.
So what’s the plan?
Do you wait on the brass to implement a better training program or the training division to come up with more training or do you take responsibility and ownership of it, find your own information and brush up on those perishable skills. It takes about the same amount of effort to complain about something than it does to research and train on it. The benefit of the latter will be that you learn something that might save the life of your neighbor or fellow Firefighter. Keep in mind that there is a healthy balance- no one is asking you to go out for the whole shift and beat the hell out of your crew.
If you’re a volunteer company and have scheduled training days how are you spending them? Are you reading your Firefighters to sleep or do you make the most of that time and focus on the physical basics of our job. Ever wondered why you spend more time training Firefighters to rescue other Firefighters and less time training to rescue members of our communities, or less time fighting fires?
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
― Sun Tzu
Start with 5 minutes, then 10, next thing you know a discussion is started and an hour passes by and before you know it your well on your way to being the fire department that your community thinks you are. Start somewhere because anywhere is better than nowhere.
