FRUITLAND VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY    

Productivity and the Fire Service

Engineer Chris Kip, Columbia Fire and Rescue

A fellow firefighter brought a question to my attention, an essay question from one of her college classes: “What is productivity in the fire service?  How can we measure it?      Quantitatively? Qualitatively?  Do you think your department is productive?”  

How do we measure productivity in the fire service?  Unlike other professions, we don’t make anything.  Our only “product” is the service we provide to the community.  Wal-Mart measures its productivity in sales.  Westinghouse measures its productivity in fuel rod shipments.  Even most service professions can measure their productivity by the amount of money brought in for services rendered.  

But we in the fire service find ourselves in an interestingly disconnected situation.  For, as one of the fundamental tenets of our job, we have the opportunity (and obligation) every day to render service independently of direct payment.  This separation of remuneration and “product” allows us a uniquely un-materialistic approach to providing service.  We give Mrs. Smith the same level of care whether she lives in a six hundred square-foot house without power, or a 14 million dollar mansion. 

We have the opportunity to universally protect the members of our community. But how do we keep the quality of our service from faltering, how do we measure our productivity so that we know when we are NOT producing?  How do we measure productivity in the fire service?

Considering this from several different vantage points within our service, I thought first: “How would a firefighter newly on the floor describe a productive day?”  When I was a rookie, a good day was one with lots of emergency calls, lots of chances to help people out; lots of dressing out, getting on the truck, and hitting the road. 

Now as a Fire Engineer, I still feel good and productive during a busy day of calls (except for the ones after 0300 hrs).  But there are also other priorities that have worked themselves into my idea of productivity.  Now I would call a day productive during which I can get the mechanics to fix the leaking ball valve on the truck, get the drawers fixed in the kitchen cabinets, study my map-books, discover obscure hydrants and mark them in my maps, have a constructive company training session, work out as a company, read an instructive article in a trade journal, share it with others.  I find now that a feeling of productivity demands not just the chance to act, but more and more it comes from actively preparing for the chance to act.

I imagine that as a company officer a feeling of productivity would increasingly depend on work towards preparation, opportunities to increase the efficiency and efficacy of the company.  A good day would probably include an informal pre-fire plan, a company training session that reviewed essential skills, but also brought forth some innovation and helped bring the company together as a team, an insight from a firefighter that showed he or she is learning, a chance to do a good job on an emergency scene, a chance for the company to make a difference in someone’s life. 

Our administrative bosses probably have a somewhat different perspective on the fire service’s productivity.  Their priorities may be affected more by the monetary value of fire loss in a year, by the number of firefighter injuries, effectiveness of budgeting, proper flow of logistical matters, and the overall moral of the men and women on the floor.

They might also measure it by the range of services provided: fire suppression, vehicle extrication, first response to medical emergencies, hazardous materials mitigation, special rescue operations, public education, fire code enforcement, child seat installation…The span and depth of our services to the community are a valuable mark of our productivity.   For in the end we do belong to the community, and their perception of us may be the most important and pertinent measure of our productivity of all.

I asked my wife how she, as a citizen, would gauge the productivity of the fire service:

“Well,” she said, “Any Joe Shmoe can pull someone out of a car after a vehicle accident, but what people expect from the fire department is to be in safe, professional hands.  Professionalism comes from poise, and poise comes by knowledge.  It takes knowledge to control any emergency scene, and preparation and training to internalize that knowledge.”

“It’s also the seemingly peripheral issues that make such a big difference.  When mom and dad’s house burned, they were impressed (even in their stunned stupor) by the quick knock down of the fire.  But what really touched them, and what they talk about to this day, is that they watched as firefighters carefully carried family photographs and dad’s paintings from the house, even while the fire was still peeking from the eves.  That’s the story they tell all of their friends.”

“I think,” she continued, “that you all should measure your productivity by identifying what are the basic necessities of the job, and then comparing that to what you could do.”    

I can think of no more important assignment.  Let’s make the difference.      

     

Being Safe Begins With Being Respectful

Assistant Chief Dwight Easler, Corinth Fire Department

 

I spoke with a drill sergeant with 20 yrs experience in the army who told me that he was considering retirement. I asked him why and he said, “ The kids today coming into the military have one big problem, they do not respect authority and that is going to get them killed.” This is extremely detrimental to the military as you might imagine but it can also be life threatening to the fire service. I have been in battles against the established leadership in fire departments because I felt like I needed to do what was right for the sake of myself and others. However, what I am witnessing now in many departments is a simple disrespect for all authority. It seems many of us think that we are a law to ourselves. I see many who show disdain for anyone in leadership just because they are there. In my opinion, this is one of the most damaging trends in the fire service. How many young people wanting to join a fire department will hear something negative about the leadership before they will hear anything else? How many firefighters come to work in dread and negativity because they spend most of their day in disdain for the leader placed over them? We all have seen the negative affects of these situations.

 

All of us need leadership and authority. Quality leaders make us better by teaching us and being a guardian for us as we accomplish our duties. Worthy leaders realize that they are servants who hold their position with great responsibility. The idea of needing leadership and authority causes us to chafe and rise up against such thoughts because all of us are individualist deep down. We talk loudly to our young firefighters about not freelancing yet we pierce our leaders through as they try to lead. We point out their flaws hoping that when promotion time comes around people will see their flaws over our own and choose us. We can pretend this doesn’t happen but deep down we all know this happens in both career and volunteer departments. I am not talking about being robots that always agree with a leaders decision. That is dangerous and may be life threatening as well. I am speaking about being respectful to leadership in order to maintain a necessary chain of command that could save your life. I think it is time once again to teach our young people about respect for authority. How will this help them?  Apart from teaching them valuable life lessons, it will assist them in becoming top-notch firefighters and might save their lives one day when you give them an order on the fire scene. How do we practice and teach respect for authority? 

 

1. - If you must voice a disagreement make sure it is in private or in an appropriate venue. Vocalizing disagreement or hostility in the truck bay or to the public cannot help the situation.

2. - Call your superiors by their title and say things like “yes sir”. It will help you and it will help them lead.

     3 - Learn to respectfully and intelligently disagree with your superiors. Learning to speak this way will give them pause to stop and think about what you are saying.

     4 - Give your superiors the benefit of the doubt when they are making decisions. Don’t assume the worst about what they are doing.

      5- Determine that you will respect anyone promoted to leadership even if it your closest friend. It seems those we know best often get the least amount of respect.

      6- Treat your superiors like you would want to be treated. Many who gain promotion by slander and attrition find that they will be treated the same way when it is their turn to lead.

spoke with a drill sergeant with 20 yrs experience in the army who told me that he was considering retirement. I asked him why and he said, “ The kids today coming into the military have one big problem, they do not respect authority and that is going to get them killed.” This is extremely detrimental to the military as you might imagine but it can also be life threatening to the fire service. I have been in battles against the established leadership in fire departments because I felt like I needed to do what was right for the sake of myself and others. However, what I am witnessing now in many departments is a simple disrespect for all authority. It seems many of us think that we are a law to ourselves. I see many who show disdain for anyone in leadership just because they are there. In my opinion, this is one of the most damaging trends in the fire service. How many young people wanting to join a fire department will hear something negative about the leadership before they will hear anything else? How many firefighters come to work in dread and negativity because they spend most of their day in disdain for the leader placed over them? We all have seen the negative affects of these situations.