SECTION REPORT
The other day, my training captain and I were having a discussion with one of our acting officers. We were inquiring as to why a crew he was working with the previous shift had chose to respond into a situation that sounded unsafe based on the short report by our dispatching agency. The short report indicated that there were sounds of gun shots in the area. Our inquiry lead to a long conversation about the importance of not becoming complacent in your job, being aware of your surroundings, staging away from the incident, always leaving yourself an exit and taking nothing for granted to ensure everyone going home in the morning. We also expressed to him that in some cases it is okay to ask your officer “are you sure we should be going into this situation”? After our conversation, he thanked us for the advice and for looking out for him.
WOW, I was thinking to myself, he got it, he understood our safety message! Then the next question came, what we are going to do when you guys are gone and we do not have you looking out for us. My response to him was “we will still be here, we will be in your head and you will remember this conversation”.
In the 1970’s and early 80’s there was a significant hiring of new firefighters. As these careers have come full circle and attrition begins, with those retirements also leaves a wealth of knowledge and leadership in the fire service. Take a look at your own department, when will your top leaders (Captains and above) be retiring? In evaluating my own department we had a 33% change in leadership in 2007/2008 and our top leadership is eligible to retire in ten years or less. My question to you is “what have we done to prepare our future leaders and our workforce”? Have we passed on our knowledge, shared our experiences and really prepared our future leaders for success? Does your department have the vision and commitment to develop and implement a Master Strategic Leadership Plan with continued review and updates? Do you as a department or division leader have the forethought as to what you are going to leave behind for the folks filling your boots?
This year the fire service lost one of its great leaders, instructor and true visionary; Fire Chief Dan Packer from East Pierce Fire & Rescue. I had the privilege of having Dan as a recruit academy classmate, working with him as young firefighters on the streets of Burien and Des Moines and later working for him as a board member of the Washington State Chiefs Training and Safety Officer’s section.
We all must take the time to look at our department, our division, our young firefighters and future leaders we must ask our self, are we preparing them and our department for succession? I bet Dan did!!
“Dan will still be here; he will be in our heads and we will remember his lessons”.
Be Safe,
Vic Pennington
Vice Chair
Washington State Training & Safety Officers