An Instructor
I have been a fire service instructor a long time. Probably longer than I should have been, trying to teach others before I even had a good grasp of my core skills, so when I write this week about an instructor I think I can do so with some authority.
If you are a fire service instructor, please read this and think about it often. If you are a student of the fire service, use this information to process the information that you are learning.
I have been witnessing a disturbing trend in the national fire service instructional "circuit" that appears at national trade conferences.
As instructors it is very easy and comfortable to speak about subjects which I am most familiar with and that I am comfortable with. That being said, if I am from a very large metropolitan fire department, I will teach the lessons that I have learned while responding with 25 + personnel responding on a first alarm. The "risks" and tactics and techniques I use while being backed up by this manpower, may not be directly applicable to the risks faced by 5 personnel responding with little or no backup.
To illustrate I will offer the following. At a conference in the city of New York, one of the ladder company officers spoke of operating on the roof of a building, and if the turntable operator need to move the ladder away from the building to perform another task, the officer said he felt reasonably safe because he could "hop over the parapet wall onto the roof of an adjacent building" as a safe area of refuge. I made note of it mentally as it made perfect sense to me even with my small town background and experience. I did notice the person next to me feverishly taking notes. At the break I asked him where he was from and how he seemed to have so much interest in this tactic. He stated he was from Montana and this would be a great tactic for him to implement in his department because after all they only operate with two guys on a ladder truck "if it gets out during the daytime hours".
At that point I realized a couple of things....That experienced and seasoned fire officer did not realize the impact he was having on the students. He did not realize that what he considered normal operating procedures with 30 or so personnel and multiple engines and trucks in a downtown area, was not in anyway applicable to a poor student, in middle America with little or nor manpower. The instructor didn't mean anything badly by it, but there was not much recognition that there was any other way to do business than theirs. They also failed to realize that they were considered "God-like" to many small town personnel that look up to them.
I also realized that as an instructor, I learned from this student that not all of our students have the ability to make an apples for apples comparison from their departments to that of the instructor;s life experience. It taught me that that same example could have been delivered in the following way:
When you have adequate personnel responding to the scene (25 +), and when you have multiple ladder companies responding so you can have more than one stick to the roof, and when you have some continuous buildings separated by valid firewalls, then you can perform the tactic.
The phrase as I have stated it above is correct and gives the student a better shot at understanding how this may or may not apply to their department.
Another thing I want instructors and students to consider is whether or not the subject matter or technique has been proven in any way shape or form, or is it just "trendy, ballsy, and fun and physical to train with".
There are lots of firefighters today who only want hands on training with no classroom or theory training at all. I am a firm believer that this is a vocational hands on career but I also believe you need to know exactly what you are doing before performing it. There have been hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on RIT training and millions of man-hours of training....with that said I am not sure how much we have reduced the loss of life and the 100 firefighter deaths every year. Everyone wants to do the hands on and carries and drags, but no one wants to learn personal discipline and air management. Those are not sexy and fun, but they might in fact save your life.
As an instructor teach meaningful subject matter that will have a positive impact. SCBA emergency procedures and those survival skills might actually be making a difference.
As an instructor put yourself in your students shoes for a minute and try to think of the information that you know, assume and take for granted, but that the students have no baseline knowledge on. The fire service has been hung up on acronyms (Yes I do this often.....) and all sorts of little phrases and snippets of information in it's teaching of new recruits and fire officers. Ask yourself the following questions...
How many of you have taught the concept of upon arrival asking three questions....
What have I got?
Where is it going?
What do I need to control it?
I would bet that all of you would say that you have taught that concept and many of you who are not instructors have heard it in class.
When did the instructor explain in some detail the answer to how to determine "What do I need to control it?". Did they explain in detail the principles of 1710 or 1720 or did they explain fully the fire flow formula for water flow or personnel deployment or any of that, or did they just say these three concepts and move on?
Why do we all know the signs of impending backdraft and few know as many signs of an impending flashover?
Why do we all know the signs of when to get out of a building and none know the signs of when we go in?
Why do we know what to do when we run out of air, but few know how to be sure they don't run out of air?
Yup....we are all instructing, and they are all learning.....but is it the right stuff?
As an instructor you are a powerful role model. Your behaviors and words will carry far beyond your wildest imagination.
Take that responsibility seriously.
If you are a student listen to all instructors and look for the similarities between their departments and yours. A large percentage of our national speakers come from large well known fire departments. They are training 70 percent of America's firefighters from departments that are or operate 10 % of their size. Their many years of experience is invaluable but it does not always straight line translate to your operation.
If you are a fire officer and are reading this, please feel free to substitute the word officer for instructor any time you want....I am talking to you too!