By: Captain Steve Heidbreder
As many of you may have done over the Father’s Day weekend, I spent some time thinking about the day and what it means to me as a father. I reflected on my own Father, my Step-Dad, my Grandfathers, and those that were a father figure in my life. I then looked at myself and thought about what kind of father I was to my three kids. While the three of them didn’t allow me time during the day for much consideration, the thoughts came back late at night when sleep proved elusive.
As is often the case during these late night mind wandering trips, I found myself wondering what my kids memories of me would be when I was gone. Of course I want them to remember me fondly, as a good Dad, as a friend. My thoughts then turned to a picture from a recent LODD funeral. I remember being deeply touched by the picture of a young boy clutching his father’s helmet, crying as he sat in the pews of the church during his dad’s funeral. How unfair, I thought. This little boy will not have his Dad to grow up with, to guide him, to help him when he becomes a Dad for the first time. I tried (and failed) to not picture my son clutching that helmet in the church pew.
My thoughts then turned to anger. Why anger? Because I am tired of witnessing complacency, incompetence, and a lack of dedication to our profession. I’m tired of seeing those that are only here for the paycheck, those that don’t want to train, those that are so out of shape they couldn’t possibly pull me from a burning building if I were in trouble. Your actions are saying that you do not care about me as your brother firefighter. You don’t care about my wife and kids who are waiting at home for me to walk through the door. “Everyone Goes Home”? Have you heard of it? It’s not just a trendy catch phrase, it should be our number one goal for everything we do.
The Engine Company Thoughts From Captain 180…. Are you fire ground ready? Can you do the job or do you hide in the shadows when there’s a fire? Can you complete routine fire ground tasks without becoming incapacitated? Can you carry a ladder around to the rear of a building, raise it to a second floor window or the roof without having to take a break? Can you then climb that ladder and perform ventilation to improve conditions on the interior for your brothers and sisters? Can you stretch a charged hose line to the rear of a house for a basement fire without being so winded you have to catch your breath before masking up and making entry?
Engineers, do you thoroughly check your apparatus each day or do you just turn on the battery switch and write down the mileage? Can you pump a hose line at the correct pressure, secure a water source, and then troubleshoot any problems that may arise?
Have you done company training today? Everyday is a training day. Yes, even weekends! Company Officers this is your responsibility. Do you train your company or wait to be spoon fed your training from the Training Division?
Are your RIT skills good enough? Can you use your RIT bag to give me a new air supply in zero visibility with your fire gloves on? When was the last time you had the RIT bag out and went over the various ways to give a downed firefighter air?
I can hear it now, but it’s hot today… it’s Sunday…. it’s National Flower Day! Tough! The citizens that pay your salary don’t care what day it is, my kids waiting at home don’t care what day it is, and neither should you. Spend at least thirty minutes to an hour every shift training on something.
If the crew cannot perform on the fire ground, it is the company officer’s fault! Period. Full stop. End of discussion.
To those who can quote chapter and verse from the union contract as if it were scripture, but can’t list the responsibilities of the second-due engine or name the three parts of a Halligan and how to use them… I say “How Dare You!”
What you say is one thing, what you do is another. Your actions are telling me you don’t care about me or my family. You only care about you, about using the union contract to get out of work, as an excuse to not train.
I have spent the past sixteen years as a shift training officer. Let me tell you, I have yet to meet a firefighter that didn’t need to train (myself included). ALL of us need to continually train even on the basics.
With all of this laid out, I can offer you a promise. My promise is to hold all of us to a higher standard. I will no longer tolerate laziness and incompetence. I will call you out at training. I will call you out on the emergency scene.
I don’t care about your feelings. I only care that you can do the job and if something bad happens, you can get me out.
If you can’t, I say “How Dare You!”
I’ll leave you with one final thought. If something were to happen to me at a fire, can you look my kids in the eye and give them an honest answer when they ask:
“Did you do everything you could to save my Daddy?” Go ahead and give it a try.
This is a picture of my two youngest kids. Tell them that sitting in front of the television or computer was more important than training. Tell them that it was just too hot that day to train, we don’t want to sweat too much. Tell them you just didn’t feel like getting in shape because it took too much effort. (Or better yet, insert a picture of your kids here……)
I’m the only Daddy they have. Are you trained enough, in shape enough to make sure I go home at the end of my shift?
If not, I say “How Dare You!”
Very great post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed surfing around your blog posts.
After all I’ll be subscribing for your feed and I am
hoping you write once more soon!
I appreciate the commitment of those who give their best effort to be firefighter ready. Thank you to those that train, retrain, and stay physically fit because my son’s life is in your hands. He is commited and takes his profession seriously, do you? If you don’t, How dare you!
Just a planning and simple THANK YOU, for waking me up!
Excellent article!
Never better said!
Excellent article, a must read for all firefighters. My only complaint with my departments training involved RIT. While we trained to be competent with those tasks, we did not train enough to avoid being in that situation. It was a major undertaking to convince my officers that ventilation was a must, not climbing on the roof of a burning structure, but simply removing the glass and releasing the heat. I see pictures from across the country of firefighters trying to ventilate a roof which self ventilated 20 feet away. It is no wonder they become part of the collapse. Basement fires need every possible window removed before entry with a hose. If there are no victims, just pour the water in and cool the basement before entry. Entering without a hose line is unnecessary, even a booster or uncharged line will lead you back out to the engine. A quick size up and intelligent deployment of resources will save firefighters lives, why take unnecessary risks? Have a great day!
Good article….and I totally agree. I was a training officer with a large metropolitan fire service in North America. I witnessed, on a regular basis, the poor attitude of individuals you identified in your article. Disrespect for the Training Division, from the Chiefs Office down to the station level. A constant battle to meet NFPA Standards and the “this is how we have always done it!” attitude. I became disillusioned with the Dept..
Sad to say but needs to be said. Thanks for your article.
Very well said! You made once again think back upon my great career in the service and how we all felt that everybody goes home. Attitude, training and education worked and we developed plans and practiced those plans and procedures to make sure we went home. I truly believe the depart I left is still keeping that mission going. Congrats to you for your drive. It is well worth it. Stay safe brother and thank you.
Excellent post. I’m a father of a firefighter and i hug him and tell him I love him everytime I see him. He has two children. I know that everytime I see him could be the last. He tells me the same things that you have mentioned and that their are some firefighters that if he was in trouble are not skilled enough or physically able to help him in a crisis. Personally I feel that all firefighter, law in force, and military personnel on the front lines should be required to pass the same physical agility test annually that a new cadet right out of training must pass. I’m feel there are to many out of shape public servants that in a critical situation may not have the ability to properly perform their dutys. Training is the key. Prepare and train for the worst situations so that at the time of crisis you don’t have to think because you have practiced over and over until your reactions are automatic and you don’t have to think. Not being able to react automaticly in time of crisis can get yourself and others hurt or killed. You guys take care. Why anyone would run into a fire when everyone else is running out is beyond me, but I am thankfull that there are men and women that are willing to do just that.
Great post! I know the truths of which you speak. I’m not in it for the paycheck. I train with humility. I’ve changed the way I eat. Some of us could use your help to do better, though. You see, I’m not in it for the paycheck because THERE IS NO PAYCHECK. My professional development as a Firefighter and as an Officer proceeds in slow motion, because it must take a back seat to two “real” jobs before I even have time to get an activity STARTED at the volunteer fire department. Those “real” jobs happen in the evening and at night, which means I can’t attend the regular weekly training with my people. Now, I’m not making excuses or trying to weasel out of the responsibility which I’ve chosen to take on. Everything you wrote is spot-on. I’m spreading an idea: No Firefighter should have to be a part-timer with priorities in life which outweigh their fire job, because every U.S. citizen should have quality fire protection. I’m suggesting that ALL fire jobs should be full-time paid, and I’m tired of being told that this is a financial impossibility. It’s not. Reallocation of a tiny portion of the federal budget (from less important expenses) could solve this problem in a heartbeat. Domestic public safety should be a much higher priority. I started in the fire service in 1989. Can you IMAGINE how much better all my volunteer peers and I would be if we were all full-timers, with the fire service being our top priority career, year after year? I’d love to see the IAFF and its lobbyists make this happen. Win-win-win.
Practice makes perfect how can you not know enough . UNBELIEVABLE that some firefighters think they know it all. Training is the most important part of the job.
Stop hiring bums; nuff said!
This is the damn truth. Thanks for telling it like it is; i’m going to post this on the board at our station.
I agree with all of this except for one issue. As a retired Captain, if your crew is not good, it isn’t always your fault. Sometimes you get guys that try to out lazy each other. They refuse to do their jobs, their training, etc. So you go to your Batt Chief and let him know the problem, because he/she has the authority to discipline them. But they won’t, for whatever reason they can come up with. I lost an enormous amount of credibility because of this, even though my bosses all the way up to the Chief knew what was happening. But it was not my fault. I had a very limited amount of control, and my Batt. Chief would not support me. Just want to say that it isn’t always the trainer’s fault. Even our training officer could not get them to do anything. The blame for that falls on those who can, but refuse to do anything about it.
Great job, Steve. You hit the nail on the head.
God bless you capt. As a 5 year deep newbie I cannot get enough training education life experiences while on shift. It has become a pandemic amungst our fellow brethren that all they are in this profession is for a check. Questions are always thrown at us who are heavily involved for the betterment and enrichment of what our great profession has to offer. Complacency, coming to work for TV shows, movies check is F)$;&& Bull sh)$. Keep preaching we are taking it in Capt.
Aman to everything you said, I’m a mother of a firefighter an he is a husband and father of 4. I want him to come home and not just come home, but come home safe. It’a time for everyone to be accountable. It’s a wonderful thing my son is willing to put his life on the line to save someone els, but as mother I would like to know that whoever he go into that building with they have his back just like I know he have their. If everyone insert their love one picture in the place where the gentleman have his two children then I think you all will step up and take your training to the next level.