Things Are Not Always As They Seem

Only 24 days of shopping left until Christmas. However, for something a little deeper, how about a discussion on keeping your head in the game. For my battalion's quick training training today, I sent them a discussion on “sudden event” situations. Case in point: On Firefighterclosecalls.com, there was an article on a PA propane explosion that gave some interesting observations about the situation that unfolded after this sudden event. My question to my team was, "Are you prepared for a sudden 'game-changing' event during your operations?"

As responders, we go into so many calls with our own expectations as to how things are going to work. I am just as guilty of it as anyone else- it is human nature. We have to, however, shake loose some of our preconceived beliefs as to what we think is occurring vs. what is actually occurring. How do we do this? By getting facts through a proper size-up and maintaining good situational awareness. But even then, in the real world, the facts as we understand them may not be what is actually occurring.

Using a very real case in point from the other morning: While overhauling a fire the other shift, a number of us saw what looked to be an increasing smoke condition after we thought the fire was extinguished. Now there’s nothing wrong with that- the point in doing a complete overhaul is to uncover stuff like that (so we don't have to come back later). If we had ignored the condition, or lied to ourselves about the situation and convinced ourselves that it was nothing, those decisions would have been wrong. But everything about the evidence led us to believe we had hidden fire someplace. We developed a plan to root it out, we had lines in place, but no matter what area we pulled, we found that the smoke continued.

Finally, we decided to increase the amount of ventilation in order to find out if we were dealing with pockets of smoke instead of a fire. This proved to be the case and the smoke ended. But it is a good example of seeing something you think is one thing and finding it to be something completely different.

It is almost contrary to human nature to see events unfold in a certain way 99 times, and not expect it to occur the same way for the next time. As a veteran firefighter, however, I know it will be on the 100th time that things go differently and Murphy will pay us a litle visit.

Like every other aspect of our job, we need to prepare ourselves mentally for how to overcome that complacency and act appropriately on the new evidence. This is appropriate not only for emergency response, but in our daily operations. Don't assume for a minute that because you have seen something progress a certain way virtually every time that you have all of the facts.

Whenver you are working on solving a problem, use a good basic plan of action, know the strengths of the people who are working with you and challenge them to use those strengths, and most of all, don’t be afraid to roll with a revised plan. After all, situations change and if you fail to adjust, you are likely going to end up as part of the problem.

Opening Salvo

For the reader's sake, because these first thoughts on this blog are all going to come across as hit-or-miss (because they are in no particular order), I am copying over some of my blog entries from other areas where I contribute, because they seem to be geting lost in the static by challenging issues like "What Lights Look Better On My POV".

My intent is that this blog will be more about the essence and issues of leading and motivating and creating change and improvement. I don't have problems with the "popular" issues; they are obviously popular for a reason. I just have different questions and a different vision.

I also wanted to do something different from the "hard" solutions and tactics and the kind of stuff that seems to be what a lot of others are writing about. And I definitely don't want this to be about problems; more like about solutions and ways to encourage thinking and solving for X.

So in a nutshell, I wanted to do something different (I think I made the point that it's different).

So for the next few says, expect to see some old stuff you may have seen before, or new stuff I'm hitting as I see some of the old stuff.

And as always, feel free to jump in at any time.

What Changes Are In Store Today?

Do you wonder what technological advances will come down the line in the next five, ten, or fifteen years that will change the way we do business? I never thought I’d see computers being essential for my job when I started years ago, nor did we ever imagine some of the other things (like search-cams, thermal imagers, and that kind of stuff) that are part of our everyday existence. Here’s a link to an article on an item I am hearing more and more about each day: a firefighting “grenade”. Who knows where something like this could take us? Fast response units in cars or motorcycles that could get there first and make a knock-down before the bigger units come in and mop up? The ultimate elimination or re-engineering of the fire engine as we know it now? What problem, if we could solve it today, would make our job much easier?

I was sent a National Institute of Justice report on US&R that imagined things like a “robo-cop”-like outer garment we could put on to enable us to lift heavy objects, which I thought was pretty far out there, but some of the other innovations we thought were pipe dreams that are now being used like a “life detector”; a device that will pick up the frequency produced by a human heartbeat and amplify it so we can look into rubble piles and see if we can find someone alive in there.

What problems in our department can we solve if we work together to find a solution? Sometimes it’s a matter of looking past the conventional solutions and having some vision that could make all of our jobs easier or even better yet, safer. Buckle up and pay attention to the details- they could save your life.

Cars That Go Boom and Other Stuff

Here's a twist on a relatively old technology being used for new purposes; cars that go “boom”. If you’ve ever been annoyed by extremely loud bass in the car four blocks away from you and wondered what that was all about, now you too can have it in your emergency vehicle and the concept is actually being put to good use. The point I want to make about it here, however is that sometimes drivers have a tendency to over-rely on their emergency warning devices, and in particular, sirens. A siren is only effective if the person it is intended to alert can hear it. With so many “tight” cars and loud sound systems, as well as air conditioning and road noise, you have less and less of an opportunity to get that driver’s attention. Add in the elderly or drivers who are distracted (read: cell phone), and you have virtually no chance of pointing out that you need to get through. As emergency vehicle drivers, we have the responsibility of insuring that we drive with due regard; don’t assume that the drivers know or even care that you are responding (in some cases, they don’t). Avoid causing panic stops, don’t overdrive your siren, and always try to look the other driver in the eyes when you approach an intersection.

Many of these drivers can’t drive well on a good day; don’t believe for a second that they’ll all do what they are supposed to on a bad one. Buckle up, drive defensively, and let’s all go home in the morning.