This column comes to you from a program I deliver with Chief Rick Lasky. The program, called “The Company Officer Academy,” contains numerous sections outlining the many skills and abilities that company officers must have and develop.
The tasks I will be talking about here involve the numerous elements of getting ready for the shift. This is primarily a career officer’s area of concern, but as you will see, many of the activities work well for volunteer officers as well. Let’s take a look at the steps you can take to be best prepared for a shift at the firehouse.
Your “to-do” list
Preparing for your next shift starts before your current shift is over. As your tour in the firehouse winds down, I’m sure you are going to realize that there are several items on your “to-do” list that simply never got done. Don’t worry about not getting something done. What you do need to make sure of is that the item or task is not lost or forgotten. We do this by wrapping up our reports and other responsibilities, and by gathering up the yet to be finished items.
If there is an evaluation or a report or other activity that must be completed, and it can wait until your next shift, place it in your company mailbox, drawer or cubby hole, where it will be waiting for you when you return. Now, don’t make a habit of piling too many items there because they are only the start of the “to-do” list that will develop for your next shift.
A few days go by and your next shift has arrived. Whatever time it is that the shift officially starts, make it a habit to arrive early so you can start and complete the many tasks needed to get your shift off to a solid start. When you arrive you will obviously meet and talk with the officer you will relieve. Finding out what happened during the previous shift is important to your shift as well. Did the have a fire or other incident? Is the apparatus and equipment all in order? Are there any department orders or instructions that you need to comply with? Any personnel issues to be handled? These and many other items will start the list you should be preparing.
You look at the desk and see that a detailed firefighter is working for one of your regular crew members along with three members of your shift. Having three “regular” firefighters is good. It means you are working with folks you know. You know what there strengths and weaknesses are and they know what your requirements are too. You do, however, have a firefighter from another firehouse you do not know. He has several years on the job, but you have never met him. Contact him and have a short discussion about what is expected and find out a little about him. This will help you give this firefighter an assignment that he is familiar with and can handle. Also check in with each of the other members of your crew to make sure all is well and they are ready to go to work.
I’m not sure how busy you are as a company officer, but from my experience there are many tasks and duties to be completed on just about every shift. On any given day, you may look at the unit calendar or day book and see entries such as “Hydrant inspection - 1200-400 hrs,” “Building inspection duty 1000-1300 hrs” or “Multi-unit drill 1000-1130hrs.” Other duties, drills and meetings may also be written there and must be incorporated into your shift.
If you have any conflicts, such as a drill you didn’t know about, you may have to cancel another activity that you wanted to do. Some items will be mandated department activities, such as a hydrant inspection or multi-unit drill. Others might be items you can shift around or put off until later in the day. Whatever the details, you now have to start shifting and organizing the items on your plate.
Another important activity is to look up the officers who are working in the units you will be responding with to alarms. Some of them may be senior people with years of experience and others may be brand-new company officers who were firefighters just a few months ago. You can certainly expect different levels of experience and varying capabilities, so it’s good to know this when the shift starts rather than when you arrive at a working fire with them.
You’re not done getting ready yet, but I have run out of room. We will continue this discussion in a future issue.
