My local gym is a national no-frills chain, with a $20 per month fee to go to any of their gyms in the United States. I’m in the gym around 5 a.m., four or five days a week (sometimes six), with a healthy mix of cardio/aerobic and strength-training routines.
For the past 4½ years, spending time on treadmills has given me the opportunity to do a lot of people-watching. People-watching is one of those street-level educational opportunities for which you’ll receive no award or diploma. However, with the proper mix of street-level and “formal” education, you will ultimately develop into a more well-rounded individual.
One of my many people-watching observations as I run the treadmill is the gym staff. Remember I said this was a no-frills type of gym, so there’s nobody running around coaching or encouraging the members. It’s just a bunch of in-shape and outta-shape folks alike, all trying to maintain or get into some other shape. Staff responsibility at this gym is to check people in, keep the place clean, troubleshoot machine problems and respond to customer inquiries or issues, not all that different than our responsibilities in the fire/EMS department, albeit at a less dramatic scale.
Attention to detail guy vs. look good/smell good guy
Every day in my observations, I’ve seen the intense “attention-to-detail” staff members and the “is it time to leave yet?” staff members. These observations have made me ponder how many of US are truly engaged and focus on attention-to-detail in our actions, and how many of us put on a façade and are just watching the clock or sitting on the bench.
The “attention-to-detail guy” (he was a guy, so we’ll use it as a generic term for our purposes) diligently cleans the machines, routinely tipping them from one side to the other to scrub and clean all the mechanisms. He finishes each machine then empties trash cans, fills spray bottles and vacuums the mats. In the fire/EMS station, this is the guy who shows up for work early and checks their gear, radio and SCBA before heading out to check apparatus, making sure everything under their charge is in a tip-top shape of readiness.
Then there’s the gym staff member who I’ve seen sleeping in their chair from time to time, while occasionally poking their head out into the abyss to see what’s happening, sort of like a turtle sticking their neck out, albeit for different reasons. So the turtle decides to get up and do some work. That guy walks around with a feather duster and a can of deodorant spray, occasionally wafting the duster over the mirrors or on a machine with one hand, all the while walking and indiscriminately spraying the deodorant spray as he goes, all in view of the cameras to prove he’s working. This is the “look good/smell good guy.”
Which are you?
How many of us are engaged in our fire and EMS service to the level that we’re at least doing better than the look good/smell good guy? When you arrive at your station early, do you immediately check your gear every time? Do you immediately check your air cylinders and equipment? Are you spending time learning the area, drilling with new (and old) folks, cleaning apparatus, updating preplans, taking care of the station, and exercising?
Motivate yourself to get off the couch or push away from the breakfast table and get out on the floor. When I was young(er) firefighter, I considered myself late if I got to work less than 1 hour ahead of schedule (and yes, I was and still am married and had young children; we made it work). But showing up early isn’t enough. Jump into cleaning, checking your gear and apparatus, and ensuring everything is ready to go. For us, if there was any downtime, it was at 11 a.m. for lunch and The Price is Right. After that, it was back to the grind—getting into the books, drilling, doing physical training, and, oh yes, running five or six calls somewhere in the mix.
Are you wearing a uniform (of some kind), presentable in physical appearance, and cognizant of your language and actions, especially in public? Are you following the rules, protocols and procedures? Are you focusing on your primary mission of community service along with quality fire and EMS? Are you focused on fire prevention, public education and healthy life choices? Do you have a physical fitness plan?
Are you deploying just as fast for EMS runs as you are for fire runs? I was in a fire station recently and heard the blaring voice from one of the firefighters over the station intercom announce, “BOX ALARM, BOX ALARM, BOX ALARM” followed by the pounding of feet and pole-sliding scurry to get on the wagon. I gotta tell you, I don’t ever recall being in a station and hearing anyone blaring “HEART ATTACK, HEART ATTACK, HEART ATTACK” over the intercom. If anything, you’d hear “GUT BUCKET” or “MEAT WAGON” or the like, followed by the sound of crickets as few rush to get on the ambulance. (A future article will focus on the changing face of EMS in the United States fire service as the Affordable Care Act takes hold. If the ACA’s effect on prehospital EMS care and how that will impact the fire service has not been a wake-up call for you yet, it should be!)
In sum
The “look good/smell good” façade message isn’t just about daily and routine chores. You should not rest on the laurels of an obtained certification or credential. That’s just the start. We have to constantly train and educate ourselves to the ever-evolving atmospheres and cultures around us. Attend conferences, exchange ideas, float thoughts up for consideration. In short, become part of the solution and be less of the problem.
The bottom line is that public safety officials’ attention to detail saves lives—the public’s and our own. It is critical that we pay attention, stay fully focused, constantly size-up situations and put our full strength into preventing and ultimately preparing for prompt response, whether that is fire- or EMS-related. You must be that attention-to-detail guy. In public safety, anything less is simply unacceptable. When it’s all said and done, you can’t allow yourself or those folks working with you to become that look good/smell good guy.
