As Firehouse Sees It: Knowledge and Strength

Aug. 1, 2019
A message written on the wall at the fire academy serves as a reminder

Since moving to Texas, I’ve had the opportunity to photograph a number of events at the Dallas Fire-Rescue (DFR) Academy. I’m not sure how many recruits have gone through the academy since then, but it numbers in the several hundred. Then you have the companies who come through for annual and in-service training and it numbers more than a thousand.

Most times, I’m in the auditorium, which recently received a serious facelift. Some of the updates seem relatively minor, but one catches my eye each time I walk in and it makes me stop and pause for a couple moments. The entire back wall of the learning space is a photo of the city’s great urban skyline lit up at night. There’s a DFR logo and the words, “Do you have the knowledge and strength to save them.” If that doesn’t inspire the firefighters walking in, whether it’s the new recruit on the training grounds for the first day or a veteran firefighter receiving their 35-year service pin, I don’t know what can. Those 10 words serve as a reminder of the reason why Dallas firefighters go through the academy and return to the east side facility annually for training.

The new recruit does not leave the academy with all the knowledge they will need. That baseline education is built upon the day they walk into their first station, learning nuggets from everyone on the crew. The knowledge that’s passed down is not just about firefighting tactics, extrication or rope skills or treating someone suffering a medical episode. That knowledge includes how to become an integral part of a team working toward a common goal, including saving a life, moving equipment from a front-line apparatus to a reserve or cleaning the kitchen after dinner. The knowledge that’s passed along helps you become a humble servant, understanding the how and why of people’s reactions when they are under stress—and that’s both for the citizens you protect and the firefighters you work with. That knowledge helps you become a problem-solver at the station, on the emergency scene or when you are at home with family.

Strength is not just the physical strength that comes from daily training, but the mental strength that keeps a crew pushing down the hallway as they knock down flames, or resiliency as they extract a mangled patient from a major accident or administer life-saving skills on an EMS run. The skills that give you that mindset are taught in the academy, but must continue to be strengthened among members on your crew so each person is prepared for the toughest assignment.

I hope that every firefighter, officer and chief helps pass along their knowledge to the newest member of their crew. Everyone’s duty is to make sure their colleagues have the knowledge and strength to save them.

Conference updates

If you have not registered for Firehouse Expo in October, there is still time. I encourage you to sign up for hands-on and preconference sessions soon because many of them have limited availability. The complete list of main conference sessions, including several new in-depth three-hour sessions, can be found at FirehouseExpo.com, plus the latest list of exhibitors who will be available to answer your product and service-related questions.

Please save the date for the Firehouse Station Design Conference next year. The event will return to Rosemont, IL, May 12–14, 2020. Details will be available later this year at FHStationDesign.com, but you can go there today to sign up for the latest updates.

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