While attending one of our conferences a few years ago, I was having dinner with a group of firefighters, who were sharing some great stories and lessons that they had learned over the years. At one point, I dryly joked, “Why do you choose to be selfish?” Their puzzled looks lead me to further clarify my point in a moment of embarrassment. What I was trying to convey was that each of them had shared valuable information with their own departments, but they had not taken those messages on the road or typed an article on the topic to share with the larger fire service community—hence the joke about being “selfish.”
Then there’s the other kind of sharing—over-sharing. Over the last few years, some members of the fire service, as well as EMS and law enforcement agencies, have shared a little too much about particular incidents or activities. For some, this over-sharing has led to suspensions, demotions or losses of pay, not to mention the cost of legal advice or defense. For others, it has meant that their ability to wear the badge, whether career or volunteer, has come to an end.
While the almost-weekly headlines on Firehouse.com about public safety officials getting in hot water over social media posts seems to have slowed down, these situations continue to happen all too frequently. After posting articles about such occurrences, the Firehouse editors sometimes receive feedback from readers asking why we choose to run stories that portray firefighters in a negative light. The answer is quite simple: to educate the fire service about what’s occurring inside and outside firehouses around the country. Sure, we run Billy Goldfeder’s Close Calls column and presenters detail their near misses during conference sessions, but the “negative” news stories also have the potential to end someone’s career—and there are lessons to be learned from the decisions to “share” or “publish,” too.
Social media has had a great impact on the fire service, allowing fire departments to share their news and helping firefighters connect with others from around the world. It’s connections like these that can lead to great conversations that ultimately improve the way firefighters work, picking up tips from each other or sharing a new, easier means to complete a task. Some of those conversations have turned into Firehouse articles or conference sessions. But keep in mind that Firehouse has also published many articles—and hosted several conference sessions—aimed at curbing the career-ending type of sharing.
I get it, we all have phones and it’s easier than ever to capture photos of scenes, for good and for bad. Since I was a teenager, I’ve been photographing fires and other emergencies. Sometimes it would be a fatality and I was asked to take photos for the fire or law agency in the investigation. Those photos and negatives would be turned over to the appropriate agency. There was no scanner to make digital files that would live on forever.
We’re human, and we have a tendency to share a little too much. Heck, I’ve taken a few photos of crews that wouldn’t fare well if shared on social media today, but that was never my intent.
But with mobile technology in your hand and the abundance of social media and messaging platforms readily available, even at fire scenes, things are getting out that simply should not get out. It might seem harmless and you might be caught up in the moment, but it’s not always your moment to record and share with a select few—or the masses. You’re the professional who has been called to help out, not distribute the “news.”
This isn’t just about sharing photos or videos, it’s also about personal commentary posted on social media. As a member of public safety agency, you are held to a higher standard. People call you on their worst day, and you must be respectful about how and when you share what you saw. While things can be said with relative safety around the station’s kitchen table, much of that discussion is not meant to reach the public.
Many of us have heard the question, “Would you want you at your fire?” to help us remember our duty to the public. Consider an updated version for this age of over-sharing: “Would you want what you shared to be shared with you if it were your house/family member/friend or accident scene?”
