"I will be impolite," Stefan Svensson PhD, Swedish firefighter and Research and Development Engineer told attendees gathered at his session on international firefighting at Fire Rescue International in Atlanta.
"I will probably tell you things you don't like to hear."
Svensson has reason to be blunt. Sweden has had only one firefighter death in the last seven years compared to the United State's line-of-duty total of 84 this year so far.
Of course, it's also important to note that the population of Sweden is just over 9 million compared to the United State's population of over 302 million. And that at last check, (2005) the U.S. Fire Administration found there were about 1,136,650 firefighters in the United States compared to Svensson's total of about 16,000 for Sweden.
Despite those numbers, Sweden's record is impressive. Especially when one considers that, according to the U.S. Fire Administration, almost half of last year's 106 line of duty deaths came not from horrible accidents at the scene of raging fires - but from heart attacks.
Svensson did not mince words as he compared the way firefighters in the United States do their jobs, compared to those in his country.
One such difference, he said, was the way U.S. firefighters see themselves.
He said American firefighters take pride in being heroes - sometimes putting a heroic act ahead of a safe one. He said American firefighters think it is heroic to die saving someone else's life. But, Svensson contends, "it's not ok to die from anything but old age."
"We aren't heroes - it's a job," he told attendees. "It's not a mission - it's a job."
Svensson said firefighter training in the two countries is also very different. He said Swedish firefighters are given training grounded in science enabling them to understand the fire.
"We want them (firefighters) to understand physics, chemistry and how to handle basic situations," he said.
He said instead of teaching 'use a lot of water on the fire, the more the better,' firefighters should be trained to ask 'why is it burning and how do we put it out in a safe way?'
American firefighters, Svensson said, are interested in ways of getting out of trouble, rather than avoiding trouble in the first place.
Svensson compared Rapid Intervention Teams to seatbelts. He said just as a driver may say 'I have a seatbelt, it's ok to go faster,' a firefighter may engage in dangerous behavior on the fireground because they have the Rapid Intervention Teams to help get them to safety.
"(There is) a dangerous situation and you are sending more people inside," he asked. "That's stupid."
Svensson proposed some solutions to the problems he pointed out. First, he proposed that higher-ups institute monetary punishments for firefighters who are not safe. He suggested fines ranging from $100 to $900 for firefighters who fail to wear personal protection equipment, venture into places they ought not on the fire ground or fail to take a medical examination. He also suggested a bonus for firefighters who use SCBA.
He said American firefighters must encourage safe behavior, rather than heroic deeds, change the way they train, and change unrealistic attitudes about firefighting.
"It's not about getting to the scene at any cost. It's about getting home."
