The probationary firefighter entered my office with slight apprehension and a trace of nervousness in his facial expression. He was a new paramedic and only 6 months into his 1-year probationary period as a fire medic with the department. On my desk was a letter and the reason for our conversation.
I handed him the letter and watched his face as he read the letter. It was a mixture of disbelief, anger and then anxiety as he read an unflattering description of himself and his character, as recounted by an officer from the volunteer ambulance service with which he was affiliated.
Not one to let a person languish in uncertainty, I quickly reassured him that what he had just read would have absolutely no bearing or influence on his continued employment with his career fire department. The Tour Observation Reports filled out by his captain had been stellar, and nothing resembling the person described in the letter now before us had ever been observed by his coworkers or officers. He was an employee who checked his SCBA religiously each morning, performed rig checks meticulously, and restocked medical supplies without fail. If not making a new pot of coffee, he could frequently be located with a dry mop in hand or running a wash brush over an ambulance. I had received nothing but unsolicited complimentary feedback from everyone who had the opportunity to work with him. He was reported to always be respectful toward his officers, courteous to patients, and supportive of other agency personnel with whom we worked on emergency scenes.
I reiterated to the probationary firefighter that no adverse actions would come from what appeared to be a patently false character assassination attempt because it did not align with either my personal observations or documented officer and coworker feedback.
I was curious, though. Why would an officer of a small volunteer EMS organization—an officer who by all accounts is continuously seeking volunteers as they are chronically short staffed—take the time and devote the energy in an attempt to sabotage a member of his own organization? Especially when this model employee had recently obtained his dream job as a firefighter/paramedic?
I asked the probationary firefighter why he thought this happened. The story he recounted is all too familiar throughout fire and EMS organizations across the country. It involved accounts of petty jealousies among members combined with vicious gossip and topped off with toxic and incompetent management. Notice I did not say leadership, because apparently none exists in the organization that the probationary member was a part of.
He recounted that it seemed the more involved with the volunteer organization he became by donating his time and increasing his knowledge and education, culminating in his certification as a paramedic, the more confrontation he received from select members in management positions. He was convinced that after he obtained his paramedic certification, certain members began to view him as a threat instead of an asset.
He related that he had never been counseled or disciplined by his volunteer organization and certainly had no inkling that anyone in it would stoop so low as to write a false characterization letter and then surreptitiously deliver it in this manner.
Toxic management
After the firefighter left my office with a copy of the letter and a final assurance that he was progressing just fine through his probationary period and the encouragement to keep up the good work, I began to reflect.
The purpose of a letter such as this was not to correct behavior, either real or imagined, but to strike at the Achilles heel of a newly hired firefighter during his most vulnerable time, his 1-year probationary period. What motivates an individual to compose a letter such as this with no communicative purpose other than to tear down one of his volunteers? Had this officer never taken basic leadership training? Was he at one time treated in this fashion and now treating his subordinates in the same way? Was he perpetuating a cycle of disharmony through his actions because he lacked knowledge and education or, worse yet, did he know exactly what he was doing?
All the recruitment and retention grants doled out by FEMA will be for naught in organizations that install and retain individuals with this type of management style. They will drive away their talented individuals, such as the probationary firefighter, and those who remain will be a demoralized work group that will continue to destroy itself with internal conflicts.
If you are in a leadership position and behave in a manner like the officer described above, I have a simple message for you: Reform or get out! You and those like you are contributing to the decline of the fire and emergency services where dedicated people are being robbed of the privilege of helping others because of your toxic management style. Great people with good intentions will only stay affiliated with a strife-ridden organization so long before they decide that it is no longer worth it. It happened in the above case when the probationary firefighter/medic and his EMT/RN wife left the toxic volunteer organization.
If you are an EMT or a firefighter in an organization where there is toxic management (I still refuse to call it leadership) my advice is seek to change it. Educate yourself by seeking out training and attending conferences. Bring the ideas and information you learn back to your organization. Engage others in your organizations. Chiefs do not have a monopoly on good ideas, as often the best ones come from the rank-and-file members. Seek to change a culture that is antithetical to cancer prevention. Promote the physical and mental health of your peers. This involves annual physicals as well as acknowledging the reality of PTSD and providing a way for members to access mental health resources. Support your leadership when they make decisions that are in your best health and safety interests. Many chiefs can find themselves in an unfortunate situation in which they make a decision in the best interests of their firefighters, become unpopular as a result and, ultimately, no longer chief after the next election.
If you find yourself in an organization where your officers do not have your safety and health as their number one priority, consider applying for a leadership position. It is easy to blame “millennials” or the lack of time brought about by multiple competing interests as a reason for a lack of volunteers. Is this really the case, though, or do you have a leadership problem? Silence along with inaction is consent. Be part of the solution, do not accept the status quo, step up and lead!
Rookie of the Year
So what happened to the young probationary firefighter/paramedic you ask? He went on to successfully complete his probation with the career fire department and edged out nine other new fire department employees hired last year to be voted Rookie of the Year by the fire department membership.
