Key Takeaways
- Finding and selecting the best people to become firefighters is key to a department’s capability to deliver outstanding performance.
- Lack of firefighter training is a roadblock to department excellence. A schedule that’s anything less than once-per-week for volunteer departments and once-per-day for career departments is unacceptable.
- Officers who spend time on the apparatus floor with their crew, who handle difficulties calmly and decisively, and who are fair and evenhanded with their people generally produce excellent crews that perform above expectations.
We often hear firefighters talk about “being into the job.” You might even hear firefighters rating or discussing how into the job the new probie or the firefighter who just transferred in is.
Being “into the job” is a verbal description of the skills, abilities and attitude of a firefighter. These are incredibly important ingredients for a firefighter. Promoting and developing those ingredients are vital to establishing and maintaining an excellent department. How is this done? What types of activities, policies and officers lend themselves to building an excellent department?
Recruitment and hiring
The first process is recruitment and hiring procedures. There is no best or worst way to do this. Numerous variables play a role.
Some large urban career departments conduct an entrance exam. Those who pass are placed on a list by their grade.
Many smaller career departments conduct interviews and background checks and hire the candidates that perform the best.
Some volunteer companies conduct a vote of their members who say either “yes” or “no” to an applicant.
The processes are different, but the goal is the same: find and choose the best person to join the department.
Training
How personnel are managed, trained and treated has a dramatic effect on how they perform. Of the many daily activities that are conducted in firehouses, training is by far the most important and impactful.
The work that firefighters perform at fires, motor vehicle accidents, building collapses and medical emergencies is technical and challenging. Conditions often are dangerous and fast paced. There’s little room for indecision or confusion. Training is the activity that instills confidence and promotes excellence.
Many volunteer departments hold training on a single weekday or evening every week. Many career departments conduct training every day of the week. Both frequencies are acceptable; anything less is simply unacceptable. Lack of training is a roadblock to excellence.
Maintaining discipline
Maintaining a disciplined workforce is critical. Most often, this is the responsibility of the company officer. It can be a challenging assignment.
Officers who spend time on the apparatus floor with their crew, who handle difficulties calmly and decisively, and who are fair and evenhanded with their people generally produce excellent crews that perform above expectations.
Some officers retreat to the office early in the shift or upon returning from a call. Good officers linger on the apparatus floor, where questions can be answered and firefighters can be complimented on a good job.
Another important element is to establish and maintain high standards of performance. Firefighters must be informed of the expectations that they’re responsible for (e.g., reporting for duty and showing up at drills and other activities; active involvement at training and other firehouse activities; and rapid, effective, and correct performance at emergency scenes and public service calls).
The development and maintenance of a disciplined crew is a major element of creating an environment of excellence.
Midlevel officers’ influence
Promoting and mandating firefighter excellence also can be accomplished beyond the firehouse level. A command structure has officers of ascending levels of command and authority above the company officers at the firehouse level. In many career departments, the former might be battalion chiefs. In many volunteer departments, assistant chiefs are just below the chief and above the company officers. These midlevel officers are in a position to promote excellence through their supervision and observation of their subordinate company officers. For example, the battalion chief might notice that the lieutenant of Engine 2 doesn’t seem to actively observe or involve with the firefighters at operations. This could result in firefighters freelancing or not following department guidelines, having a negative effect on work quality. When this midlevel officer discusses this with the company officer, the condition can be corrected, resulting in an increase in firefighter excellence.
About the Author
John J. Salka Jr.
Battalion Chief
JOHN J. SALKA JR., who is a Firehouse contributing editor, retired as a battalion chief with FDNY, serving as commander of the 18th battalion in the Bronx. Salka has instructed at several FDNY training programs, including the department’s Probationary Firefighters School, Captains Management Program and Battalion Chiefs Command Course. He conducts training programs at national and local conferences and has been recognized for his firefighter survival course, “Get Out Alive.” Salka co-authored the FDNY Engine Company Operations manual and wrote the book "First In, Last Out–Leadership Lessons From the New York Fire Department." He also operates Fire Command Training, which is a New York-based fire service training and consulting firm.