It’s funny how many times we hear and say, “Good luck.” It’s a phrase that we use for many situations, such as when someone departs on a trip or starts a new career. We even use it when someone faces a medical situation or an upcoming surgery. I often thought to myself after saying “Good luck” to someone, is that what we are hoping for? Is it luck that plays a role in whether a trip or event or a surgery is successful?
Let’s take this a step further: Is it luck that keeps us alive and well when fighting a structural fire or operating on a snow-covered highway at midnight? The answer is yes, but you must understand that you don’t just get lucky; you have to make lucky. How can we improve our chances of survival and reduce our chances of injury by making ourselves lucky?
Training
One of the first and most important elements or activities that you can concentrate on to make yourself lucky is training. The simple act of planning and conducting training, on any scale or for almost any duration, has an immediate and lasting positive effect on your ability to stay healthy and alive while conducting some of the dangerous and hazardous duties that firefighters perform. Some departments have mandatory, daily, on-duty training for their firefighters and officers on every shift. Some departments mandate training less frequently, but it still is required and frequent. Some volunteer departments hold a weekly drill or training night. Some only train once per month. However frequently training occurs, that activity contributes to the degree that firefighters will make themselves lucky.
Furthermore, know that if your volunteer company only trains once per month or if your career people don’t train every time that they are on duty, their luck could run out.
Equipment
Equipment affects how lucky you might be at your next emergency scene. This includes everything from the apparatus that your people drive and ride in, to the radios that they communicate with, to the hand tools that they force doors with, to the hoselines that they fight fires with. If everything is going very well at a structural fire where a sufficient number of personnel arrived, where interior searches are initiated rapidly, and where a solid and dependable water supply has been secured, you are on the road to making yourself lucky.
What happens at that fire when the first attack hoseline bursts because it’s 15 years old and the department doesn’t replace hose in a timely manner? The entire firefighting operation grinds to a halt, and the degree of danger to every firefighter and victim immediately surges. What was a few minutes ago a solid and safe operation now is getting pretty unlucky. Every piece of equipment on every fire apparatus must be up to date, properly maintained and in good working order.
The rig check
When are your apparatus, radios, tools and equipment examined and operationally tested? How frequently does someone “check the rig” at your firehouse? There isn’t a correct answer, because every department and company works under different circumstances, but this rig check certainly should be conducted more than once per week. Obviously, a small volunteer department that responds 150 times per year doesn’t need to perform this duty as often as a career department that has multiple firehouses and thousands of runs per year should.
Remember, one bump in the road can cause a valve to open or a fuel tank line to separate inside of an apparatus compartment. If apparatus isn’t checked out for five or six days, you can end up with an out-of-service hydraulic tool or roof saw.
Make yourself lucky
So, the next time that you say “Good luck” to the crew at your firehouse, know that the degree of luck that they might experience already was set by the activities and routines of the company and its members.
