Accountability in the fire service is nothing new. The problems we have had with it are significant. It seems as though every time I check my e-mail there is a report of another firefighter death related to the problem of accountability or lack thereof. The questions that come to mind are, Why is this one firefighter the only one dead? Did he not go in with a partner? Most of us can attest to the fact that the incident commander or, worse, our own company officer or sector officer did not always know in which area we were working.
We look to gadgets, gizmos, and technology to solve the problem of the missing, lost, or trapped firefighter. Some examples include tags, detachable identification strips, electronic scanning devices, emergency buttons on radios, and even global information systems. I am not saying that such devices cannot be helpful, but not one of them will provide a total accountability system to which we should be adhering. Without a proper system of accountability in place, at the end of an incident these gadgets and gizmos may only tell us the name of the dead firefighter.
WHAT IS ACCOUNTABILITY?
Accountability is a two-way street: Officers are responsible for watching over firefighters, and firefighters must be responsible to those in charge.
Accountability in its simplest form should be no different from raising our children. Following are some accountability situations you may have encountered as children or as parents.
You might have asked your parents if you could go over to Johnny’s house to visit. If your parents were willing to let you go, you would have needed to convey the plan of movement. This process would continue in your life until your parents trusted your good judgment. Well, here is how it may have gone on a few occasions. You may have taken the route requested by your parents, meaning some type of straight-line trip to Johnny’s house, and they would have expected you to return on that same trail. You would have had to tell them how long you planned on staying at Johnny’s house and give them a prescribed time of return. They also would have had a means of contacting you, or vice versa, if you were not going to use the same trail or return at the prescribed time.
Another example would be the opportunity to use your parents’ vehicle for a date. You can expect that the trail would be a little longer, but the timing process, the return hour, and some travel limitations would still apply. Also, if you were not going to make the time limit, or if you traveled out of bounds, they would have expected a phone call to let them know.
As parents, you want to know that your children are safe; you want to know where they are at all times. The incident commander is like a parent, and the firefighters are like his children.
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
So what is the problem with accountability in the fire service? When you are a parent, you set rules and guidelines for your children. When your children take an alternative route, like maybe sneaking over to a friend’s home, they have broken the rules and most likely would be grounded if they could not give an acceptable explanation for their actions. The fire service accountability process should be governed by similar rules and guidelines to be successful.
At the fire or emergency scene, like many other phases of life, you tend to revert to the developmental or cultural skills you learned while growing up. Some of you were better at meeting the demands of your parents; some of you were not. Many times you may have been able to sneak and get away with it, but in those instances, you were well aware of the consequences if your ventures did not go as planned. In the fire service, you bring those learned processes from childhood. However, the necessary discipline is horribly lacking at many of our emergency scenes. To paraphrase Alan Brunacini, chief of the Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department, who said it best at the Fire Department Instructors Conference in Indianapolis: “The truth will set you free, but first it is going to make you mad.”
Here is an example of how we now act in the fire service. You are sent into a burning home as part of a team to search the first floor of the structure. You know there is a team approach because there is a law requiring this.1 Most of us were taught in recruit school that we go in as a team and come out as a team. The two-in/two-out rule is really nothing new, but we have breached it enough times so that a law was needed to ensure some success on our part. Again, the crux of the problem is related mostly to poor direction and freelancing at our emergency scenes.
You and your partner are searching the first floor. You believe you hear someone crying on the second floor. “What would you do at this point?” I ask recruit classes and seasoned fire service veterans, and almost all of them say that they would stop searching the first floor and pursue the search of the second floor. We are trained to save lives, and most of you would agree that the search has to be completed.
The missing link of the accountability process is so simple. We often trip over the simple answers needed to make it operate successfully. The incident commander, or maybe your company officer, does not know where you have gone. You were assigned to search the first floor. If the progress of the fire changes or the building structure begins to fail, and you are missing, they will be searching for you on the first floor. You did not let them know that you changed your trip ticket. Many times even your partner has no idea of the change in your location. The discipline to maintain the accountability process is not only required but should be demanded and trained on. And correction is needed when we fall short of the goal.
How simple it would have been to contact the IC or sector/company officer to let him know that you think you heard a cry on the second floor and that you were making your way to investigate. How simple it would have been to use your portable radio to giving the IC a clear picture of what you heard. Maybe the IC would have sent an additional team in to help you by finishing your first-floor search or to the second floor so you could complete your first assignment of searching the first floor.
So what gets in our way when we are operating at emergency scenes? Maybe it is the save we all cherish. Maybe it is the idea of getting the award; maybe it is our own thought processes that if we don’t get the rescue, the victim may not survive. Regardless of the reason, we have indeed breached the trust and information process so needed in the fire and emergency service. Worse, we have jeopardized the entire emergency scene and are now on the verge of a successful rescue or of being in harm’s way. And when it does go wrong, your IC is the person who is going to have to answer for it.
In reality, that is the least of a good IC’s problems. It is the emotional stress and pain the IC will have to endure relating this story to his superiors, the citizens we protect, and the family of the lost or injured firefighter. The emotional stress placed on the IC and the department members never totally fades or is forgotten. The stress just takes a break at one time or another. Deep inside, it remains for the rest of our lives.
SOME SOLUTIONS
Who is responsible for a real accountability system? Everyone at the emergency scene. To whom are we accountable? First, to the citizens who financially support us and count on us to be successful; second, to our fellow firefighters who we put in harm’s way when they have to rescue us when things go wrong; and third, and most important of all, our loved ones-it is for them that we should be striving to come home after our tour of duty or next call.
How can we reduce the problem? First and foremost, never jepardize teamwork. We heard this warning the first day of our career and should carry this message with us until the end of our career.
Second, another answer lies in our ability to maintain a communication network with our company officers and the IC. In my department, every firefighter on the first alarm is fitted with a portable radio. If you think it is too expensive to do this, then start with outfitting each company officer. With discipline, crew integrity might still be maintained. Then provide a portable radio to each team of two. This is the minimum for starting an accountability process that will work. The ultimate goal is to outfit every firefighter with a portable radio. The research is readily available to justify it in your budget. Nearly every National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health report on the prevention of firefighter fatality and injury recommends improving two-way communications with the IC.2 How many police officers have you seen that don’t have a portable radio?
Giving a firefighter a portable radio is an investment in saving lives. But you must also provide proper training, policies for radio operations, and equipment maintenance. Personnel must know all the intricacies of the portable radio in addition to being able to operate it, maintain it, and ensure that it is ready for use at all times.
Make sure the radio is on and in an accessible location ready for use should the firefighter need it.
At the 13th Executive Fire Officer Program Graduate Symposium held at the National Fire Academy, a state-of-the art radio headset system using bone conduction technology was demonstrated. The bone conduction technology eliminates problems associated with radio communication in high-noise environments. The system attaches to the firefighter’s helmet with the microphone at the forehead area and the listening speaker at the user’s cheekbone directly in front of the ear.
Making portable radio communications a priority and ensuring that we can send and receive messages should be of paramount importance today. Communicating our change of direction or assignment is easier with a portable radio. This is a step toward ensuring that the sector officer, company officer, or incident commander is aware of our location at all times. When something goes wrong, we will be better prepared to accomplish our mission of saving lives, especially those of our own.
Endnotes
- Current OSHA regulations that apply to firefighters include 29 CFR 1910.134 and 29 CFR 1910.156.
- Visit the NIOSH Web site at www.cdc.gov/ niosh/firehome.html or call toll free at 1-800-35-NIOSH.
PAUL C. MELFI, EFO, a 21-year veteran of the fire service, is a deputy chief and the chief of operations for the City of Olean Department of Fire, Building and Emergency Services. He is a New York State and nationally certified instructor, the department’s municipal training officer, and an adjunct instructor at the New York State Academy of Fire Science. He has an associate’s degree in fire protection and is concluding his bachelor’s degree in fire administration. He is a 1997 graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officers Program.
