When it comes to reactions to deaths of humans, we as a society suffer from what I like to call the “Airplane Crash Syndrome (ACS).” I will give you some examples.
The most obvious is traffic accidents in America. Last year we killed around 44,000 folks in vehicle accidents, according to something I read. We try to deal with the causes such as seat belts, drinking, and speed, but it is not really reported by Peter Jennings every night. Let’s face it: Unless it involves one of our own, we just shine it on.
Conversely, if a plane crashes with 150 souls onboard, there is extensive media scrutiny and, as exhibited by the 9/11 Commission, blame will be laid at someone’s feet. We kill so many more in cars than airplanes, but nobody seems to care. Our reaction to the plane crash is like dropping a frog in boiling water: The frog jumps, and so do we. Our reaction to the car wrecks is like placing the frog in cold water and heating it slowly. The frog just boils to death, and so do we.
I read the national firefighter fatalities for the month of May. As nearly as I can tell, we lost 10 firefighters. Of the 10 deaths, five were vehicle-related. Two of the five fell off moving vehicles. The five deaths unrelated to vehicles were medical in nature, probably heart attacks. There were no fireground-related deaths. I have not done any research on this, but, aside from anomalies, I would say that the numbers and causes of deaths for the month of May represent a trend.
So, I will go out on a limb now and say that we are killing a bunch of firefighters before they get to the fireground or after they leave it. Keeping folks from dying from heart attacks involves a lifestyle change and probably is not that easy. I am going to leave that to the experts.
That leaves vehicle accidents and falling off the rigs. Let’s just look at falling off rigs. This has to be the most stupid cause of death you can imagine! In fact, the only thing equally as dumb is to kill firefighters in a live-fire burn in a house during training. But, I will leave that for another day.
Why is falling off a rig dumb? Because you are doing something that you do not have to do-ever. How in the world can a firefighter fall off a moving vehicle unless there is an equipment failure? I don’t know, but it makes me unbelievably mad.
That thought takes us back to ACS. When two firefighters are killed in a house fire, there is extensive coverage. We have near-miss columns to describe what happened so it will not happen again. Two firefighters are killed falling off vehicles within one month, and there is not one article about how it happened and what can be done to avoid the problem. I will bet that the number of firefighters who almost fell off vehicles during the month of May is quite large and would make good reading. I also believe this information is hidden by the fire service. It is really hard to tell a governing body we need more money for staffing because lack of staffing is a safety issue when we kill most of our firefighters doing something besides fighting fire. How’s this for a headline: “Firefighters continue to fall off engines while responding, and nothing can be done. It is an epidemic”? Folks, this is crazy, and I wonder what the heck is going on. As usual, I have some ideas.
LOUSY CHIEFS
If you are a chief and personnel ride standing up in your engines and trucks and you do not kick their butts, you are a lousy chief. In fact, let’s call you negligent if you do not know about it and malicious if you know about it but choose to do nothing. This sounds like tough talk. But, if you allow an action that kills personnel to occur without intervention, what would you suggest I call it? Indifference? Distraction? What would you do if you have a captain who repeatedly takes his crew into a burning house without breathing apparatus? I personally will not accept that the department is so large that the chief cannot see this behavior and deal with it. Get out of the office, get your driver, and drop in on your stations now and then. Go to fires and watch. See what’s going on, and demand that this behavior not be allowed, period. They give you a vehicle for reasons other than driving home at night. In fact, getting out will help you to see other things going on, like harassment, discrimination, poor equipment care, and communication problems. It seems as though the larger the department, the farther the fire chief gets from the mission of the organization; that type of department needs more attention than ever. On a positive note, it will allow you to see how well your organization is doing.
LOUSY UNION CHAPTER
The reason I bring this up is obvious, but it is like tossing a hand grenade into a room. More than one chief has told me that the union steps in and ties their hands on issues like standing up in vehicles. I can hear the union representatives jumping up and down, saying they do not support any unsafe activities. I say bull, but that is another subject as well.
I sure know that union behavior can be directly tied to health issues. But, how do you deal with this issue? I have two words: moral courage. I could care less what the unions say when it comes to violations of policy or common sense. If you have personnel who insist they can continue unsafe practices for any reason, fire them. Let me back up, in light of the need to be kinder and gentler. Take the time to correct the unacceptable behavior through the disciplinary process. If that fails, fire them. I would much rather beef with the union folks than attend a funeral because some kid cracked his head falling off a rig. By doing so, you will accomplish two things immediately. You will save the life of the firefighter engaging in the unsafe practice or the firefighter from the supervisor who allows the unsafe practice. You must not lose sight of the fact that old members teach tradition to new members around the kitchen table. The unions protect much of the tradition aggressively; some of it kills. Either way, you are morally bound to this obligation.
LOUSY FIREFIGHTERS
In defense of the chiefs, you can’t be everywhere all the time, nor can your staff. A certain amount of accountability falls into the laps of those who choose to ignore common-sense safety rules. We need to hire folks who embrace safety in a meaningful manner. We hear that safety is a mindset or an attitude. It really is, and no amount of policy and procedure on paper can make employees work in a safe manner. They have to believe that the rule makes sense, and they must have the ability to see that the action you are asking for today will have positive results tomorrow. That is a mouthful, as is the concept; so it stands to reason that you hire folks who have more of a glow, so to speak, behind their eyes than the average Golden Retriever. You must empower your employees to embrace the concept, and you must be willing to use a large stick for those who have a tendency to resist. It is a hard fact of life. I can find a thousand people who can fight fire any time any place, but I want only those who are safe.
An acquaintance of mine works for the forest service. She sent me some of the paperwork she must fill out as an incident commander on a wildfire before action can commence. As the fire escalates, the graphs, flowcharts, and rules of thumb that must be checked off grow to an unbelievable depth. As I looked the stuff over, it hit me that we kill and injure more firefighters and civilians in one year within the municipal setting than the wildland agencies have injured in the past 10 years combined, yet they have all the paperwork to work you through the situation.
Why do you suppose that is? It’s easy-Airplane Crash Syndrome. A kid falling off an engine per month is just not as sexy as eight wildland firefighters killed on a brush fire somewhere, so the emphasis goes to the eight folks killed. I suppose we are saying we can handle one at a time, but we can’t handle bunches regardless of the cumulative totals. It makes me kind of sick to think about it. I have to tell you: When I write stuff like this, I leave it overnight. I did just that and happened to be in a large city east of my town and watched a medical aid incident develop down the street from my location. The truck company that showed up looked good as the members came around the corner, and the firefighters in the back had good communications too. I could tell because they were standing up looking over the cab with their headsets on, unbuckled with no protective gear. I guess these new headsets have really strong cords to help hold them in. No one fell off this time.
I have a mentor in the fire service named John Hawkins. He told me his main strength is that he loves firefighters and his main weakness is that he loves firefighters. If you feel like Chief Hawkins, and I know you do, do something now before it is too late. ■
