Mandatory Overtime
It’s time for a change in how departments recruit, onboard, and retain members. When I started in 1994, it only took about four months to get a firefighter from day one to working on the street in a company. By the mid-2000s, it was closer to eight months, and that number has extended to slightly longer in the past 14 years or so. This is from the tightening of accountability of worked hours during the academy, a more stringent hold to 40 hours. It would seem this lengthening of development of members and attrition rate in the academy led to diminished returns. Coupled with differing views toward employment by today’s generation, this has led to a system that can’t keep up with the turnover. It would seem it’s time to admit that the system of fire and EMS in the United States is broken. Let’s examine the job and the fix.
First and foremost, the job needs to be presented in the fashion it is—primarily EMS with occasional other emergencies. Prospective members need to know that the job is highly dependent on the area they are working in. Watching social media out of certain cities, people may perceive that working fires are the norm. Coming from an active older city, I can say while I had good fire experience, I had three times that in other emergencies, with EMS being number one. We cannot recruit on the firefighter image only any longer. Prospective members need to know what they are getting into.
Fire and EMS need a national model that incorporates an apprenticeship program modeled on other trades—a system that gets a member basic training at a much faster pace. I am a proponent of an EMS academy or a community college-based EMT program and certification process for new members. This would essentially make sure we are hiring members who are precertified before we even hand them a uniform, a prerequisite for employment. The EMS academy model would be free training in the evening that allows members who meet job requirements a free path to EMT certification. Several cities use similar methods to hire and train their employees. Many, after training through their EMS academies in this manner, use the members as EMS-only employees until given fire training.
After meeting the EMS requirements, we begin our fire apprenticeship. This would be a fast-tracked method to Firefighter I and II. This would be a multiyear apprenticeship, adding blocks of training as we go. An employee won’t have everything he needs until year four or five. The idea is that we can develop the physical fitness and skills of our members with time. We aren’t firing members because they can’t meet standards in a tight academy training window. This model allows us to develop our members in a longer time frame, making it more likely members will succeed based on a longer development period. This cuts attrition and allows us to be more supportive of the development of our firefighters.
Along with this apprenticeship comes all the same perks that any other apprenticeship has. That means if a member completes his apprenticeship, if he relocates, he can apply to the jurisdiction of residence and pick up where he left off. It wastes taxpayer resources and money when a fully trained firefighter cannot move to another city and immediately get a job.
Mandatory overtime is the elephant in the room; it’s a result of changing generational attitudes toward work. The days of 25- to 30-year loyalty in one place are over. Departments need to be adaptable to this. Working to improve training and take a longer-term approach to training by getting members through the basics quickly and then to the floor so they can function in their jobs and develop on the floor vs. the classroom is a starting point.
The biggest reflection is going to be that of staffing and equipment. I have heard departments working to put equipment up while being already short staffed with not enough new members coming through the academy to stem the flow. That is counterproductive to what the reality is. What’s required is prioritization of needs and then rightsizing our approach in what we are staffing. It will require changing our departments to function in a manner that more appropriately reflects our available staffing. The point is we have to be smarter. Thinking that mandatory overtime can be used for long periods is foolish. It is likely going to exacerbate the problem.
The fire service has to evolve. It has to look at newer techniques to improve its service delivery. It has to be willing to change its composition of apparatus and response assets to meet the demands it is facing. Sports have become driven by analytics. It’s time the fire service learns how to use data to improve its performance.
James Harris
Captain (Ret.)
Norfolk (VA) Fire-Rescue
The Fire Service Rifleman
Each branch of the military has a specific mission that supports the common goal, which is to keep this country safe from enemies foreign and domestic. But what do you truly think when you see a military service member or veteran regardless of age, gender, or even social status? Did riflemanship or being a good shot come to mind? Every member of the military (at least the Army) is taught how to disassemble, assemble, and fire a round 300 meters (about 984.25 feet) at a target and hit it. It’s incredible to think all these service members routinely conduct training on their weapon systems and how to use them. It’s done so if the base is attacked or even close to being overrun, the soldiers all have the skill set to fight—much like when we are tapped out for a reported fire with entrapment at 2:00 a.m.
What comes to mind with firefighters—using a hose, perhaps? The fire service is a paramilitary organization based on similar principles of teamwork, dedication to service, and being proficient in our skill set. How many nozzles does your department operate with? Do you know how those nozzles work?
We think that everyone in the military is a good shot because that’s what we expect. Don’t you think the people we serve expect each one of us to know our nozzles? The answer is yes. The public and, honestly, each of us should expect that all firefighters know the nozzles and how to use them. The military has more members serving in finance than they do in the infantry, and yet that service member from the finance office is still expected to know his rifle or weapon systems. The reason is simple: They know it because it’s their true purpose, which is to protect and defend.
How do you go about getting people onboard? Well, take as many people as possible on your shift and work with them. Start using your hands and do mask-up drills, stretching lines, flowing water, and searching rooms. Be the change you want to see and start drilling, whether it’s on how to advance a 2½-inch attack line, that new set of extrication tools, or throwing ground ladders for victim removal. Believe it or not, the tempo you set by doing it is infectious.
Tyler Thorpe
Firefighter/Paramedic
Saco (ME) Fire Department
