FDIC 2012 opened its Tuesday morning workshops by welcoming instructors Brian Crandell and Jerry Wells, both of whom displayed the strong communication skills that have helped them attain the high-ranking positions within their respective departments.
STREET-SMART FIRE TRAINING
In Room 136/137, Central Valley (MT) Fire District Training Assistant Chief Crandell led this interactive class discussion on the expectations, responsibilities, and requirements that aspiring fire service leaders need to lead drills and training simulations.
Crandell was adamant in stressing the need for potential firehouse leaders to have to EARN the respect of their subordinates that some feel they should receive automatically.
“Your job as a coach is to fix it, promote self-awareness, teach students to learn the sequence of events at incidents, and make sure they practice their work error-free, said Crandell. “’Adapt and overcome’ is the mantra of the street.”
Crandell used a drill and training simulation slideshow showing proper and improper body positioning and movements during chainsaw drills as well as proper personal protective equipment donning and doffing to give present and future chiefs and drill instructors the visual cues needed to recognize mistakes they may need to correct during training exercises.
BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMWORK
In Room 107/108, Lewisville (TX) Fire Department Battalion Chief Jerry Wells addressed a nearly packed house on the concepts of leading the firehouse by example and the need to be mindful of who is watching you and your fellow firefighters.
“This class was designed around the concept of getting ALL company members to understand that they have a personal responsibility to contribute on many levels to the team, he said. “We as firefighters and, specifically, company officers can learn from the world of sports many concepts and philosophies that are useful in our organization to become a multimember team with a common mission: to win as a team or die as individuals.”
Wells discussed a wide array of topics and issues that prohibit team cohesiveness, the most common issue being attitude.
Wells wanted to show how “Attitude in the firehouse, attitude at the drill field, and how empowering or destructive the wrong attitude can be.”
Wells showed several different video clips of Boise State and Oklahoma University football coaches and players and discuss how the fire service can benefit from the examples described. He also showed examples of controversial fire service t-shirts that could show the fire service in a negative light.
Wells also discussed dealing with the long- And short-term ramifications in the way firefighters behave and how this behavior impacts the fire service as a whole.
From this, Wells says he wants to create a “Be Here Now” attitude.
“’Believe in something bigger than yourselves’ is another philosophy that will get much attention.”
The last segment of the class featured ideas for a fun and creative approach to training so that individual departments can develop a “learn something new every day” attitude that doesn’t have to be painful.
