In his FDIC keynote “Safety, Standards, and Being Cowboy Ready” at Wednesday’s Opening Ceremony, The Colony (TX) Fire Department Chief Scott Thompson said:
“I would like to start out by talking about something that I am very passionate about … something that influences every fire department organization, and that is culture.
“I have experienced the impact that culture can have on safety, performance, recruitment and retention, as well as many other things.
“Putting safety into context, increasing performance standards, and the recruitment and retention of highly capable people, are topics that I believe to be among the greatest challenges facing the American fire service from a leadership perspective.
“While it is important that firefighters feel valued, either through compensation or through recognition, pay and benefits are just one of the many things that we can do to hire and retain good people. Committing to a chosen culture is another.
“As the chief, if I hope to have a culture that values the things that attract and retain good firefighters, I need to understand the things that are important to firefighters.
“If fire departments exist to prevent or solve problems, which I believe they do, our mission should support that, and all members of the organization should make that their priority.
“Chiefs, support staff, line officers, and firefighters each play a critical role when it comes to fulfilling the mission.
“There are three things that if the culture does or does not value, will heavily influence who we hire, whom we keep, and that highlights our commitment to the mission.
“The degree that the culture values safety, standards, and the commitment to aggressive problem solving should be at the center of our fire service universe and our mission statement.
“In The Colony, Texas, we sum up our mission and the commitment of our people in a simple statement… we will come for you. But it takes a big commitment to get there.
“We need people with good character who don’t mind getting dirty, and who are motivated to train because they realize their success and survival depend on it, not because it is a box to check on the monthly to do list.
“We need a culture that values independent thinking and people who look for opportunities to solve fire, rescue, and emergency medical problems.
“To best position firefighters for success and survival, and fire victims for survival and recovery, the culture must value training at the highest level.
“It must place less value on fads and curb appeal and more value on the quality of our protective equipment, hose packages, and firefighter friendly apparatus to increase the firefighter’s problem-solving capabilities, and to minimize their zero-impact period.
“A culture that values minimizing the chance of injury, while protecting life and property within the parameters of a risk management model based on our operational capabilities and limitations, and not emotion-based opinion.
“However, to make this mindset a part of the organizational culture requires standards. Standards with accountability are necessary to make sure the fire department system operates at the highest level consistently.
“I fear that if we don’t stay vigilant to the mission, and committed to our purpose, the fire service may very well be subject to the same amount of scrutiny as our Brothers and Sisters in Blue.
“If we continue the debate on who is more important, firefighters or fire victims, we may very well have that answer provided to us.
“If we continue to ask for more and more, yet do less and less, that’s a bad investment and an unstainable position.
“If we don’t shift our mindset from being safe, to identifying, prioritizing, and managing risks, and then base our level of operational commitment on capabilities and limitations, we too, the American Fire Service could very well find ourselves defending our decisions and actions to the public, the courts, and the governing bodies of our state and Country.
“If we continue the narrative, it’s too dangerous for us to search off the line or work above the fire, and if we fail to consider the threat to fire victims, we too may very well be told how to respond, how to deploy, and the risks that we must be willing to take.
“I challenge each of you in attendance this morning to make risk acceptance and risk avoidance personal.
“I ask you to think about this: The greatest investment made in any fire department organization is in fire suppression and fire rescue capabilities.
“I ask… what are you doing to maximize those capabilities?
“I hope each of you here this morning understand the assignment… prevent, prepare, protect, and save.”
