At FDIC International 2023 Opening Ceremony Day 2, the featured speaker was Assistant Chief Brian Zaitz from the Kirkwood (MO) Fire Department, who spoke on “Three-Sided Success.”
“Early on in my career, I’d ask everyone, ‘What I should do to succeed in the service?’ As I went through my career, from a new firefighter to company officer and now chief officer, three key elements to success kept showing face: physical skills, mental fortitude, and emotional strength. What I have found is these key elements are necessary not only for success in the fire service but really everything we do in life. And the true key is … balance. I like to think of these three elements as the Triangle for Success.
“Think back to your fire recruit days, that fire triangle. The triangle had to have a balance of fuel, oxygen, and heat to create the fire through a chemical reaction. Too much fuel? – no fire, not enough oxygen? – no fire, no heat? – no fire.
“So, what does all this mean? Let’s take our first critical element for success: physical skills.
We can break this down into a smaller triangle: experience, education, and training. Experience is not a number but rather how you REACT and LEARN from opportunities afforded to you.
“Learn from each other AND mentor the next generation. It is easy to mentor the motivated. I am here to ask you to do the hard work of mentoring those in the margins. To see and bring out what a firefighter may not see in themselves.
“Take the time and effort to learn from experiences. You may not always recognize it while it’s happening; however, it is important to reflect so as not to miss the opportunity. Experience builds a rolodex in our mind of events – both good and bad. It allows us comparatives to gauge other situations. Experience is foundational for us as firefighters.
“Now let’s talk about education. I know many may argue the importance of formal education in today’s fire service.Understand, education is more than just a piece of paper or letters behind your name. Education provides the opportunity to learn outside our comfort zone and expose ourselves to the nontechnical aspects of the job.
“Education is a great tool for the fire service. It allows us to grow and learn and aids us in accomplishing tasks and functions not always found on the emergency scene.
“We all know that training is important so why aren’t we prioritizing it in today’s fire service? Daily training must be as routine as coffee in the morning. Only this will ensure our fire service is ready for the next run.
“Training occurs at the individual, company, and battalion level. Training is the second most important function of a firefighter – second only to that of response. Training, like firefighting, should be a team sport, should be fun and should build upon the basics.
“Never be afraid to go back to the basics for company level training. Focus trainings on your department, look at your equipment, train and familiarize yourself with its function and use.
Look at your SOGs and SOPs – become intimately familiar with them, they are your playbook.
Know your area and your buildings. Get out from behind the station bay doors and into your community. Walk the buildings. Meet the owners. Engage with your community. This will pay dividends well past a great training opportunity. It will build bonds that will lead to success for years to come.
“Engage your team. Just because you are the officer doesn’t mean you have to teach everything.
Like a good coach, the officer must put the right people in the right spots for the organization to succeed.
“I challenge the chiefs in this room, attend your next department training, gear up and train with your department. Do not teach or lead, simply attend.Not only will you gain knowledge, but you will garner respect.
Training, education, and experience are the foundation for PHYSICAL SUCCESS on the job. These three, IN BALANCE, will provide for safe, efficient, and effective operations on the emergency scene. For success, we cannot rely solely on being an effective firefighter to get us through it; we also need mental fortitude and emotional strength.
“No matter your title or rank in the fire service, your most critical role is that of which resides at home: Mother, Father, Husband, Wife, Brother, Sister. Remember your family needs you just as much as the fire service and you need them more than anything the fire service can provide you.
“I leave you with this: Always love the job. It is the greatest job in the world, but do not fall short of loving your family. The reality is life is short, and our careers even shorter. Don’t let your career slip by.Make time each day to improve yourself. Do things right and tell your family you love them before and after each shift.
“Our desire must be for A GREATER FIRE SERVICE. Our quest must be to POSITIVELY IMPACT THE NEXT GENERATION. This is how YOU will be remembered.”
