News in Brief

U.S. DOT announces final rules for 911 grant program

The U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Commerce announced final rules in the Federal Register in August covering a grant program that will offer up to $110 million to help states, territories, tribal organizations, and the District of Columbia upgrade their 911 call centers to Next Generation 911 capabilities.

Information on how the 911 community can apply for the grants will be made available in a Notice of Funding Opportunity, according to the agencies. To sign up for e-mail updates on the grant application process, go to https://bit.ly/2OYMStP. Questions about the National 911 Program-administered grants can be sent to nhtsa.national911@dot.gov.

Study sheds light on how firefighters “take leaps of faith”

“The Hidden Side of Trust: Supporting and Sustaining Leaps of Faith Among Firefighters” study conducted by management and organizational behavior experts at Rice University, Boston College, and Western Michigan University looked at how groups of workers, especially those in high-risk occupations, including firefighters, are able to take leaps of faith. They report that the study results suggest that leaps of faith are initiated and perpetuated through the “dynamics of supporting and sustaining.”

“We found that firefighters take a leap of faith to move from weak evidence derived from mundane tasks and behaviors at the fire station to trust in terms of entering a burning building with other firefighters,” the authors wrote. They noted that “only around 4 percent of calls to a fire station are fire-related, so firefighters may not have seen their colleagues fight a fire. They may not even know them by reputation.”

The authors further cited the following. The dynamics of support begin with knowing who is and who isn’t a good firefighter. “This information is passed from one firefighter to another through stories that have to be clear enough to indicate a firefighter’s trustworthiness. In this way, cues at the firehouse—how people look, act, and talk—are used to determine how someone will act in a fire.”

Groups also need to be sure that “the new information doesn’t cause one person to constantly upend judgments about someone else,” the authors noted, “as that could make an already dangerous job more hazardous.” The authors explain that firefighters also need “sustaining dynamics that cut off or diminish new information and keep their judgments stable.” These dynamics, the authors added, “can also mean that firefighters who are initially categorized as untrustworthy aren’t provided with many chances to prove otherwise.”

The authors of the study were Erik Dane, associate professor of management in Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business; Michael Pratt, the O’Connor Family Professor at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management; and Douglas Lepisto, assistant professor of management at Western Michigan.

Past research had looked at the types of information that lead to trust; however, the researchers noted: “Because such information is rarely perfect or complete, trust always involves a leap of faith.” Few previous studies looked at how workers do this.

A multiphase study of more than 60 firefighters in the United States, beginning with firefighters at stations in the Midwest and on the West Coast and narrowed to a single firefighting department in New England, the authors sought to identify the processes that facilitate and maintain leaps of faith through interviews, observations, and surveys. Questions posed to the firefighters included how they perceived firefighters “with heart” vs. firefighters “working for a paycheck” and how trust was assessed at the site of a fire: how firefighters assessed colleagues they trusted and those they didn’t, why they held those opinions, and what concrete information they relied on as evidence of trustworthiness. The authors resided at the station with the firefighters, observing them as they performed daily routines such as grocery shopping, preparing and eating meals, conducting inspections, and responding to calls.

The authors found that company culture can strongly influence trust: The stories and values in an organization shape who will and who will not be trusted. To be useful in strengthening trust, the authors add, the stories and values need to be sustained so that employees come to see evidence that supports the story. The authors noted, however, that “bias in trust is real: The trustworthiness of the individuals may not be determined by what they actually do but by the categories into which other people fit them.”

Story source: Rice University. “How firefighters and others take leaps of faith.” ScienceDaily. 1 August 2018. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180801131559.htm>.

REFERENCE

1. Michael G. Pratt, Douglas A. Lepisto, Erik Dane. “The Hidden Side of Trust: Supporting and Sustaining Leaps of Faith Among Firefighters,” Administrative Science Quarterly, 2018; 000183921876925 DOI: 10.1177/0001839218769252.

High School-Fire Department Initiative Enhances Fire Safety

By James Crawford

Practitioners in the field of public fire and life safety education will tell you that high school students are among the most difficult to reach. I’m hardly an expert, but their priorities are certainly not focused on safety, fire or otherwise. I’ll save the discussion about why they are challenging for another time and with others with more expertise. However, I want to draw attention to a small project in Oregon that may provide an example for others.

The concept that evolved at Reynolds High School in Oregon sprang from an interest of the local nonprofit (Change 4 Change) that worked with students in the school. It is fair to say that Reynolds has more than its share of students with real-life challenges: homelessness, drug issues, violence—including a school shooter a couple of years ago. This is not an affluent part of the country. Change 4 Change began by helping students in need make small purchases that could make a real difference in their lives—calculators so one could finish math class and graduate, food when there was none, fees for school outings required for graduation.

When these same students were asked (in a pilot test) to respond to questions about the importance of smoke alarms, one responded, “You mean for our car, because that’s where we live.” You get the picture.

How then to engage any students in that kind of environment?

The Initiative

Change 4 Change, Reynolds High School, and the Gresham (OR) Fire Department (GFD) partnered in a collaborative effort to experiment with a different educational approach. The high school graphics teacher (Emily Hogue Barron) convinced one of her classes to use a safety education graphics tool created by the Vision 20/20 Project to design something specific for high-risk audiences in their area (https://materialsgenerator.strategicfire.org). The focus from the beginning was on lower-income apartment complexes, given their relative risk from fires and other emergencies. The students had to research fire problems in the area, agree on priorities—smoke alarms and kitchen fire safety, and produce something they believed would appeal to their intended audience.

The graphic arts students developed and tested a number of options for their material—a flyer intended for their identified audience. In addition, Don Porth, a retired public fire and life safety educator from Portland (OR) Fire and Rescue who lived nearby, assisted the students in designing a pre-/post-test of the materials they developed so they could provide some evidence that the materials would have the intended effect of increasing knowledge.

Meanwhile, Change 4 Change (led by Gail Zea) worked with one of the students to identify a high-risk rental property and to begin the process of working with the students to distribute the selected educational materials to each apartment. The apartment was selected with the assistance of GFD Captain Shawn Durham, who understood the history and the nature of the complex. Many of the residents of the complex were Hispanic, so entry into the units presented potential language challenges as well as trust issues for anyone from “outside” who wanted to check for working smoke alarms. It’s not the kind of place just anyone solicits on a cold call.

Zea’s student Emmanual Dominguez was familiar with the property and arranged with the property management to distribute the graphics students’ flyers and to check smoke alarms in each unit where tenants were willing to let them in. In all, they entered 24 of the 35 units; all 24 units had working alarms. No one was at home in the other units. The units had one alarm placed in the hallway between the bedrooms, which was consistent with the law at the time of construction.

Initiative Opened Doors

Many doors were opened. A connection between the graphics students and the concept of safety was established. Prior to the project, one of the students said the most important thing to him was “being cool.” The anecdotal feedback from students was very positive. Giving students a leadership role in designing and developing safety education messages (with proper guidance) helped to unlock an interest level they previously did not have.

Change 4 Change drew support from a broader group of students to support their cause by getting involved in something atypical for their basic mission. More students are now aware of how their small nonprofit helps students in need, and the positive reception by residents at the apartment complex helped the school district and the fire department to establish a more trusting relationship.

The concept of integrating public safety messages into other school activities is not new. During my career years, there were many attempts to get fire safety into the basic math or science curriculum. This is the first I have heard of involving graphics arts students, giving them some control, and helping them to lead a safety cause. I certainly hope the idea lasts. Barron stated that she was very happy with the motivation of the students involved in the project.

We will see. But in this one case, there is anecdotal evidence that high school students can be engaged in safety efforts in a creative way that just might save a life one day. For additional information on the project, contact Shawn Durham of GFD at shawn.durham@greshamoregon.gov; Gail Zea at gzea@rsd7.net; Emily Hogue at ehogue@rsd7.net; or Don Porth at don@preventthink.com.

James Crawford is the project manager for Vision 20/20. He is a 40-year veteran of the fire service and a retired deputy chief and fire marshal of Vancouver, Washington. He is the author of Fire Prevention Organization and Management and of the Prevention chapter in Managing Fire and Rescue Services. He is a life member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs.

IAFC reaffirms zero-tolerance stance on discrimination

The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) Board of Directors issued the following statement at its annual meeting in August.

“Like the entire fire service, the membership of the IAFC faces challenges as we continue to provide leadership to a fire and emergency service that is ever evolving in an environment where technology and the demographic composition of our society and workforces are changing at unparalleled rates. Unfortunately, we have recently seen examples of such challenges in some local jurisdictions, some higher-profile than others.

“Our greatest resources for meeting the challenges of change are the members of the IAFC and their respective agencies who respond daily in operational and support roles to carry out their organizations’ missions in taking care of the public and each other.

“As stated in the IAFC Human Dignity statement (https://bit.ly/2MoO47S) adopted in 2013:

As an organization, we must take positive steps to ensure human dignity by avoiding any remaining vestiges of discrimination or unequal treatment including, but not limited to, a basis on race, color, spirituality, gender, age, national origin, ancestry, socio-economic backgrounds, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, ethnicity, marital status or any legally protected characteristic.

“Allowing such discrimination or unequal treatment, whether active or passive, breaks down our abilities to work together in delivering service to the communities we serve.

“While certainly not a singular event, within the past month, one of our members, a fire chief, was attacked in social media by several anonymous, faceless, and cowardly individuals using racial slurs and despicable language that has no place in the public domain. The subject of the online attack stated he was not concerned about himself when these racist rants were posted about him. His concern is for his department and the larger fire and emergency service.

“The IAFC will continue to lead by example to ensure an equal opportunity and fair treatment for all. When warranted, the IAFC will call out and draw attention to attacks on our members who are victims of this type of hatred. Further, the IAFC strongly recommends that all fire and emergency service organizations and agencies develop written policies and have procedures in place to support these position recommendations.

“Included in these policies should be a statement reinforcing a zero-tolerance posture for acts of deliberate or intentional discrimination and clear understanding of consequences. It is important for leaders to maintain a fire and emergency service where each of us is morally committed to ensuring equality of opportunity and inclusivity for every individual.”

IAFC, NVFC release Cancer Best Practices report

The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) Volunteer and Combination Officers Section (VCOS) and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) have developed and released the “Lavender Ribbon Report: Best Practices for Preventing Firefighter Cancer,” which presents 11 actions for mitigating the risk of cancer for firefighters.

“We call upon fire service leaders and all personnel to make cancer prevention a priority in your department,” said Chief James Seavey, Sr., chair of the VCOS cancer committee, co-chair of the NVFC cancer subcommittee, and a cancer survivor. “We owe it to each firefighter, to their families, and to the community to take every step necessary to keep our firefighters healthy and to ensure they come home safely. Together we can stop firefighter occupational cancer.”

The organizations strongly recommend that local leaders use the information in the report to make changes to improve the safety and health of responders. Departments are urged to disseminate the report (https://bit.ly/2Mcb8uC) and display the poster (https://bit.ly/2nzl4PZ). Additional cancer resources are at firefightercanceralliance.org.

For more news visit: emberly.fireengineering.com

LINE-OF-DUTY DEATHS

July 23. Firefighter Nathan Flynn, 34, Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services, Columbia, MD: injuries sustained when he fell through the floor while fighting a structural fire.

July 26. Fire Inspector Jeremy Stoke, 37, Redding (CA) Fire Department: nature of injury suffered while fighting the Carr Fire in Northern California’s Shasta County still to be reported.

July 27. Firefighter/Bulldozer Operator Don R. Smith, 81, CAL FIRE, Sacramento, CA: injuries sustained at the Carr Fire in Northern California’s Shasta County when overtaken by the fire. Nature and cause of injuries to be reported.

July 29. Captain Brian Hughes, 33, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Three Rivers, CA: struck by a tree while engaged in tactical fire operations on the east side of the Ferguson Fire in Mariposa County, CA.

August 2. Chief Engineer/Firefighter Pasquale “Pepper” DiBenedetto, 68, Englishtown (NJ) Fire Department: massive stroke suffered on July 30.

August 8. Firefighter Barry Everett, 42, DeKalb County Fire Rescue, Tucker, GA: found deceased in bed at the fire station; cause not yet reported.

August 9. Heavy Equipment Mechanic Andrew Brake, 40, CAL FIRE, Sacramento, CA: single-vehicle crash.

Source: USFA Firefighters Memorial Database