By Corley Moore
We have all been there. Alone in the cereal aisle at the local grocery store, the harsh fluorescent light reflecting off all the glossy boxes as we stare at the infinite choices of sugary crunchiness that stretch before us. Are we prepared for the decision that we need to make? Are we overcome in that moment by the sea of cartoon characters and brightly colored lettering? Did we know what we were after? Did we have a purchase in mind? Did the wife send us with specific instructions on which cereal we were supposed to return with? Is today the day we buy the high-fiber and healthy option? Or is it sugar-bombs to the rescue?
- Subconscious Impact: Leading Without Thought and Its Ramifications
- The Dichotomy of Minimum Standards
Although it may seem silly to compare the emergency scene to a trip to the grocery store, there are startling parallels. The main difference, however, is the consequence of a poor decision. At the grocery store, you may simply anger the kids or frustrate the wife. On the fireground, you can get your people seriously injured or possibly killed based on the decisions you make.
If you want to achieve success on the fireground and be effective—I believe that everyone wants to—you must be decisive. You must make a decision when you are in charge.
“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.“
Theodore Roosevelt
When you are in a fast paced, high-consequence environment, the quick and decisive action is the action that has the highest probability of properly mitigating the incident. Understand that the worst decision that can be made in these situations is no decision at all. Quick and decisive action is what allows us to take initiative back from the fire during an emergency. When we respond to a house fire, we start from behind. The fire has a head start and we are always trying to catch up and ultimately take control of the situation. This is best accomplished through aggressive actions, violently and deliberately executed by firefighters who are highly competent at their job. Quick and decisive action is the key to successful fireground operations.
- Critical Decision Making: The Single Most Important Predictor of Success
- Decision Making in the Fire Service
- The Art of Making Decisions
- Decision Making: Firefighter Tipping Points
Many people will hesitate at that moment because they are afraid of making the wrong decision. This is normal; we should always be worried about making the incorrect decision and possibly making the situation worse. We have all seen a squirrel who attempted to cross the street. Halfway across they decide that maybe it was a bad idea. They decide to head back to safety, but halfway back they decide that heading back was a bad idea. Next they decide to freeze. The results of these decisions can be observed in various forms of rodent roadkill. Thump-thump, the squirrel is a bump…because he made the worst decision.
Making a fast bad decision is still a bad decision. No amount of speed and aggression will make up for implementing the incorrect tactic. When you make a bad decision on the fireground, the consequences are of the highest level. This is why it is so vital that we constantly try to improve our skill set, our abilities, and our knowledge. The more we know and the more we study, the more decisive we can be.
“A good plan violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan executed next week.“
Theodore Roosevelt
Experience is the best teacher, and if you are blessed enough to work in jobtown, you might be able to rely strictly on your jobs (I’m not saying you should) to keep your skills sharp. For the rest of the fire service, we have to be intentional about improving our decision-making skills. The modern fire service does not see enough fire duty to rely on our experience alone to keep us up to speed.
I love when Fire Department of New York Deputy Assistant Chief Frank Leeb says you should “read something fire service-related every day.” He talks about how his mentors taught him that when he was a young firefighter and it stuck with him. Now, over 30 years later, he still lives by that same mantra of reading something fire service-related every day. Imagine the wealth of knowledge each of us would have if we would dedicate ourselves in that same manner. This is the kind of dedication you must invest in your decision-making skills if you want to be decisive when the moment arrives.
I believe that most of the regret that firefighters battle comes from knowing they could have been better prepared. Some of that feeling is inevitable. The fire always gets a vote; the emergency will always have a say in every scene. We can do everything right and still have a bad outcome in this profession, and I think that part of this job is living with those bad outcomes. The part we can control, however, is knowing that we did what we could to be prepared when we were needed.
The answer is not rocket-surgery. If you want to
- Be a decisive decision maker
- Be deliberate in taking action
- Exude command presence
- Be quick and intentional
- Be cool as a cucumber.
…then you absolutely need to know more stuff!
This is the key to all of the above. It does not get simpler than that. So invest in yourself. Read something fire-related every day. Go to a conference, a class, and get in on the hands-on training tracks. Doing these things will not guarantee that you will be the ultimate fireground commander. But if you do these things, it will be the best insurance against being confounded on the emergency scene and looking as though you are lost on the cereal aisle with no idea what you are supposed to do.
Corley Moore is a battalion chief with the Moore (OK) Fire Department and has 25 years in the fire service. He is the founder of Firehouse Vigilance and host of the Weekly Scrap podcast.
