John F. “Skip” Coleman, who retired from Toledo (OH) Department of Fire Rescue as assistant chief in 2008 and is the recipient of the 2011 Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award, offers some of his views concerning the fire service of yesterday, today, and tomorrow in the areas of vital firefighter training areas; what he considers his most meaningful accomplishments relative to improving firefighter safety and efficiency; and strategies for succeeding in the topsy-turvy environment of today’s fire departments laden with budget concerns, layoffs, and what seems to be an apparent lack of the public’s appreciation for the fire service in some instances.
Coleman says that “specialties—things firefighters do other than fighting fires”– now must be considered vital areas of training. Among these areas are hazardous materials, confined space, heavy rescue, and “anything related to emergency medicine. Coleman sees it as “simply a job-protection issue.”
Coleman explains:
I believe there will be a time in this generation of firefighters’ lifetime when residential sprinklers will be mandatory in new construction. Trust me, there will always be fires, but the frequency and intensity will diminish over time. There will always be motor vehicle accidents, people will always get hurt and sick, and other accidents will happen. Fire departments will always be needed, but they will be needed more for EMS, rescue, and accidents than for hostile fires.
When queried about the accomplishments of his illustrious career that he believes has had the greatest effect on firefighter safety and fire department efficiency, Coleman cited the following:
1. Mandatory Mask Policy. Coleman “pushed for” and wrote this policy, which was implemented in 1988. At that time, Coleman, a newly promoted battalion chief assigned to training, made it a safety violation to enter an area that contained or could contain smoke without wearing a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). Coleman notes:
Literally, it became a chargeable offense of smoke inhalation. When we wrote that directive, the life expectancy of a firefighter was 57 years. That was 10 years less than nonfirefighters (the average citizen). We believe that with the implementation of that policy, we gave all new recruits 10 more years to live. Toledo was one of the first metro departments to establish such a policy.
2. “Code Red” policy. ”I was really disliked for that one,” Coleman recalls. He implemented the policy when he was the Deputy Chief of Operations. Coleman explains:
We had information that the building department (Inspection) had a list of all the buildings in the city that had been inspected and were deemed structurally unsound. Until then, we did nothing with the list. The new policy identified all structurally unsound structures, and that information was put on the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. If that address came in for a fire, the incident was flagged as “Code Red.” We also sent companies around their districts and had them put a placard on all sides of each of these buildings, using a ground ladder to keep it out of reach of civilians.
Finally, we had crews report any heavily damaged buildings in their district that they stumbled upon. When a Code Red building was reported to be on fire, crews were not allowed to enter that building for any reason with the exception of “seen or heard” victims inside. If they had to enter, they were to do so, locate the victim, and then exit the building immediately. No excuses! How could we have knowledge that a building was inspected by a building inspector, deemed unsafe, and still allow firefighters to enter to fight what is essentially, a rubbish fire? We couldn’t.
Many officers said we took their decision-making ability from them. They were right – no question that we did. But, there are good officers who make good decisions, and then there are some who do not. We have not had a firefighter killed in the line of duty at a fire since 1969 in Toledo. I believe much of the credit goes to that policy.
3. Incident Command Policy. Coleman was assigned to write this policy in 1988 by the presiding Chief Bill Winkle. “He had returned from a state chiefs association meeting and said some of the other chiefs were riding him because he didn’t know what the incident command system (ICS) was,” Coleman recalls. “He told me to look into it and come up with a policy for the department,” continues Coleman. “I did just that, and as a newly promoted battalion chief, wrote and taught our system.” Coleman explains the aftermath:
Now, at the time, we had shift deputy chiefs–one on each shift–who certainly outranked me. They were not happy to have a new chief with 13 years on the job “telling them how to run their fires.” Patience and the pension system prevailed, and it became the norm a few ‘strenuous’ years after. If you know me, you know how I feel about ICS and the positive impact it has on safety and organization at all fires and incidents.
“Diversification” is the key to surviving in today’s challenging social environment where public service is being clouted by many federal and state legislators and officials as the single-handed cause of budget deficits. In this environment, Coleman says, in addition to branching out into EMS, transport, hazmat, weapons of mass destruction, firefighters “should get out of the house and let the citizens know they are everywhere and always willing to help. We should take a cue from the police.
Coleman entered the fire service in 1975. While in the department, he also trained recruits at the fire academy in SCBA and search. Coleman developed and taught recruits, and ultimately, the entire department, the “Oriented Method of Search,” which is in use in many fire departments today.
Coleman is a technical editor for Fire Engineering, has instructed at the FDIC for 15 years, has moderated the “Roundtable” column in the magazine and now on fireengineering.com, and blogs on that site as well. He was the keynote speaker at FDIC 2002.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is named for Tom Brennan, who was the editor of Fire Engineering for eight years and a technical editor. Brennan had more than 35 years of fire service experience, including more than 20 years with the Fire Department of New York and five years as chief of the Waterbury (CT) Fire Department. He was co-editor of The Fire Chief’s Handbook, Fifth Edition (Fire Engineering Books, 1995) and the recipient of the 1998 Fire Engineering Lifetime Achievement Award.
The award is presented at the FDIC General Session, Thursday, March 24, 2011.
