BY MARC D. GREENWOOD
Symmetrical and asymmetrical convey concepts familiar to those working in the fire/EMS community. Symmetrical denotes harmonious proportions or well balanced. A secondary meaning deals with the idea of regularity in the arrangement of parts. The “a” in front of symmetrical negates the meaning-i.e., there is no balance or regularity in the arrangement of parts.
When a patient sustains severe thoracic trauma, EMS providers quickly bare the patient’s chest and auscultate the chest wall. On finding asymmetrical chest rise, they quickly package, treat, and transport the patient, always bearing in mind the “Golden Hour” concept for trauma patients. Frequently, the finding of asymmetrical chest rise is indicative of a life-threatening injury such as a tension pneumothorax.
ASYMMETRY IN TRAINING “CHILLING”
Asymmetry in the training component of an organization sends an Arctic chill throughout the organization; it has a vitiating effect on the emotional state of personnel.
A cursory examination of most fire service materials will demonstrate conclusively the disproportionate amount of emphasis afforded to hands-on technical training in comparison with formalized training designed to improve and sharpen interpersonal skills. The fire service, of course, must continue to ensure that all members are capable of performing the requisite skills to facilitate preservation of life and property. We must continue to discharge our duties on the incident ground with zeal and aplomb.
However, only 10 percent of a fire officer’s time is spent responding to emergency calls. Our effectiveness in the areas that constitute the other 90 percent is absolutely essential for members’ job satisfaction. I am suggesting that the fire service develop a more comprehensive and balanced training regimen that addresses interpersonal development in a straightforward manner. The new training regimens must not be performed in a perfunctory fashion or in a manner that reflects a knee-jerk reaction. Internal and external customers will reap great benefits from the consistent, firm application of the new concepts.
THE WORKFORCE AND THE CHANGING SOCIAL CLIMATE
Despite many advances, the fire service is still anachronistic in its approach to managing its personnel. The service initially appealed to individuals with great physical strength, courage, and mechanical aptitude. The emphasis was on doing, not being. Bruce Roemmelt, retired chief of Prince William County, Virginia, in his “Managing and Leading Change” seminar, advocates “hiring based on attitude and training for skills.”
Why is a concerted effort needed to in-troduce new training regimens? Every-thing the fire depart-ment does is through the instrumentality of its greatest re-source, its people.
Hugh J. Caulfield, in his tour de force Winning the Fire Service Leadership Game (Fire Engineering, 1985), chronicles his time spent as a special project officer for the Fire Department of New York. Using a series of vignettes, Caulfield graphically depicts the minefields a first-level officer must traverse to become a strong, caring, and effective leader. He mentions that many officers rue the day they were promoted. They are simply overwhelmed by the baffling array of issues that now confront them, issues they didn’t have to deal with as firefighters.
Caulfield writes: “First-level leaders are expected to be leaders in every sense of the word. At fires, they are expected to take command in a military fashion and lead their companies into burning buildings. However, it does not take long for new leaders to realize that the most difficult part of their job is not a fire. Rather, it is in the firehouse, which may be isolated in the worst part of town, where the leader operates alone, surrounded by firefighters who may not particularly like him.”
One firefighter I know was promoted to lieutenant after 20 years of service. He had to assign a member of his crew to “fill in” at a different duty station the next shift. The lieutenant’s consternation about assigning the “fill-in” resulted in his spending most of the night pacing the halls. He feared the response he would get from the crew member.
Bob Knight, the former basketball coach at the University of Indiana, won three championships during his tenure there-the last in 1987. Knight lost multiple players through the transfer route amid a flurry of allegations of abuse of various sorts. He admitted he was no longer able to entice the elite basketball players to come to Indiana. The star players of today simply refused to allow themselves to be subjected to the antics of the boorish Knight, who is the prototypical autocrat. His style of leading will not flourish in the 21st century. Knight’s continuing pattern of inappropriate behavior led to his ignominious dismissal in September.
Martin Luther King entitled his last book Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (Harper and Row, New York City, 1967). This question is teeming with relevance for fire chiefs, particularly since violence in the American workplace has been a growing phenomenon. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, workplace violence has become the fastest growing category of homicides in the United States, estimated to be around 225,000 to 300,000 incidents a year. A 1994 Department of Justice study revealed that nearly one million crimes of all types occurred in the workplace and that more than half of these crimes were not reported. Statistics clearly illustrate that workplace violence is on the rise. The colloquialism “go postal” is an all too familiar refrain. It is a reminder of the volatility of the workplace. This modern-day phenomenon is being repeated with increasing and frightening regularity.
The present societal climate is such that every chief must look at the department’s mission statement and written policies from the perspective of finding ways to facilitate transforming the department into a “caring community” for its employees. The chief must thoroughly investigate behaviors and practices and make whatever changes are needed to effect this transformation.
William Ouchi spent years researching Japanese and American companies that used Japanese management styles for his book Theory Z. The fire service can successfully adapt many of the concepts, such as those listed below:
- The management style focuses on the people (department members).
- Employees remain with the company for life.
- There is a close relationship between work and social life.
- The worker’s goal to produce economic success nurtures togetherness.
- There is a participative approach to decision making. (Of course, the need for direct orders on the incident ground is recognized.)
The workforces of organizations using this system, Ouchi says, achieved a high level of commitment and production. The only truly committed worker is the satisfied worker. Job satisfaction is based on a myriad of factors and conditions. According to Frederick Herzberg, developer of the Hygiene Theory, the things that create and sustain worker satisfaction (true motivators) are inherent in the work itself. If workers feel that they are doing what is important and that they have an opportunity to achieve, they derive considerable satisfaction from the job. In addition, if they receive appropriate recognition for doing the job well and are rewarded with increased responsibilities and opportunities for advancement, they tend to be well satisfied and highly motivated. It is imperative that some new words, such as the following, be added to the fire service’s lexicon: nurture, edification, tact, and compassion. These words establish strong and caring leadership.
Brainstorming and incorporating suggestions from members will lend authenticity to the new training regimen. Incorporating suggestions from members will empower and motivate them to “buy into” the program. The new training should include plenty of formalized training.
Deputy Chief William Shouldis of the Philadelphia (PA) Fire Department writes: “Focus on the technical and human skills needed to maintain command and control of a fire company. The emphasis on this ‘roll-up-your-sleeves’ type of seminar is to improve the supervisor’s ability to be a problem solver. By making fire officers aware of common personnel problems through such instructional techniques as role playing and reviewing case studies, they will be able to spot inappropriate actions and efficiencies in their own management style.” (“The Art of Discipline,” Fire Engineering, March 1992.)
MAINTAINING A NURTURING ENVIRONMENT
Taking the above steps to build an environment helps a department to build employee satisfaction and improve worker performance and lessen the potential for worker morale problems that can erupt in acts of workplace violence. Among organizational factors that have contributed to workplace violence are the following:
- A weak or nonexistent policy against all forms of workplace violence.
- An absence of clearly defined rules of conduct.
- A lack of workplace violence training in the following:
- awareness of workplace violence,
- early warning signs,
- handling of ongoing emergencies, and
- prevention of workplace violence.
- Negligent human resource practices:
- hiring,
- training,
- supervision of employees,
- discipline of employees coupled with a disrespected disciplinary system (failure to be firm, fair, consistent, and predictable), and
- retention of employees.
- No “facility survival” training for employees.
- Ineffective or nonexistent reporting procedures for workplace violence or threats.
- No in-house employee counseling or support systems (employee assistance, peer support, conflict resolution, and so on).
- Failure to take immediate disciplinary action at the first indication of violence.
- Failure to monitor dangerous employees after disciplinary action (even termination).
- Failure to warn employees in the “zone of danger” of impending violence.
- No working relationship with local law enforcement for contingency planning.
- Poor or nonexistent media relations.
- Inadequate physical security.
- An autocratic or abusive management style.
- An atmosphere of indignity: tolerating bigotry, sexual harassment, disrespect, and intolerance.
- Serious unresolved workplace issues.
- Past workplace violence incidents.
- Events generating great stress.
- Poorly handled downsizing and layoffs.
- Increased workloads for remaining employees.
- Labor-management antagonism. (Larry Chavez, B.A., MPA, “Organizational Factors That Contribute to Workplace Violence,” Critical Incident Associates, Web site:
)
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Where does the fire service go from here? Chilling reports from Jackson, Mississippi, and Memphis, Tennessee, graphically reveal that the erosion of societal values has an impact on the fire service. The fire service is simply a microcosm of society that is susceptible to all the trends that influence the society-at-large. Dare to be in the vanguard of a movement that embraces a holistic approach to a better fire service. Keep in mind that the most important changes in the fire service have been met with resistance, says Assistant Chief Gary P. Morris of the Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department (Letters to the Editor, Fire Engineering, March 2000). He cites as examples the SCBA, introduced in the 1970s (“takes too long to put them on and slows down fire attack”), and the incident command system, which came on the scene in the 1980s (“you can’t control the fire by talking it to death”). Dare to be in the vanguard of a movement that embraces a holistic approach to a better fire service.
Additional References
- IFSTA Fire Department Company Officer, 3rd Edition.
- Robinson, Janet L., “10 Facts Every Employer and Employee Should Know About Workplace Violence. It May Save Your Life!” Exclusive to Smart Business Supersite, 1996.
MARC D. GREENWOOD, a 20-year veteran of the fire service, is a lieutenant and paramedic in the Akron (OH) Fire Department. He is a CPR instructor and is pursuing a degree in fire science at Pikes Peak Community College.
