Positive energy will flow like an electric current between all parties. On the other hand, if you are sincere and show caring and compassion to the team, they will return the favor. This will absolutely impact their performance. They will take that clue and this attitude most likely will perpetuate and more importantly resonate with them. If you come to work grumpy, displaying a long face and the personality of a rabid pitbull, do you think the people you work with will take notice? Of course. The difference is that you can not allow your bad day to influence the day your co-workers are going to have. Is this to say that you have to be having a great day every time you come to work? Not hardly. Their attitude will be a reflection of yours. The people that you work with will absolutely take the hint. Smiling and glad-handing will promote a calm and pleasant demeanor. The first five minutes of your shift do not belong to you. You have the ability to influence the next five hours. This refers to the first five minutes of the day. To that end, a good leader has to understand the importance of the first five minutes. This is just as important when not on a call. One look into the nature of the job reveals the need of one person being responsible for making decisions and maintaining accountability. Leadership is the essential function for all officers. Leadership courses offer a better solution and assistance with team building techniques. Courses on management deal with organization and proper record keeping. Training inevitably revolves around fire and EMS based skills. This information does not prepare officers with the interpersonal skills necessary to properly execute the job of supervisor. We can rattle off streets and hydrant locations and the friction loss equations for hoselines and gallons per minute we can flow with different nozzles. Actions have consequences, both positive and negative.Ī place that our training is lacking is in the firehouse. Time is of the essence and critical decisions have to be made with a clear vision of the conclusion of the incident. The reason these skills need to be so ingrained and applied in the first five minutes is because the remainder of the operation will be determined by the action of the first due companies. Command and control with role playing, tactical training and the lessons learned from reviewing National Institute of Occupation Standards and Health (NIOSH) line of duty death reports all add to our bag of tricks. All sorts of programs help hone these skills. Since the first due officer functions in this role for at least a little while, they need to be sharp. These are 'musts' as the incident commander. Reevaluate and constantly size-up the scene. Bring in ambulances, activate a rapid intervention team or withdraw personnel from the building. We must anticipate this and adjust as necessary. The scene unfolds and presents us with ever changing conditions. If rescues must be affected, there is an emotional component that must be controlled. Transmissions of additional alarms and managing the resources will challenge even seasoned veterans at times. Risk benefit analysis is the proper term for our scale that weighs the benefit of a risky aggressive fire attack against the safer defensive approach. Sequence and coordination are words that appear on our radar screens. As officers, we must not be so focused as to get tunnel vision and see things at the task level. Firefighters can die on the fireground even if they do everything right. We need to see the scene as a place where those under our charge can be hurt or killed. Putting water on the fire is only a small component of a larger picture. We also practice search and rescue while we crawl to the seat of the fire.Īs our career path progresses, we are forced to open our eyes. We tackle the lessons of first line placement, direct versus indirect attack and ventilation. The pressure placed upon the first actions forces us to prepare for them as early as recruit school. Safety and efficiency of extinguishment are directly proportional to the proper procedures being implemented right from the start. It is not unreasonable to think that these initial actions will directly influence the eventual outcome of the event. Decisions are made regarding tactics and assigning tasks. They need to make a determination about the needs, resources and strategies. This generalization places a great deal of importance on the first due officer to size-up the scene appropriately. It has been widely reported that the first five minutes determines how the next five hours will be spent on the fireground. The first five minutes of your shift do not belong to you, the officer They belong to your firefighters.
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