Ten Commandments for the Fire Service

Many fire departments around the country seem to be drifting aimlessly through the world. They drift thither and yon, not really knowing what to do where to go and how to act. These issues and many other came to the fore during a recent seminar which was held at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia.
The Cumberland Valley Volunteer Fireman's Association (CVVFA) held an all-day seminar on the topic of Reputation Management. This educational endeavor dealt with a topic frequently overlooked by the fire service; reputation management. If you think about it, we have complete control over the image which our fire agencies project to the citizens we protect. Unfortunately we ignore this control factor and stumble about making waves wherever we go.
Unfortunately, many among us take great pains to move through life without any sort of plan to present a proper image to the public; the people who are paying the tab for our mission. Many times we in the fire and emergency service world are our own worst enemies. You and I are all know people who seem to do stupid things whenever they are provided with an opportunity to strut their stuff. These folks play the role of the dumb-ass seemingly just because they can.
After a day spent in a full-group learning assembly and small group breakout sessions, our attendees came to the conclusion that people around the United States are in need of a single set of operational guidelines. Someone in the audience said something that hit my mind and stuck.
That person's thought caused me to say quite simply that it sounded as though that person was suggesting that the fire service needed their own Ten Commandments of Organizational Conduct. Part of the debate centered around the right of any one person to dictate to other people how they should act.
Many people were concerned about the external imposition of standards. Heck, we live in a world of standards, all of which see to shape our performance in one way or another. If we can have standards which dictate how we are to perform the operational tasks of being a firefighter, why not a standard on the ways in which we should treat each other.
Then it came to me. Write them yourself, I thought. So here they are. Please stay with me here folks because I am about to lay a philosophical ground work for many, many future discussions. These are just my thoughts folks. Nothing is cast in concrete, but I think that they each deserve consideration. Perhaps they can form the foundation of a new and more vibrant 21st Century model for being a member of the fire service.
1. Every firefighter has a right to feel safe in their environment.
2. Every firefighter has a right to expect fair treatment.
3. Every firefighter has a right to expect honesty from their department.
4. Every firefighter has an obligation to care for their fellow firefighters.
5. Every firefighter has an obligation to train diligently, both as an individual and as a team member.
6. Every firefighter has a right to expect well-trained and capable leadership.
7. Every firefighter shall owe a duty of obedient follower-ship.
8. Every firefighter's words must serve as their bond.
9. Every firefighter shall owe a debt of service to the people that they have sworn to protect.
10. No firefighter shall expect any special benefit or privilege because of the gift of service they give to their community.
Now, let me take a moment to fill in the blanks on each of my suggested commandments. When I state that every firefighter has a right to feel safe in their environment, I mean that we must stop needlessly endangering our people by exposing them to preventable, unsafe acts. I am sick and tired of the outdated and overused philosophy of the fire service which revels in the glory of death. There is nothing that says we have to die to prove how tough and brave we are.
Every firefighter has a right to expect fair treatment. This is not a hard thought to justify. Let us cast a weather eye toward the philosophy which we now call the Golden Rule. It has its origins within the Bible and gives each of us the best possible guidance for dealing with other people. Simply stated I would urge you to treat other people as you yourself would like to be treated. Do you like being harassed? Do you like being teased or mistreated? Do you like to be picked on? I do not know about you, but I sure as heck don't like to be treated that way. See my friends, this is not rocket science.
Every firefighter has a right to expect honesty. None of us likes to be the victim of mushroom management. I do not know about you but I am not pleased when someone works to keep me in the dark and keeps offering up cow plop hors des oeuvres. Just tell me what you would like to see and provide a couple of good justifications for me and let me get to work.
Every firefighter has an obligation to care for their fellow firefighters. They need to operate safely so that they do not become a sudden burden to their buddies. They must also take care to point out the hazards of the environment to their fellow members. They need to be candid and honest in their interactions. Better to have an accident prevented than a funeral planned.
Every firefighter has an obligation to train diligently, both as an individual and as a team member. This obligation is the basis for effective team building. Each member of the team must be trained to the level necessary to perform all necessary and expected operational tasks. If a person fails to take their training requirements seriously, they have the potential to become the weak link in their organization's operational chain. You and I know what happens to the weak link in chains when the weight and stress of the emergency comes.
Every firefighter has a right to expect well-trained and capable leadership. Many of you might doubt the importance of this, but not I. Far too many of our problems come from the habits practiced by the myriad of poor leaders among us. My research on the topic of leadership over the past several years has led me to one inescapable conclusion. Bad leaders kill people and bad leaders kill organizations. Every firefighter has the most basic of rights to expect that their leaders will know what they are doing and will work to get them home safely.
One part of the organizational equation which is frequently overlooked involves the requirement for people to understand that there is a need for loyal and capable followers. People are always praising leaders and ignoring followers. We, as a fire service, need to elevate and celebrate the role of the follower.
People in subordinate positions must be able to process and complete the orders provided by those people who are in positions of leadership.
This follower-ship development program is easier to achieve when the concerned, caring, and capable leader is able to create an atmosphere of support and loyalty. What I am proposing here is the thought that there is a leadership-follower-ship equation which requires the active participation of all parties. Ignore this at your own peril.
Every firefighter's word must serve as their bond. How can we ever hope to develop an atmosphere of trust if we are always looking over our shoulder wondering whom to trust? The twin concepts at work here are honesty and integrity. A student once asked me to define each. My response to that person was quite simple. Honesty always involves doing the right thing. Integrity involves always doing the right thing, even when no one is watching. My friends it truly is that simple. Imagine the strength of an organization whose members never have to worry about selfish motives.
Far too many people in today's fire service suffer from the crippling disease of selfishness. There is an inward organizational focus. For these people it is all about getting things for the members. There motto is quite simple. "It's all about me." The heck with the citizens we are sworn to serve. I would suggest that if we are to create a strong, community-oriented organization, we must begin to live the example of selfless service to others. This will not simply happen. The people must be taught by the example of their leaders. When the leader-follower equation begins to develop along these lines great things will begin to happen. This is a tremendous goal, but one which can only come about as the result of a conscious, active effort to reach it.
Sadly, I see a world which has grown seemingly more selfish over time. I believe that there are people out there in our fire service who think that they should be showered with special gifts and special privileges just because they are firefighters. This is a special form of selfish behavior. These are the people who believe that they should be allowed to drive as fast as they want and not get tickets.
These are the folks who believe themselves to be exempt from the laws of physics and gravity. These are the people who believe themselves smarter than others. In the volunteer fire service these are the people who insist on muttering the ludicrous phrase, "you can't tell me what to do, I am a volunteer." In the career service, these are the people who depend upon the system to protect the weaklings and malcontents.
Do not get me wrong here folks. There is nothing wrong with providing benefits to those who perform the dirty and dangerous work of the fire service. I enjoyed excellent union-negotiated contractually-protected benefits when I was in the Newark Fire Department. As a long-time volunteer in the Adelphia Fire Company, I participate in our Length of Service Award Program (LOSAP). But none of this entitles me to break the law and act like an ass because of what I do.
You and I do what we do for reasons best known only to ourselves. Let me offer one of the primary reasons I have identified. See if it applies to you. When I am doing the interviews for my municipal consulting work, I always ask the following question: What do you like the most about being a department member? Without a doubt the primary answer revolves around one primary thought: the feelings of camaraderie, friendship, and family.
Let this feeling of family and inclusion be the goal for which we all strive. Let these ten commandments of fire service conduct serve as the luminaries which line the path along which you move. Let their light guide you in ways of truth, honesty, and dedication to serve your fellow travelers in the fire service. If there is to be an effective fire service in the 22nd Century we must work on these commandments every moment of every day.