Increasing the Fire Department's Influence

Seven Areas of Focus for the Fire Chief

Extend The Summer.* Motor vehicle accidentsThese are the logical steps you must take in any emergency. They were initially created for fire-related emergencies, but times are changing. We all know (or should know by now) that fires and firerelated emergencies are now a smaller percentage of the average fire department's workload. We need to broaden our thought processes to the widest possible range of emergencies that our fire department may be called on to handle. Here are just a few for your consideration:- For protection from the mid-day sun and those long hot days - add a trellis or pergola overhead. Umbrellas and awnings will also do the trick and shade you and your guests as well.July 19-23, 2011Team-building starts with the person riding the right-front seat. So too does a successful emergency operation. You may be a rookie or a veteran, a permanent or an acting officer. You may not even be with your regular crew. Regardless, it is up to you to get the job done safely. When riding the right-front seat, you have a short time within which to succeed or fail. How you do is up to you.- Cooking: Outdoor kitchen or simple barbeque area.- If budget and space allows, keep the indoor/outdoor traffic to a minimum and install a sink, refrigerator and even dishwasher, and extra space to store your outdoor tableware.Helping future chief officers become aware of these focus areas can also help with their own professional and personal development Take the time to do the assessment for yourself and encourage future chief officers to do the same. Bottom line, doing this can strengthen the current and future political and operational capability of the fire department - in good times as well as in the more difficult times.* Employees - Interacting directly with the members of the fire department is important to the fire chief and should be a priority. Depending on the size of the fire department, this can be difficult. Making the effort to periodically meet with the members of the department can send a very positive message. Showing the desire to do so can be as important to the members as the reality of the chief being able to do it regularly. This can be as simple as scheduling opportunities to meet, responding to major emergency incidents, and other ways the fire chief can display concern and respect for the members of the department and what they do.Possessing knowledge of fire and how it behaves is essential to your development as a firefighter and critical to success as a fireground leader. How can you attack a fire properly if you have no idea what fire is, how it behaves and how it travels? You must be able to recognize the potential for a variety of fuel packages within a building or compartment. This forms a critical part of your size-up. If you do not have this information, how can you possibly estimate the fire growth potential for that space or the building as a whole?By HARRY R. CARTER, PH.D.* Where do I have to stop it?- Entertaining/Dining; Dining area, fireplace or firepit.* Elected officials - Almost every resource a fire chief gets to operate the fire department comes to the organization because a group elected officials "yes" on a request and/ or an issue. With that kind of political influence and power over the fire department being the reality, it is imperative that fire chiefs build and maintain good working relationships with their elected officials. This can be a challenging goal for many reasons. In fact, depending on the jurisdiction's rules and regulations, the ability of the fire chief to interact with elected officials can be limited in some ways. It is important that these relationships be built primarily on a basis of professionalism and communication with the goal of making the fire department as successful as possible.

BALTIMORE, MD

Author: Compton, Dennis