Diversity & Inclusion
Building fire and EMS departments that reflect and serve everyone.
Don’t Think the “Glass Ceiling” Exists for Women in Fire and EMS?
I find it truly sad and disappointing that in 2014 we still have politicians making such outrageously poor management decisions for their Seattle FD BCcommunity’s Fire and EMS protection. I look at this individual’s investment in herself and in her department, as well as her department’s investment in her, and I’m left shaking my head in dismay.
Being a Firefighter Shouldn’t Mean Getting Raped
The military services of the United States are not the only organizations that are plagued by sexual harassment and sexual assaults that include rape toward their female members. We have a similar problem in the fire service in the United States as well.
We Don’t Need Sensitivity Training…We Need More Leadership Training
Gender violence issues. Did you know that researchers have found that when a large percentage of both men and women hear those three words, what they really “hear” is “woman’s issues.”
A Healthy Discussion about Diversity in the Fire Service
In response my previous post, What’s Your Plan for an Inclusive and Diverse Department to Increase Service and Safety?, I received a lengthy letter from a fire service colleague that posed several thought-provoking questions. Below are the contents of that letter. (WK is the letter writer; RPA is me).
Dignity in the Workplace: It’s a Leadership “Thing”
From reading accounts, both on and off line, it is evident that too many fire officers still don’t “get it” when it comes to dignity in the workplace. I believe that is one of the fundamental factors in this ongoing blight on the profession that many of us hold near and dear to our hearts: we still have too many officers who don’t manage their fire station like a workplace in 2013.
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
Photographs and other imagery that predominantly portray female firefighters as sexual objects first, and firefighters second, communicates a very powerful “marketing message” whether men and women in the fire service choose to accept it or not. (Don’t think so? Just ask any marketing professional “worth their salt” what they think).
Important Changes/Trends in the Fire Service
Was wondering if you could do me a favor and list what you believe to be the most significant changes/trends in the past 10 years of the fire service.
Role Models for Recruiting, Hiring and Retaining the Right People
Think it’s not important to your efforts to recruit, hire and retain the right people? Here’s an Fire Prevention Demoanecdote from one of my fire service colleagues on Facebook, Firefighter Irene Silknetter Fitzkee, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania:
What’s Your Plan for an Inclusive and Diverse Department to Increase Service and Safety?
The solution for an inclusive and diverse fire department is NOT just recruiting more women and people of color. The SOLUTION is recruiting the RIGHT people—qualified, inclusive, diverse and safety-conscious. And yes, that includes the RIGHT white males who understand why an inclusive and diverse department increases service and safety. Recruitment is not just getting more people to apply and show up for the test. Successful recruitment is the first level of the screening process.