Fire Service Management
Running a fire and EMS organization: management science, legal issues, risk and customer service.
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.
What is the Fire Service Culture?
It’s like the weather: everyone talks about it. “It” is the culture of the fire service in the United States of America. We hear it, we see it (in print and on-line), and we talk about it. Lately, what’s most prominent in this communication is: We need to change the fire service culture.
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).
A Perspective: “Old School” Blends with “New School”
So the next time you get the chance to “talk shop” with an old firefighter, just remember that what you hear may help you to get "old" one day. I'm not trying to preach, just offering what I think is some good advice. Be safe out there guys!
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.
Let’s Review: The Fire Services Financial Management Model
Not so fast! Are you still telling your stakeholders what YOU need or are you telling them what THEY need? In his best seller, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, the late Stephen Covey calls this “seeing the issue from the other person’s frame of reference and crafting your message so that it comes back to them through their frame of reference.”
The 3rd “P” of Marketing: Promotion
Growing up most of us have probably been told, “You only get one chance to make a good first impression”! This is also true in the market place for any business, organization or individual.
What’s your department’s funding strategy?
Let’s “cut to the chase”, shall we? We've got many paradigms in the fire service that we need to “break" and one of them is how we seek resources to get the job done.
Why are We Entering Burning Structures With Too Few Firefighters?
Is your department consistently faced with an inadequate number of qualified and properly equipped firefighters arriving at the scene of a structure fire? Are your people launching an interior fire attack solo, or with only another member with them? (We know this is happening every day in the USA, don't we).
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:
An Open Memo to Everyone Who Staff the Radios and Telephones…
Here’s your chance to contribute to the effort. What are the problems or issues or challenges (whatever you want to call them) in your field that need improvements, improvements for which evidence-based research could provide the best solutions?
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.