Maintaining Knowledge and Initiative in your Crew

The Knowledge is There but the Initiative is Gone!

How as officers can we instill the knowledge and proficiency into our crews and create an environment where anything less will not be tolerated?

One way is to be technically and tactically proficient. Making sure your crew works the same call after call is to become involved in the educational process. Encourage extracurricular training on and off the job.

Don’t let the only formal training that either yourself or any member of the crew receives is from the academy. There is a huge wealth of knowledge all around. You just have to go and get it. Surround yourselves with other like minded professionals and network. Seek out seminars, read the trade magazines, and use the internet!

Remember every day can be used as a training day whether you are a volunteer or career firefighter!

Is there a Lack of initiative or a lack of knowledge?

Just like in any profession there are hard working dedicated members and there are those whose work ethic leaves a lot to be desired. Why is that? Let us examine, in my opinion why this happens.

When a new firefighter arrives at the station and the “probie” year(s) start that is when the journey truly begins. Yes, that firefighter has just graduated the academy and is chomping at the bit to prove what he or she has learned, but what happens when the honeymoon is over? Surely that firefighter hasn’t learned all there is to the job in one year.

Is that firefighter becoming lazy or is there just a lack of knowledge of what is expected?

Recruit the senior firefighters in the station to help you set the standard. If they are stagnant and not setting the proper example than what can you expect the rookie to do as well? We all tend to become products of our environment. This is one way of ensuring a fundamental breakdown of the entire crew; strive to never let this happen!

Initiative

Maintaining initiative is the firefighter’s personal responsibility, as an officer it’s your responsibility to encourage it. One of the best ways to prevent this from occurring is to train and drill every day. Make drills engaging and relevant to the mission of the company.

Sometimes we forget that the little things make all the big things better. Drill on the tasks that we perform regularly, improve on them until it becomes muscle memory. Every call can be critiqued and improved upon.

A great way to get the crew involved in training is to ask them to prepare a ten minute “show and tell” presentation on any tool of their choice on the apparatus. This will give them the confidence to educate others on a topic that is familiar. Build upon that and ask them to do the same for a tool that rarely gets used! Watch how that firefighter gains confidence in their presentation method and in turn will become more knowledgeable in that tool. In the end everyone gets trained and you might even learn something new!

“Let no mans ghost ever come back and say his training failed him.”

– National Fire Academy Quote

Cover Image:
DC Kalman of the Hackensack Fire Dept. (NJ) training probies on ladders.
Photo by: Lt. Justin Derevyanik PIO Hackensack Fire Department