The fire service should be one of the best careers a person should have. Yes it is often a mystery why we running into burning buildings where other people are running out. It is a sense of bravery, determination and will. Firefighters always look forward to “slaying the dragon,” as fire is referred to in a fire house. But fire fighting in the south has taken a backseat to the new kid on the block which is medical calls. The bottom line is this a career in which people get into to help others and to provide the best outcome possible in dangerous situations whether it be a raging fire or a serious medical injury. The problem with this is the standard of excellence is starting to decline. The reason is due to the three factors I have note previously and I will look into explaining each. Lets first look into rookie firefighters. They are often new young men and women looking to develop their first career in life. They are fresh out of the fire academy, Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) school, Paramedic school or a combination of both. They are wet behind the eyes looking for guidance with hunger in their eyes. No wait that is what they should look like. Instead most of the time these individuals come into the service thinking they know everything at hand because they have been through school though they lack on the street experience. They are called Generation X. These Generation X individuals have a different outlook on self expectations and respect for authority. (Goblet 2013) The become what we call 6-22s, six months on the job acting as if they have been there for 22 years. Unlike previous generations with discipline and structure this one lacks both. Not all individuals but the majority of them. They feel everything is owed to them. They have already earned it. They don’t realize this profession is an ongoing learning process. Simply stated they are lazy. How do we fight this problem with the traditionalists and baby boomers cycle of administration coming to an end allowing this downfall in transition? (Goblet 2013) The answer is mentoring before it is too late. We need to reach out to those individuals who are wanting to be the best at what they do. Locate the ones that will redefine pride within the fire service. Look for the sponges who are looking learn from the experience and knowledge of their fellow leaders. (Goldfeder 2013) Continuing education is a common problem within the fire service as firefighters fail to continue their education once getting hired. (Hamrick 2013) Firefighters feel they have learned it once therefore they are done learning. What they fail to realize is fire dynamics, building construction and fire fighting tactics are always changing.
(Hamrick 2013) This is where the next issue comes into play. Leadership. The fire service will forever be evolving therefore you need to teach others before time runs out. If a leader performs their best, others around them will perform at their best.
( Hamrick 2013) That requires constant self improvement no matter how many years an individual has on the job. You are only as strong as your weakest crewmember. We all have our strengths but the true goal should be strengthening your weaknesses. Practice and training along with continuing education will help to breed success. If you are a leader and you do not take updated fire classes why would you except your crewmembers to do so. A leader should set the example. They are the model in which others should follow. Other fire personnel will agree with some of the ways a leader does things while frowning upon others. But constantly challenging others to find their own path and become better is what a leader should strive for. To provide a brighter future leaders must groom individuals for better success. Leaders should attempt to avoid future mistakes by teaching others from their own experiences of the past. (Goldfeder 2013) These types of change will embrace a positive future that can become a foundation of tomorrow. My opinion on this is, you always need to be looking forward. What I mean by this is, throughout the time in the fire service you will naturally decline. Your physical condition will start to fail. The service is a young mans game. You start to work more off of experience and tactical knowledge rather than brute strength and power. You exercise your mind from previous like incidents. When you can no longer influence or teach others because you have stopped teaching yourself its time to get out. At this point you have nothing left to offer. Part of being a great leader is knowing when your reign is over and you step aside leaving way for others to continue to path you have set. This will flow into the path of brotherhood and passing on the tradition from yourself to the next wave of fore service personnel. The tradition of the fire service should continue for the passing of one generation to another. It will define what the future should look like with a vision. (Goldfeder 2013) You will have personalities that clash while others will be unbreakable bonds. At the end of every shift the goals is to go home safe to your families. While helping others is our duty personal safety is top priority. The band of brotherhood has taken recent hits with this new wave generations. The brotherhood only exists when it is convenient or when it benefits that individual. (Hamrick 2013) The off duty bonding that goes on after a shift is over has become a thing of the past. For spending so much time together year in and year out little is done outside the bay doors. Personal connections outside the fire service has been lost. In today’s society everyone has some other responsibility whether it be a secondary job or their own family. (Hamrick 2013) We are in such a rush we fail to take time with the ones who do the most to look out for our own safety. These people have become a part of your family whether you want them to or not. So, in return shouldn’t we make more leisure time to spend with these individuals. You experience some of the most thrilling, gruesome and heart wrenching situations with these people. You will laugh and cry with one another. But the mentality is changing to a “me” society rather than an us. Taking an employee under your wing and leading them become a productive employee is failing. Why because they are seen as competition. Competition use to breed motivation to be the best but this is an area in the fire service in which it is back firing. No one wants to share with their coworker fearing they will pass them by. The brotherhood has stopped. I will give you an example of what I mean. Lets take two individuals of equal rank. We will talk about two firefighters hired within one year of each other. They have both taken the proper steps to become acting drivers. Along their paths they have always helped one another getting to that point. As time passes a driver/engineer test is coming up. Those two same individuals that have always pushed each other along the way to get where they are have stopped doing so. They no longer study together pushing one another to be better than the other or find something they can both improve on. They now have become rivals severing a relationship that was once very strong. The competition runs until the testing process is complete. Once things are over they do not return to normal until promotions are made and the relationship stays crippled due to the recent events. What ever happened to challenging yourself by challenging others. If you are the best candidate you will succeed in the end. It may not be this time but maybe the next. You can find your weaknesses and continue to improve on them creating the best possible employee you can be. Ultimately providing the best service you can for the citizens within your response area. As you can see these three areas within the fire service need a change of mentality. If not this will continue to be an area of turmoil. Rather than correcting the problem we will just be adding to it. By doing so the standard of the industry will be compromised and what was once an honorable profession will be tarnished by its future. None of these areas are too far gone but actions needs to take place as soon as possible. So now the questions would be how can these issues taken on by individuals to change the direction of the fire service? like myself. It will take effort, time, dedication and hard work but it can be done. The first action that needs to be addressed is ones own mentality. For change to be created you must change. Our industry is comprised of fire and medical. It forces one to be dual training in multiple areas to be the best at their job. Change can occur at all levels firefighter, driver, company officer and administration. To be a team you must create a team atmosphere. Each individual has their own personality but you must find something in common to bridge that relationship. It can be as simple as incorporating something as family time. Take one hour a shift for everyone to unplug and do something as a crew outside from regular day to day duties. This can be playing cards, playing basketball or watching an on running series on the television. During this type of activity you set aside everyone’s differences and find a common bond with one another. This will help to alleviate the lack of brotherhood. Bonds and common interest will be formed. No matter how busy your life is on and off duty take this time to spend it with your fellow coworkers. This promotes good mental and physical health. Next is to education yourself. I have learned throughout the course of my career do what you can to put yourself in a position to succeed. On the job training is second to none but classroom education will help you rise to the top. In today’s fire service you don’t see a Chief without education credentials. This is also become more common in the rank of all company officers. By maintaining a balance of both you will promote to where you can guide others. Along your path of educating yourself, educate others. The more you do and show others will help for education to spread like wild fire. Bring back modern methods that you learn about that are used in EMS and Fire. By sharing what you learned with others helps them to continue to grow and may lead them to being more proactive on their own. Embrace change. This industry changes everyday and we are always attempting to catch up. We are the only business that strives to put ourselves out of business on the fire side of things by enforcing such high fire preventions practices. Continue to grow with the industry rather than outgrow it. When it is your time as leader seize the opportunity. No matter what rank designation that is: Driver/Engineer, Company Officer, etc. Always remember rank designation does not make you an effective leader. ( Goldfeder 2013) You can be a leader at any position. Mentor those employees under you pushing them to new limits as well as pushing yourself. Ultimately you will be judge on your productivity, your actions and your representation of your department. The majority of this work will rely on strong leadership through the company officer. It is the job of a company officer to make sure his crew is always ready for the job. (Hamrick 2013) This will be accomplished through practice and training exercises. If an individual refuse to follow a guide path set forth for them by an office; the officer must make accommodations to enforce those practices for that employee. Not every employee will be proactive in their career but a minimum standard but be set forth and achieved by each and every employee. This is an industry where we all will make mistakes but the key is to learn from those mistakes and avoid making future ones. (Goldfeder 2013) We need to take responsibility for our mistakes and realize none of us are perfect. We should all work as team looking out for one another. Often we would go to extremes to die for one another on the fire ground without thinking twice. That time of mentality is what helps preserve the traditions of the past leaving way to creating an even brighter future. This is a work in process and the time is now. We all need to stand up and start making change. Taking it day by day shift by shift. Helping to restore the tradition, brotherhood and leadership within the fire service. Showing others what is expect and nothing less will be accepted.

Goblet, George. (2013, February 5) Rookies Don't Know How to Act Like Rookies Anymore: Mentoring to Overcome Generational Differences. Retrieved from http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/2013/02/mentoring-to-overcome generational-differences.html
Goldfeder, Mark. (2013, March 18.) Learning from Past Mistakes: Leadership from the Other Side of the Desk. Retrieved from http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/2013/03/learning-from-past-mistakes-- leadership-from-the-other-side-of-t.html
Hamrick, Martin. (2007, July 5.) Brotherhood: Passing on Fire Service Tradition. Retrieved from http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/2007/07/brotherhood- passing-on-fire-service-tradition.html