Hello to all,
I'm starting this blog for several reasons. I'm letting go of all sensitivity and ego driven fear of mistakes that I've made in the past. Why? Because our profession is too dangerous for continued mistakes to be made.
First, I'd like to point out that I am no idiot. I am of at least average intelligence. My grammar, punctuation, and spelling may not support my last claim, but whatever. It's important to have a good grip on reality, and airing out 'dirty laundry' with this blog may help others avoid making similar mistakes.
This 'documentation' of screw ups started while I was undergoing training in officer development for work. There were limited days that I was approved for training on the drill field, and evolutions were clearly in short supply. I had to make the best of every moment that I had to learn. I wrote down all of the mistakes that I made during evolutions regardless of how small. I called it Lessons Learned and stored it away in a notebook. Here's the problem with that... Nobody else saw it. If nobody sees mistakes made, they never existed! Therefore, they could easily be repeated.
I wanted to set up a similar informational site for others to contribute within our own organization. When I presented the idea to my Battalion Chief, I was met with a resounding... 'humf'.... followed by awkward silence (Common theme throughout my employment with the city).
No more than THREE HOURS later, I was on the drill field doing a multi-company evolution. It turned into a COMPLETE disaster. The explanation for the breakdown came from the engineer on Engine 13 and made complete sense. As he was explaining what went wrong, my BC was standing nearby listening. We were the only ones around...
Just like me keeping all of my notes to myself, the lessons learned were forever lost. I again turned to my chief and asked if I could open up a discussion thread of some sort. Here was a perfect example of how people wont ever know what happened, and are destined to repeat it. Crickets... Well, now I'm doing it on my own. I don't need approval.
Is it liability? Is it fear? Fragile ego? Lack of accountability?
WHY ARE WE SO AFRAID TO IMPROVE?
I'm not. I'm airing out the laundry for all to see. Not just for my department, but yours too. Its time for us as professional firefighters to get real with ourselves, and stop trying to hide from progress. The first step of correcting a problem is to identify that you HAVE one.
As a firefighter, I was able to improve as an individual. I was responsible for myself. Now as a Captain, I'm responsible for more. A whole new group of mistakes will be made!
Opportunity. Growth. Success.
I'll try to post lessons learned, no matter how trivial. Some may be ridiculous. Some may spark some communication amongst you and your crew. Who knows?
If you find yourself reading occasionally and determining that I'm an idiot, I really don't care. Go enjoy your perfection. I hope it stays with you forever.
