BY STEPHEN MARSAR
KNOWING WHERE YOUR FIREFIGHTERS ARE DURING an incident is essential to being a good, safe, and effective leader. Knowing where they are in the “learning curve” is not as easy but can be just as important.
The learning curve is just that, a curve correlating the natural relationship between time in the company or department with the willingness to learn. Generally speaking, members with fewer than three years of service are high on the learning curve but members in the middle years sometimes start to wane. After some leveling off, senior members recover on the curve at a fast pace and start to climb higher as they recognize their responsibility toward the younger members and the company. Senior members have also gained from experiences where they’ve been challenged in their skills and knowledge, they usually have acquired the ability to “roll with the punches,” they’ve been enlightened through their experiences, and they recognize that most circumstances in the fire service come full circle.
THE LEARNING CURVE: PRACTICAL APPLICATION
We all know the types: the new firefighter who is like a sponge. He will read every piece of fire department literature he can get his hands on. He is eager and anxious to learn. He takes something away from even the most mundane of training sessions. He is high on the learning curve.
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The “know it all” and the “not-so-eager beaver,” on the other hand, present true challenges to the company or training officer. They are in the middle to low range on the curve and may seem difficult to reach or are even looked on as obstacles when attempting to teach new ideas or skills. However, they may turn out to be your greatest allies.
The “know it all” usually is the firefighter with a few years under his belt (generally five to seven years) who is just starting to feel confident in his abilities and knowledge. He is not afraid to show that he knows a thing or two, and this cockiness actually can be helpful. He can be used as an officer’s ally to organize and conduct the drill. Call on him to answer questions or to make important points throughout the session. Invite him to share his knowledge, but be careful not to let him steal the show or get into stories that might deviate from the topic. Keep him focused on the objectives.
I can recall one session in which I was giving an impromptu drill. My crew included a probationary firefighter and a firefighter in her second year. The topic was the ladder company roof position. The young firefighters were eating it up. Standing in front of the firehouse and looking at the tenements across the street, we discussed roof access, tool assignments, the order of priorities once you get to the roof, and what to do when the primary roof operations are completed.
I turned to my resident “know it all” and asked if he had anything to add. He posed a question to the group: “What is a fast and easy way to figure out the number of stories in a building?”
As I was a relatively new lieutenant, I was curious about the answer to this question. After all, I always felt stressed during my fire size-ups when I had to stop and count the number of stories using the windows on each floor, a chore that seemed to take forever at a working fire. After some input from the group, the “know it all” proudly stated that if the building in question has a front fire escape you can “simply count the number of stairs between balconies and add two (one for the ground floor and one for the top floor) and then you will know the number of stories in the building.” I thought this was a brilliant insight and one I still use to this day. The “know it all” definitely added to the drill and taught everyone a valuable lesson. It would have been a terrible missed opportunity if I hadn’t asked for his input.
The “not-so-eager beaver” cannot be easily categorized by longevity because this individual can be found within all levels of experience. This individual may be at an early stage of his firefighting career, and he may need a kick in the pants to be motivated.
It is easy to let this member slip through the cracks at drill time so that you don’t have to deal with him. However, you owe it to him and the rest of the crew to include all members and experience levels in every drill. The key to motivating the “not-so-eager beaver” is to conduct hands-on drills where skills are paramount over book-perfect knowledge.
During a recent hoseline basics drill conducted by a lieutenant, the nozzleman (who was known as a lazy loudmouth who hid his firefighter inadequacies behind his tough-guy façade) heard the drill topic and promptly dismissed himself, letting the lieutenant know (in no uncertain terms) that the drill was an interruption of “his” time. The lieutenant told him to go and sit at the housewatch so he would be able to conduct the drill without interruption.
Less than three hours had passed when the company responded first-due to an apartment fire. The noisy nozzleman failed to sweep the floor prior to advancing into the kitchen fire area. The nozzleman received second- and third-degree burns on both knees from the hot tile floor and water, and he required treatment at the burn center. The backup firefighter-with just a little more than 11 months in the company (and who listened at the earlier drill)-duck-walked into the same fire area on the same tile floor, took over the nozzle, swept the floor, and completed the final extinguishment of the fire after the “not-so-eager beaver” bailed out because his knees were burning. The lieutenant made the mistake of not including the nozzleman in the drill and let his insubordinate actions lead the way to his own burn injuries.
The lesson of this anecdote is that we don’t necessarily need firefighters who can recite verbatim the standard operating guidelines of the department. What we need-what the entire fire service needs-are firefighters who can perform tasks at a moment’s notice without hesitation and with minimal supervision.
FORMAL EDUCATION
Most educational literature refers to the psychological profiles of the above individuals. This literature offers suggestions about how to deal with them in an educational setting. However, in the fire service, there may not be as much of a need to analyze individual firefighter behavior as there is to simply recognize who the individuals are and how to get through to them. If you’ve ever studied Teaching Methodology or Methods of Instruction, the two personalities described above (“know it all” and “not-so-eager beaver”) are treated as individuals. A check-off sheet of tricks is provided to deal with each of them. That’s helpful, but what do you do when both of these individuals show up for a drill or are working the same shift?
That’s where imagination and ingenuity come in. As officers we cannot always come up with the best drill ever. Sometimes, there just aren’t enough time, energy, and props to go around. It can be easy to just “duck the drill period” when we don’t have something in mind, but this leads to complacency, and complacency can and has led to firefighter deaths and disasters. Remember, a good 45-minute, hands-on drill can be much more beneficial and enjoyable than a three-hour dissertation on fire behavior.
One such drill was conducted on search ropes. The objective was to teach firefighters a practical knowledge of distance knots (telling you the number of feet you are from the tied-off end of the rope) and directional knots (telling you which direction on the rope is the way out). We had each firefighter don full personal protective equipment (PPE) including SCBA and blacked-out face pieces. We simply rearranged the couches, tables, and chairs in the firehouse kitchen/sitting room and laid the rope around the room and under the table. One at a time, each member had to find the search rope (we directed them to the middle of the rope so they were unfamiliar with where they were in relationship to the door they came in). They were then told to find and “read” the next set of knots encountered, state out loud how far along the rope they were, and point in the direction of egress. This was challenging and actually fun for the firefighters (we broke only one lamp and one picture frame!) and quick and easy to set up for the officers. This was a successful drill.
SUCCESSFUL DRILL TECHNIQUES
There are a few easy techniques available to help run a successful drill.
When planning the drill, think about what it is that you want to teach or reinforce. Limit your topics to two or three key learning objectives (undoubtedly, others will creep in during the session, which is fine). Having a few “canned drills” in your back pocket that have been successful in the past is a huge plus, especially when the chief shows up to supervise.
- Set up the drill. At the start of the tour (or drill session), ask the members what they would like to train on. This serves two purposes: It lets each firefighter know that there will be a drill, and it gives them an opportunity to take an active role in the drill topic or scenario. Here is a helpful hint: Ask the members to choose something they’re not 100 percent comfortable with, a skill or task that-if the chief asked them to do it right this second-they would feel uncomfortable performing (they need to be honest with themselves here). This trick will help lead to productive learning.
- Use the senior members to assist or run the drill. Their knowledge and experience are invaluable. You will be showing the younger members how to emulate the positive attitude and enthusiasm of the senior firefighters, and you will be showing the senior firefighters that they are respected and a valued asset to the company/department.
- Ask everyone what they learned from the drill. One of my signature (and favorite) training techniques is to ask each member at the conclusion of the drill to name one thing that they’ve learned (don’t be afraid to mention a thing or two yourself-no one should ever stop learning in this profession). This tactic will make the members retain what they just learned, and it will reinforce the key topics (which hopefully match the learning objectives that you planned to get across).
Having a brief round-robin discussion at the kitchen table also is a productive way to reinforce what is learned during drills. Keep your drills short and sweet, and don’t be afraid to use the “K.I.S.S.” method (Keep It Simple Stupid). Firefighters absolutely benefit from daily drill periods. Officers also can benefit by recognizing where each member is in the learning curve, developing meaningful and inclusive drills to grab and keep the individual firefighter’s attention, and using your squad members to help conduct the exercise.
The basic question you should ask yourself is: Would you rather have a firefighter with 10 years of experience or a firefighter with one year’s experience times 10? You can make the difference. Learning in the fire service never stops!
STEPHEN MARSAR is a captain in the Fire Department of New York assigned to the 3rd Division in Manhattan. He previously served in Engine Co. 16 and Ladder Co. 7 and 11. He holds certifications as a national and New York State fire instructor, certified instructor coordinator, and Department of Health regional faculty member. He has a bachelor’s degree in fire science and emergency services administration and is an adjunct instructor at the FDNY Fire and CFR academies and the fire service/EMS academies of Nassau County, Long Island (NY). Marsar also serves on the FDNY’s incident management and critical incident stress teams.