CADET ADJUSTMENT PROGRAM BY
TRAINING NOTEBOOK
Whenever a small business, large corporation, or branch of government decides it is cost-effective to expand its workforce, it hires new employees. Such a decision always sets in motion a vast array of challenges, and response-oriented agencies are no exception.
Hiring fire service employees used to be a relatively ritualistic task. Many historians can tell of times when local fire chiefs would appoint friends and relatives. However, today’s legalistic society demands stricter accountability than societies in the past. Civic leaders are more responsible in creating equal opportunities for all populations of the community-and rightfully so.
Depending on the perspective, hiring changes can be an asset or a threat. The diversification of the workforce has resulted in many creative individuals’ becoming “first-generation” emergency responders. These changes are leading the fire service to a higher level of professionalism, providing role models in all segments of the community and gathering muchneeded political support during these “lean” budgetary times.
Conversely, some staunch fire service members find themselves frustrated by and impatient with the “outsider” who has no background in the nostalgic “fire service family” with its rules, regulations, practices, and procedures. Wisely, most combination and career fire departments still rely on a standard hiring approach that includes a competitive written examination, a background investigation, a thorough medical evaluation, and an oral interview prior to appointment. But is this enough to integrate a new worker, often unaware of our style of glamour and glory, into a new occupation that offers a bizarre work schedule and stress-filled lifestyle?
THE PROGRAM
The Philadelphia (PA) Fire Department (PFD) felt that the traditional employee-screening efforts should be only the beginning of the orientation program. “New age” employees, the department reasoned, need an indepth and formal process that interprets organizational values, explains departmental expectations, charts tangible progress, and discusses the cultural environment the novice must enter.
In February 1992, the PFD adopted a special “in-house” program that provides for regular quantifiable and qualifiable evaluation during the 13week recruit training period. Its goal is to identify new employees who perform unsatisfactorily so that they will not be “carried” at the expense of recruits whose performance is satisfactory, but who may be “washed out” ue to miscommunication and unfamiliarity with the inherent regimentation and demands of the fire service.
The program, known within the PFD as the Cadet Adjustment Program (C.A.P.), is overseen by a team consisting of a chief officer from the Training Division, the employee relations officer, and the captains of EMS and training. These core members meet on a cyclical basis. Meetings are scheduled for two weeks before the beginning of cadet classes, biweekly during the training phase, before any field assignments are given, and after the cadets graduate. During the period when cadet training is not scheduled, the group collects data on contemporary personnel issues, reviews orientation programs in other organizations, and becomes informed on current judicial decisions regarding employment practices-all in an effort to continuously strengthen this “homegrown” program.
The program grew out of occurrences within the department during the late ’80s and early ’90s, when it experienced an unusually high turnover rate due to disciplinary problems. An objective of the program is to help recruits with and without military experience to adapt to the regimentation of a high-profile, ruleoriented organization.
The C.A.P. is engineered to avoid embarrassing and costly wrongful termination liabilities by making available a straightforward and easy-tocomprehend document covering the requirements for hiring, training, and retention. Individual counseling sessions designed to provide two-way communication in a solid and nonpretentious way are encouraged and can be initiated by a staff instructor or a cadet. These interactions provide the trainer with an opportunity to clearly define deficiencies in the cadet’s behavior or technical skills and provide the trainee with an opportunity to explain a particular concern in a proactive way. Cadets are evaluated on their academic scores, attendance record, conduct on and off duty, personal appearance, and adherence to the published training curriculum.
Under the Philadelphia system, labor, management, instructors, and the chiefs of major bureaus are introduced during indoctrination sessions. The employee relation officer also explains the C.A.P. during these sessions, providing concrete examples of the actions that would justify immediately dismissing the cadets.
TRAINING
Scholastic training begins with the use of manuals prepared within the department and published textbooks. As an important first step, the newest members concentrate on prehospital patient care and qualifying as emergency medical technicians so they can serve in one of the “basic life” medicunits on a rotating basis.
At this time, the PFD is authorized to operate 25 medical units, 20 of which are staffed by paramedics. The five remaining units use EMTs. In addition, at least one EM I’ is assigned to each fire suppression unit so that all 61 engine and 30 ladder companies can respond to “first-responder” medical calls.
Statistics show that many cadets develop academic problems during the intensive medical modules. Most rookies have the inner desire or the “right” attitude but have difficulty classifying, organizing, and memorizing the necessary terms and protocols required to do “street medicine” in a large urban setting.
Often, the cadet’s home environment-with children, extended families, or elderly parents-is not conducive to good study habits. To effectively combat this dilemma, arrangements are made to have the local library set aside a conference room where groups of cadets can meet during off-duty evening and weekend hours to share ideas, classroom notes, and study materials. This approach proved so successful with the latest class of 165 cadets that it was the only class in the 122-vear history of the FFD to have 100 percent of its members certified as EMTs by the state of Pennsylvania without the need for retesting.
Although academics is the leading category in which student firefighters need help, other common problem areas identified by the C.A.P. committee include disagreements over severance pay between new employees and their past employers, inadequate short-term cash flow, injuries that are not work-related, unfamiliarity with traditional fire station ethics (details, meals, house money, etc.), transportation, and carpooling arrangements.
Bureau of National Affairs figures published in its 1993 Spring/Summer newsletter revealed that former employees filing wrongful discharge lawsuits have increased a hundredfold in the past 10 years, with employers having been rendered unfavorable judgments in 64 percent of jury verdicts. In addition, the Employers Resource Group has announced that the average cost to settle a wrongful termination dispute is slightly more than S733,000. Planning, teamwork, and careful documentation will allow fire service instructors to design innovative programs for trainees requiring additional support or assistance.
As fire officers, the power to be agents of change lies within ourselves. Specific and measurable criteria on a trainee’s behavior and job performance arc vital to a training officer’s effectiveness.
Being a fire officer in the ’90s means facing many complex and confusing issues. Improved communication is the key to resolving them. Having members willing to share their knowledge, skills, and energy to attack organizational problems is a tribute to the excellence of a department.
C A P. has helped the firefighters recently hired in Philadelphia to make that “quantum leap” from ordinary citizen to emergency responder. A similar “low risk/high yield” format could help the future firefighters of your community to understand their multidimensional role.
