KEEPING IT SAFE
BY ROBERT TUTTEROW
As many of us are aware, most fire departments are struggling with recruitment and retention. Even major metro departments that used to have thousands of people take their entrance exams are now seeing those numbers reduced by up to 90 percent.
There are several factors leading to this change. One that has caught my attention is the fact that in addition to firefighting being an inherently dangerous job, it is now seen as a very unhealthy one.
I will suggest that today’s parents might be discouraging their children to have an interest in the fire service because of health and safety factors. We know there are a lot of parents who discourage their young children from participating in football because of the likelihood of injury.
I think there is also a lack of work ethic among today’s youth, especially as it relates to manual work—thanks to way too much screen time. I also must acknowledge that there are a few exceptions to this lack of work ethic, as some of today’s youth are remarkable in what they do.
So, if the safety and health risks are a deterrent to recruiting new members, what can be done to change that? Can we wait on robots and AI to replace us? I am more skeptical about this happening than some. Some have suggested that we just quit talking about the job being risky and unhealthy. But, that is totally disingenuous.
Let’s use military jobs as a comparison. Clearly, there are inherent risks involved in enlisting in one of the military branches. If the data being reported are correct, the number of young people applying to the armed forces has increased in recent months after a period of decline. Perhaps there are things we can glean from this recent change without getting political. Though I do not have firsthand experience with current military technology, I understand it is quite robust and far superior to the technology we use in the fire service.
The advances in warfare technology are certainly far superior to what they used to be. Take a tour of Gettysburg for a perspective on the change in warfare technology. And, I would be remiss if I did not mention the discipline component of the military. While I do not propose a military type of discipline structure throughout the fire service, there are a lot of health and safety risks that would be minimized with the proper adoption of military discipline principles.
Following along with the military comparison, there is the parallel track that the fire service must be considered critical infrastructure. This includes its members, its fleet, its facilities, its equipment, and its training. And, it must be funded accordingly. The backbone of this infrastructure is the health and safety of its members. What is the emphasis on health and safety among those serving in the military? Think about that one for a long time.
We also need to do a better job of marketing what we do and how we do it. Appearance is important. We need to provide a look that creates a positive impression on our customers instead of focusing on making our own self-impression. As a former wise old civilian fire department employee once told me, “Firefighters dress and act to impress each other.”