On behalf of your Washington Fire Administrative Support (WFAS) Board and Committee Members, we would like to acknowledge your hard work, dedication and commitment to the fire service and the work that you do. We all play an integral part in the departments we work for and the communities we serve, but perhaps don’t always get the acknowledgement that goes along with it. I hope everyone feels valued for their efforts and feels the support of your network of peers within the WFAS Section. Enjoy your day and I am so excited to see 96 of you in Walla Walla at our annual conference next week!

Ashley Becker, WFAS Section Chair

During today's Opening Ceremony of FDIC International 2018, Cobb County (GA) Firefighter Rusty Brown was presented with the Ray Downey Courage and Valor Award for his role in a 2017 rescue.

Firefighter Brown went above and beyond the call of duty during the incident at High Falls State Park (READ FULL ACCOUNT). He was picked for a mission that was unknown until his arrival. For this, he was unanimously picked by the Courage and Valor Foundation Selection Committee as the recipient of the 2018 Ray Downey Courage and Valor Award.  

The Ray Downey Courage and Valor Award pays tribute to the memory of firefighters who were lost on 9/11/2001 by presenting an award that memorializes the name and legacy of Fire Department of New York Deputy Chief Ray Downey, one of the greatest fire service leaders of our time. The award is a medal and a check for $35,000.

In his “Straight Talk” keynote address this morning at the Opening Session, Daniel DeGryse, director of the Rosecrance Florian Program and a battalion chief in the Chicago (L) Fire Department, celebrated the fact that Mental Health was now a prominent topic at FDIC International. He advised audience members to get on their cellphones and, “Send the message that it is okay to talk about this issue at home, at work, and at FDIC.”

DeGryse’s objective was to share with the audience how to “think better, feel better, and be better.” He noted that it took decades and the courage and initiative of many predecessors to bring about advancement in fireground tactics, structural firefighting gear, and equipment. As far as mental health awareness and education are concerned, the fire service is now [quoting Chief Bobby Halton] “at the beginning of the beginning.”

He explained: “Our career, like a career in the police and military, will change us and affect the person who entered the academy excited, anxious, proud, and willing to do the job.  We will repeatedly witness and experience trauma in ways that everyday citizens do not.” He quoted Jeffery Denning, a decorated war hero and the author of Warrior SOS: “Whether there are subtle changes or drastic ones, no warrior views life the same after engaging in the things of battle.”

Part of the problem, he added, is that fire service members are not taught how to process the disturbing sights of victims and observers and their reactions or their own reactions to such experiences. “Our mission to protect life and property can come with a price on our mental well-being that affects all aspects of our lives. Everyone in this room can close their eyes at any moment and picture a scenario they experienced in their career and the feelings attached to it.

“We need to modify the thoughts and perceptions of being the tough, rugged, strong, and resolute individuals and what that means,” DeGryse asserted. “It is difficult to completely pursue leadership, have pride on the job, and strive to be our best selves unless we first address our mental health.” He asked audience members to “use your personalities, experiences, and characteristics in a way that promotes well-being for all of us. Model behaviors useful to your success; demonstrate vulnerability, encourage others to do the same, and mentor those around you as you see opportunity.” The fire service, DeGryse said, is “learning that we are physically, mentally, and emotionally affected by our experiences, and we need to acknowledge this and take direction on how to address it.”

Modeling, Vulnerability, and Mentoring

DeGryse advocated that fire service members engage in “modeling,” is a form of learning in which individuals ascertain how to act or perform by observing another individual. He pointed out that it is just as important to assess for fitness of duty every individual standing beside them each day as it is to inspect their gear, tools, and equipment. Supervisors, he said, should engage their coworkers and subordinates as part of their morning duties—ask, “How are you doing?” And, he cautioned, “really mean it.” It should be a greeting to which you anticipate a response.  He offered an example of how a simple greeting can become a meaningful encounter. All—from the candidate to the chief--are responsible for the direction in which your physical and mental health are heading, DeGryse said. “I ask you to be a model and walk the walk we are discussing today. Let’s lead by example and model the behaviors we want to see in our coworkers.”

Addressing vulnerability, DeGryse said it is not comfortable to talk about being susceptible to physical or emotional attack or harm, and fire service training teaches that how not to be vulnerable or to put yourself or your team at an unreasonable risk. “I believe differently,” he countered. “We should make an effort to be emo

Chief Bobby Halton, editor in chief Fire Engineering/FDIC International education director, bolstered the energy and passion of the audience at this morning’s Opening Session with his “Welcome” address, providing the surge in their spirit of renewal and dedication that attendees have come to expect from FDIC.

Halton assured the firefighers and other first responders that, in contrast to many civilian settings in today’s society, “they would never feel uncomfortable or out of step among their fellow firefighters, policemen, and warfighters, where words like ‘duty,’ ‘honor,’ ‘God,’ ‘service,’ and ‘country’ need no explanation or apology.”

Approaching the theme of “obligation,” Halton first tweaked the answer to a question posed to many firefighters: Why did you want to be a firefighter? The most authentic answer, he said, is simply, “Because I just like to help people.” But, Halton said, “The problem is, that is not true. We don’t like to help people. Firefighters MUST help people. They are compelled to help people …. Firefighters cannot NOT help people. They accept that they are obligated to help people.”

However, Halton noted: “That sense of obligation now is being misunderstood and confused. We hear it online, in after-action reports, and elsewhere. [It is] vilified especially in hindsight as ‘a way of being’ or acting that is regressive, antiquated, and ignorant. This is understandable,” he said, “given the western society’s cultural drift into homo deism, absolutism, and elitism.” Some of the attitudes of a social mindset confident of its moral and intellectual superiority to all who came before are creeping into the fire service, Halton said. “Our beloved fire service, as is our national cultural identity, is under the same assaults, under the same ridicule, under the same attacks. From this lofty perch, our detractors see all of our traditions, proven and vetted tactical profiles, cultural norms, historical legends, our relentless innovation and creativity by default as flawed, corrupt, and deficient.

“Our detractors and the polite people who lack skin in the game have no concept of our sense of obligation to our sacred covenant with our fellow citizens, and they confuse it with our social contract with our subscribed customers. Our critics are convinced they are doing good by protecting us from our vintage selves, enlightening us less informed, and saving us from our outdated morals. They are confusing our sacred covenant with our social contract.”

“True firefighters are grateful and free,” said Halton. “We are free to use the insights gained from research and to embed them in proven tactics. We are grateful for the increasing knowledge of fire behavior, toxicity, and reactivity. True firefighters embrace all this knowledge. We use it to honor the social contract between us and the customers we serve. We use it to modify our tactics, improve procedures, and grow as craftspeople. We do this enthusiastically while being aware that doing so does not interfere with something more sacred--our obligation to honor our sacred covenant. Firefighters have first a covenant, a sacred obligation. A primary obligation between them and their fellow citizens. They have second, a contract, a fiduciary obligation, a secondary obligation between them and their customers.

There is a difference between a customer and a provider in a social contract and a citizen to a citizen in a sacred covenant.

“Firefighters enter a sacred covenant first; the social contract is second,” Halton related. Although the two are often confused, they are quite different. He explained: A contract involves an exchange, such as your plumber for his services. A covenant, on the other hand is more like a marriage. It is sacred and respects the dignity and integrity of others in a bond of loyalty and trust. A covenant isn’t about me, my interests, or my identity. Society and c