By Chris Mc Loone

It's interesting how as you ascend the career ladder, that target on your back gets bigger and bigger with every new position. There seem to be those in this world who were put here simply to call into question everything we do, assemble roadblocks to everything we want to do, and work to derail everything we do manage to accomplish. It's the nature of the beast, of course, and as we climb our career ladders we just have to work through it all. It's a pretty trite phrase these days, but it truly is what it is.

The connection to apparatus and equipment is that these people routinely find themselves on apparatus purchasing committees (APCs). Many times it's because they've been on the last four APCs, so they are kept on for their perspectives. And, many times they are former white coats who may be past their prime. How many of us have had to deal with that one APC member who insists on throwing wrench after wrench into the works? One day it is, "The last time we specified a truck, company A could accommodate this request. Why can't this company?" Then the chassis is different than all the other chassis in the house, and this causes more consternation and additional wrenches are tossed into the machine.

Some of these individuals are valuable APC members, while others seemingly only seek to serve on the APC to call into question every decision made. Some say this is a good "check and balance" for a committee. If the goal of those doing the checking and balancing is to build the best possible truck based on the needs of the department, then I agree. But, if all they wish to do is denigrate those on the committee and second guess everything, then that's not checking and balancing. It's impeding progress.

How do we deal with these people? is the question. In many cases, they are former chiefs who have earned the right for newer members to treat them with respect-if for no other reason than by their saying, "Yes, I volunteer to lead this department as a chief officer," at one point in their careers. There are fewer of these men and women than we think. And, many of us owe them a debt of gratitude for building our departments into the organizations that many revere in communities around the world. So, taking a dismissive approach isn't the answer-especially since many can still contribute positively.

It falls on the APC chairman to figure all this out. The chairman of the APC has a monumental responsibility to keep the committee on course. He has the unique responsibility to manage the seasoned veterans along with the younger upstarts who think they have all the answers. Be careful-sometimes they do hold a few answers. These are the members who will be riding what you spec for the department.

Have an agenda for each meeting, assign someone to take minutes, and make sure you develop deliverable action items for APC members at the end of every meeting. At the next meeting, go through the action items and act on them. Then go through the process again according to your agenda for the meeting. There will be disagreement. Don't let it get heated. Don't let either side of the table act in a disrespectful manner to the other side. Eventually through it all, you'll come up with a truck that will be the envy of your surrounding communities-that is, until a neighboring department takes delivery of its newest piece. Again, it is what it is.

Remember that this translates into all other facets of leading an organization. Leadership isn't easy, especially when you are sitting in a room with a mixture of your mentors and those you are now called on to lead. Subtly reminding the veterans that you are owed the same respect they expect from you and the youngsters in the room isn't easy and, unfortunately, might take a private meeting to get the idea across. Conversely, explaining to the youngsters why they owe respect to the veterans isn't a

Chris Mc Loone

The realities of today's fire service staffing issues are not lost on any tool or apparatus manufacturer. As personnel numbers shrink, so have fleets in some cases as many departments have shifted to multipurpose apparatus. Shifting to multipurpose apparatus makes tool mounting more critical than ever because equipment from two rigs is consolidated into one. Organizing it all and making it fit are no easy tasks. Additionally, new vehicle technology has created the need for more powerful tools in some cases, which typically weigh more.

But, beyond apparatus design, equipment manufacturers are tasked with creating equipment that is easily deployable by fewer firefighters at incident scenes. Tools being designed to address reduced staffing include hydraulic rescue tools.

Through the years, hydraulic rescue tool manufacturers have come up with a variety of setups for deploying the tools. One setup is to have the power units mounted on the trucks and the tools connected to reels. When the apparatus would pull up to the rescue scene, the operator would get the generator going, and firefighters would stretch the tools from the truck. Apparatus placement for this setup was key because to get decent power from the tool, the hydraulic line had to be a certain length. Make the line too long, and performance decreases.

Moving to all gas-powered units solves some tool performance problems because departments could spec shorter hydraulic lines. But, atmospheric contaminants like exhaust become an issue for both rescuers and victims.

Some departments have mounted power units and tools on carts. Once on scene, they would essentially have everything they needed to start a rescue on a cart. One person could wheel the cart into position while another firefighter stretched an electric cord for power. The only problem here is getting the carts off the truck easily. You need at least two firefighters. The name of the game these days is to give crews tools they can deploy with a minimum number of firefighters-sometimes only one.

Hydraulic Innovations

First and foremost on the minds of many equipment purchasing committees is how to purchase tools that match the staffing realities of each department. These tools need to be deployable by one firefighter in many cases. It's important to remember that although your department may field enough firefighters generally for vehicle rescues, it needs to be prepared that sometimes the crew won't be what is needed when the truck leaves the firehouse.

Holmatro Inc.'s philosophy for many years has been to address staffing requirements with the tools it designs, according to Fran Dunigan Jr., marketing manager, Holmatro, Inc. "Holmatro's tools have been on the cutting edge of power, while still keeping light weight and portability in mind," he says. "Plus, CORE Technology™ is still helping make rescue operations faster, easier, and safer." Dunigan adds that the auto-return CORE™ coupler eliminates dump valves on Holmatro power units and the need to dedicate staffing to that task. "The single-line CORE hoses are up to 60 percent lighter than traditional twin-line hose and are kink- and snag-free," he states.

(1) The HURST Jaws of Life CombiTool SC350E is part of the company's eDRAULIC hydraulic-electric line of rescue tools that free rescue workers of power units and heavy hoses, reducing the number of firefighters and associated setup time needed with traditional tools. (Photo courtesy of HURST Jaws of Life.)

Holmatro has also recently introduced a way for customers to turn all of their existi

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