Robert Colameta
National Program Manager - Courage to Be Safe(sm)
I have worked with hope that, as your Courage to Be Safe(sm) Program Manager, I could inject seeds of change into your hearts and minds to prevent line-of-duty deaths to firefighters. We have made great progress but this year's Fire Act Grant is coming to a close. It's time again to hope. Hope that the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the Everyone Goes Home® campaign receives news that our Fire Act Grant is renewed so that we can continue to persevere. Hope is a word used so often. When the new presidential administration took office, we "hoped" that President Obama and his administration could reverse the problems our nation faces. Also, when we see a new fire chief, fire officer or new member walk through the door - we "hope" he/she will be good for the organization. Over the short course of the Courage to Be Safe(sm) training program, we hope that our message will be so influential that every firefighter would see the importance of integrating the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives into their lives and avoid actions that lead to a line-of-duty death.
I have heard many reasons why our 16 initiatives are simply too much to deal with. I have heard that there are more important issues. All of these distractions are a form of peer pressure. Organizational peer pressure is designed to lull us into doubt about our mission. Let's take a moment and renew our advocacy for the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives. There are 16, so that means virtually any organization, whether with adequate funding or no additional funds, can select an initiative(s), develop them into an action plan, deploy a plan within an organization and then begin changing its path. They are valid, timely and important to the strength of a safety oriented organization. We know that the leading cause of preventable death to firefighters remains to be a heart attack and the second leading cause is apparatus related. Let me start with the latter.
We must operate apparatus with a higher level of situational awareness, stop at intersections and absolutely wear seat belts. It remains an absolute truth that the success of the seat belt campaign is solely depended on you. This issue does not require a union, a fire chief, attorneys or negotiations. With the seat belt issue, YOU reach over your shoulder and click-in. Why do we feel so uncomfortable wearing a seat belt? We are firefighters and have often seen the results of not wearing one. I think this is also a form of station level peer pressure. If the chief or company officer does not lead by example, what can you do? If you click-it and the officer and crew does not, why are you viewed as the person "rocking the boat," so to speak? Everything I have read, studied, and tried to emulate in life relative to creating change, states that change starts with each of us as individuals. I did not grow up a huge Michael Jackson fan, but one song that resonates with me is titled "Man in the Mirror."
Primary lyric:
I'm Starting With The Man In The Mirror - I'm asking Him to Change His Ways
And No Message Could Have - Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make the World - A Better Place - Take a Look at Yourself,
And Then Make A Change.
If you are a company officer, chief officer or senior firefighter with a following, then you owe it to your members to lead by example. If we want to make the organization a better place let's take a look at ourselves and then make a change.
Here is how I would like to end this season as your Courage to Be Safe(sm) Program Manager, who struggles with this particular issue, like many of my peers. Do you have a competitive spirit? State Farm Insurance is sponsoring a national health and wellness campaign called the 50 million pound challenge. If my advice to you is to look in the mirror and then make a change then I too must set an example. Here is my challenge - Join my 50 million pound weight loss team called team "First Responder." Collectively, we can live the example and in addition support each other along the way. Our team will be ranked against the hundreds of other teams already participating. Can we lose enough weight to make the top 100 teams or strive to make the top 50 teams by the end of this year? How about the top 10 by this time next year? As my children were growing up, I used to tell them that "to try and to fail is to succeed but to never try at all is not knowing what could have been" (author unknown) If you can join me on this challenge please register at http://www.50millionpounds.com/First_Responders