By Captain Ryan Pyle

It appears that the fire service is suffering from the same problem as most are these days...no money! I agree that this definitely puts a damper on our ability to provide the best service to our customers. However, it is time for us to look at what it is, rather than what it is not. We understand that the flow of money is not as abundant as it once was, but that should never stop us from changing our culture and reducing line-of -duty deaths. The best part is we do not have to. Are we simply going to close up shop because we do not have the revenue stream that we once enjoyed? The last time I checked, cultural change did not have an invoice attached to it. What are you or your department doing to cultivate change in these tough economic times?

As firefighters, we constantly have to adapt to changing situations. What makes this economic problem any different than responding to a fire or EMS emergency? If we are operating at the scene of a fire and the situation changes, do you just throw your hands up and go home? Absolutely not! We may opt to take a defensive stance or change our strategies to get the outcome that we desire but giving up is never an option. This attitude is what makes the fire service so unique. There will be no bailout; we cannot simply ask for more money and it magically appears, solving all of our problems.

As you read this piece, I will provide some possible suggestions for initiating or continuing cultural change without any additional cost. I encourage you to start by looking at your department and the departments' situation and evaluate what actions you can take to safely navigate through these times. I challenge each of you to look at what you can do within your department to change the culture without financial influence.

While I try to stay away from painting the fire service with broad strokes on any issue, I felt confident enough to do so in terms of financial woes. If you pay attention to national fire department news, you hear the same thing...this department is laying off firefighters, that department is closing firehouses. While I by no means condone these drastic measures and believe they are nothing short of gross negligence, it is the climate that we have been forced to operate in given the current economic situation.

No matter how long you have been on a part of the fire service, I am sure that you have heard at one time or another about how we have to do more with less. What makes this period in the fire service any different? I can answer that pretty easily...nothing. The fires are still going to go out; we just may have to adjust the way we operate. If you are suffering from a shortage of firefighters, you have to take a close look at your risk assessment model and change what is necessary. Risk assessment has been kicked around for a long time now. I am a very opinionated proponent of the thought process and there has never been a more critical time to delve into it full throttle.

As I was contemplating this article and how to frame it, I finally came to the obvious conclusion that as our ability to properly staff apparatus goes down, our risk and potential for injury or death goes up. On its face, this sounds very simple, but if you were to really analyze it, there is much more that goes into that one conclusion. Firefighters are creatures of habit and tend to want to operate the same way on every call with the expectation that we will get the standard outcome as dictated by the type of emergency we are faced with. I can make a strong argument that we will operate the exact same way with fewer personnel, thus putting ourselves in a situation will inevitably lead to dangerous acts on the fireground.

We are now talking about a total shift in thinking, particularly on the part of the company officer and incident commander. Below are a few issues that should be discussed if your department is a victim of cutbacks or a shortage of personnel. These would be great roundtable trainings that could yield big benefits:

• Stress to your personnel the importance of pre-incident planning. These can include target hazards or garden variety single-family residential fires.
• In the face of cutbacks, how are you going to operate on the scene of an emergency? For example, if there is no immediate danger to life, are you going to wait for additional companies prior to making entry? I am not taking a position one way or another, as every department and situation is different. However, I do believe that you should assess your situation and plan accordingly. It is much better to do so beforehand, than wish you had done it after a tragedy has occurred.
• Increase the amount of company trainings centered on reading buildings, smoke conditions, victim survival probabilities, etc.
• Clearly illustrate to your personnel how they are to operate given fewer personnel on the scene. This is extremely important because if you don't, firefighters are always going to go into default mode - "It's what we do and how we have been trained." This means more firefighters operating in fewer numbers and more freelancing, etc. All because we are trained to get the job done as quickly as possible. STOP AND THINK!!!!!!
• Intense training on accountability systems (NIMS). With fewer personnel operating, the need for accountability increases significantly.

** There is a critical caveat that must be addressed regarding the previous bullet points. Whoever assumes command for emergencies in your jurisdiction must be intimately involved with these trainings. The incident commander will dictate the tone for the emergency and must take preemptive actions in the face of fewer personnel operating at the scene. This is absolutely critical to the safety of all personnel. **

There are ways that the fire service can decrease our risk. The following are a few points to ponder:

• Be an advocate for strong mutual or automatic aid agreements. Believe it or not, the customer does not care what the name on the side of the rig is. Furthermore, the personnel operating at the scene should be grateful for the assistance. Don't be afraid to ask for additional companies. It could mean the difference between the job getting done safely and a firefighter getting injured.
• If you are operating at minimum or below minimums, DO NOT ENTER THE BUILDING, without additional companies (known rescues excluded). I know that is a hard one to swallow, but remember, this article is based on staffing situations that few of us have been faced with before.
• Call for additional resources without hesitation. By the time you think you need them, it could already be too late.
• There are many different possible solutions to lessen our risk; train with your personnel and come up with a plan that meets your needs. Do not wait or you may be planning something much worse, such as an injury or line-of-duty death.

The 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives have provided us with a no cost framework for change. Utilize these tools and create a culture of safety. The Shawnee Fire Department of Shawnee, Kansas, took one of those steps in the past year. Firefighter Jeff Salmon started a grass roots effort to have each member sign the "National Seat Belt Pledge." This simple change was met with overwhelming support and has since transcended to other departments throughout the City of Shawnee. That is a perfect example of a no cost, high benefit culture change. I urge each of you to go through the list of Life Safety Initiatives and work on them one by one until we irradiate line-of-duty deaths in the fire service.

With every article I write, I try and give the reader something to think about. There is no possible way to address every situation or understand what the readers department is going through. However, there is one thing that I can say without knowing your particular situation; cultural change is a shift in thinking, and is not always associated with money. What can you do in your department to change culture for free? The bottom line is that culture is what you make it. So, why not make it safe?

Ryan Pyle is a Fire Captain at Station 71 in Shawnee Kansas. Ryan has been a part of the department for thirteen years. He holds an Associate of Arts degree in Fire Administration, a Bachelors degree in Management and Human Relations, and a Masters degree from the Edwin Stene School of Public Administration at the University of Kansas. Ryan is a graduate of the 2007 Virginia Fire Officers Academy,which is a program that includes leadership values associated with the Everyone Goes Home® Life Safety Initiatives Program. Ryan has been accepted into the Executive Fire Officer Program and will begin in September.