By Chief Michael D. Chiaramonte CFO, MIFireE

It is a wonderful time of the year. It is a period when we reflect on family and think of special times. We decorate our homes in a festive way and eat rich foods. Children salivate over special gifts. Adults reflect on family. It is a time when tradition and culture clearly emerge. The words "tradition" and "culture" are used quite often but just what do they mean? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines tradition in the following way "An inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action or behavior." That same dictionary defines culture as "A set of shared attitudes, values, goals and practices that characterize an institution or organization." The Kemah, Texas Fire Department produced an excellent web page discussing tradition in the fire service. Part of the introduction to that page states "From the first moment a new cadet (rookie or "probie") is taken into the department "family" they are introduced to fires service traditions." The longer we are in the fire service the more we realize that many of these traditions are the things which make our job very special and, in fact, they solidify the brother and sisterhood.

The culture of the American fire service was formed from many years of tradition. This tradition has a great deal to do with the way a firefighter views themselves. Firefighters are sworn to protect life and property and they traditionally emphasize getting the job done, regardless of the risks - no matter what. For example, often firefighters have faced tremendous danger in an effort to save an abandoned building leaving only two walls standing which were only to face the wrecking ball a couple of weeks later. Why take such a risk? How far does the traditional concept of the duty to save property go? Are firefighters culturally committed to uphold the traditional concept of sworn duty to a degree that puts them in a position of unnecessary risk? Is it this tradition that has created a macho culture in the fire serve resulting in a way of thinking, acting and behaving that may, at times, be unsafe? It is not unusual to hear a firefighter state that a line-of-duty death is "part of the job." It can be construed that to die in the line of duty is glorious. Attitudes like this automatically consider it heroic to die in the line of duty, no matter if that death was a direct result of an unnecessary action.

The Firefighter Life Safety Summit's initial report encapsulated the present culture of the fire service when it made the following statement, "The willingness of firefighters to risk their own lives to save others must never be used as an excuse to take unnecessary risks. Firefighters are highly respected for being willing to risk their own lives to save others, but that cannot justify taking unnecessary risks in situations where there is no one to save and nothing to be gained. In too many cases firefighters lose their lives while trying to save property that is already lost or to rescue victims who are already dead. While these efforts are valiant, they are also futile. Individual firefighters who take unnecessary risks, or fail to follow standard safety practices, endanger their own lives as well as the lives of other firefighters who are depending on them. This, of course, does not mention the risk to those who might be making the effort to rescue them."

It is understood that a firefighter's work environment is dangerous, the risks of the job and what kills firefighters are well documented but the same things are happening over and over again. This is obviously a cultural problem in the fire service. Janet Wilmoth, editor of Fire Chief Magazine gives us three typical examples of this culture:

• A fire department that enforces seatbelt regulations except for the dive team who has permission to get dressed when the apparatus is responding.
• A fire apparatus manufacturer that promotes a speeding fire truck.
• A fire department that wants a live burn training facility to be able to create temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees.

Chief I. David Daniels stated "To begin a cultural shift toward absolute firefighter safety, chiefs and officers must be held accountable both for enforcing the safety rules of their organizations and for exemplifying them."

Chief Daniels advocates the four basic principles of Organizational Behavior Modification as a way of changing the culture of the fire service. Positive reinforcement or the administration of positive consequences for desirable behavior is absolutely necessary. Rewards given as soon as possible after a positive event are essential to change culture. Examples of such rewards are awards for safety achievements and exceeding fitness or wellness standards or for innovative safety programs.

Care must be taken to ensure that time is spent training firefighters how not to get in trouble in the first place and how to get out if something goes wrong. Punishment, or the administration of negative consequences or the withdrawal of positive consequences, should be used to reduce the likelihood of repeating unsafe behavior in similar settings.

• A driver who passes through a red light without stopping
• A firefighter who doesn't don protective clothing in a hazard zone
• A chief officer who doesn't implement the IMS at a major emergency

These situations would be less likely to repeat if there was a consequence.

Departments should be ever vigilant of using reinforcement consequences such as:
Awards given for heroism if the act was committed in direct violation of safety rules, such as rescue attempts without available protective equipment,
Fire service organizations should not be supporting fire departments that obviously disregard safety rules.

Chief Daniels challenges fire chiefs by saying "Are you willing to say as a fire chief, 'The culture of the fire department I am responsible for will change?" If chiefs don't initiate cultural change, who will? If they don't start now, when will the culture change?"

In order to initiate the needed cultural changes in our profession, the Safety, Health and Survival Section of the Arizona Fire Chief's Association has drafted the following key action statements:

For a cultural change to occur at the national level, someone must lead the way to serve as model for others to follow. The leadership of all fire service organizations should demonstrate a commitment to meeting this challenge and setting the example for achieving this cultural change by advocating and insisting on performance behaviors that are consistent with published standards and best practices. The key to changing the safety culture is to change the attitudes and behaviors of all members in the fire service.

Every Chief Officer, Training Officer, and Company Officer in every Fire Department must adopt a zero tolerance philosophy for deviations from or failure to follow published safety standards and best practices.

All fire service leaders and trainers must make every effort to recognize, publish and celebrate organizational and individual successes whenever positive outcomes are identified as a result of following best practices models, or by accomplishing a major objective through the implementation or demonstration of safe practices. The fire service needs to seek ways of finding and publishing positive outcomes that occur as a result of proper safety behavior.

These are just a few suggestions to develop new traditions and a new culture in the fire service. The future should see each and every fire department with traditions of safety and with an overall safety culture. There is a great deal of talk about safety in many fire departments across the country but is it just that, talk? If we continue to kill over one hundred firefighters in the line of duty each and every year in this country resulting from firefighters responding to and returning from alarms in fire apparatus and personal vehicles, from stress and overexertion, from falls, entrapment and disorientation in structure fires as well as from wildland events, we will not be able to say that the American fire service has a safety culture. We cannot continue to accept death as a part of the job and we, most certainly, cannot continue to take unnecessary chances. Good sensible risk management must prevail. We need to convince ourselves and each other on every level of the fire service, not just on the chief and officer's level, that safety is of paramount importance and that we are all personally accountable for our actions. We owe it to our families and organizations not to cause permanent damage in their lives. The tradition and culture in our service is beautiful and bonding. It is a special part of the job. Let's make it even better by keeping each other around to enjoy it. Let's pledge to improve the greatness of our tradition and culture by making sure that "Everyone Goes Home" becomes its corner stone. Happy Holidays, enjoy.