Pride and Ownership....Where'd it go??

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Permalink Reply by Jay Wieners on December 4, 2008 at 10:11pm

Lt. Sanders,

I think most firefighters and officers out there would agree that this is an issue at least to some degree in all departments. Those who disagree are probably in denial. Fortunately, this seems to be a common grievance, which means that a lot of us have this same perception, which in turn means that a lot of us still feel that pride. So maybe it's not as bad as we think it is.
We all say that things aren't the same as they were 10, 20 or more years ago. And they never will be. That's part bad, but also a lot of good. We don't see as many fires as we did in the past. In terms of our mission, this is very good. But in terms of our readiness, this may slow us down a little. This also gives us less opportunity to do what it is that we (for some deranged reason) enjoy doing, which can in turn create the perception that we are not having as much "fun" as we used to. On the flip side, we are probably now better trained and equipped than we ever were and we have more resources (such as the FIre Engineering Community) available to us.
As far as improving the situation, I think it is beyond anyone to take the entire task upon themselves. Especially at the company officer level, we should pick a handful of the newer firefighters and work with them individually. Stress to the individual the importance of what we do and of being always ready for "the big one." Guide them towards as much training and education as we can, wheather it be at an academy, online, or from a book or video.
By choosing only one or a handful I'm not suggesting we leave others behind, but let another vet take them under their wing. Instilling pride has to be done on an individual basis. Once they figure out what that pride is, they'll seek out others of their generation, form their own clicks, and a few years from now wonder "what's wrong with these new guys?"

Stay Safe,

Jay Wieners

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Permalink Reply by Joe Heim on January 1, 2009 at 7:28am

I agree with what Jay has to say. The one thing that we have done to increase the Pride in our department has been to put a mentoring program in place. When we get a new firefighter we now do an informal interview with the persepective candidate that includes the chief, assistant chief, and training officer, this has helped out tremendously. It now gives us a chance to get to know the person a little more and it is nothing that is long or drawn out. The questions asked are What is your reasoning for applying, Where would you like to be in 5 years, What are your expectations of us, What qualities do you bring to us, and Are you interested in EMS. We then discuss our expectations of them and answer any other questions that they might have. After that we bring them on the department and assign a mentor to work with them, and the mentor is not always an officer, we have utilized some of our firefighters as mentors which has increased their Pride also.

Hope this helped!!

Stay Safe!!

Joe

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Permalink Reply by JJ Blaker on May 4, 2009 at 10:48pm

Lt. Sanders
I have a different problem than yours. Mine is this, my Officers are the ones who are lacking in the pride and ownership of our Department. See Most of our Officers have lost there love for this profession, they don't care do take part in trainings or fell that they have done there time doing it. How can I help them love the job again like I do. I have only been on the job 3 years but I love it more now than ever, How do I get them to feel the same way.

JJ Blaker

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Permalink Reply by Dan Rice on May 20, 2009 at 7:28am

Lt. Sanders,
As has already been stated this is a problem that is most definitely effecting each and every department in one way or another. The biggest thing that must be stressed is make sure you keep your love for this job even while struggling through the hardships of training others that aren't passionate about it. The members that are lacking this zeal, this connection, and love for the job will notice the difference between themselves and the others that are in that house to do a job they care about greatly. These lacking members are going to realize that even though they might have a fire card and ride the engine there are still things they don't have that the rest of us do. And those things are passion and desire for what we do. Keep up the hard work and be safe.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Rice on May 20, 2009 at 7:57am

FF Blaker,
Send me a message sometime and maybe we can talk about some of the issues you’re having with you company officers.

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