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The Definition of Insanity

How can we expect change when we repeat the same behavior?

The Definition of Insanity on Backstep Firefighter

According to some, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. It would appear that this applies to Charleston, South Carolina based on a report based on a fire that occurred in 2010.

The Post and Courier published an article entitled “The Same Mistakes”. According to the article and the report this incident contained many of the same mistakes that occurred in the Sofa Super Store 4 years ago.

Every day articles are written from both sides of the “safety” spectrum. Those that feel we are too aggressive and too risky, to those that feel safety stands in the way of us getting the job done. As we often write about here, the answer does not lie in the extremes. As firemen, we signed on to protect life and property, to protect the lives of others at the risk of our own. As our “battleground” becomes more dangerous, we must adapt to it and continue to train and learn so that we can execute our mission while affording ourselves the best possible chance of coming home.

It is hard to say how accurate the article is from the Post and Courier. We all know that there can be a bias in the media, often time founded in a lack of understanding of what we do as firemen. But when the article is based on and supported by an official document from the Charleston Fire Department, it becomes harder to ignore. According to the article, there are discrepancies with the report and it has yet to be officially released.

However, even just part of what is written is true; it appears that many lessons have not been learned. Rather than criticizing Charleston though, think about your own department. Does your department embrace “lessons learned”? Are you using every available piece of information to make sure that your brothers are safe? You don’t have to be a Charleston fireman to learn from the Sofa Super Store, you don’t have to suffer an LODD in your department to learn the lessons paid for in blood.

Every day we suit up we have an obligation, several in fact. Our department’s owe us the training, tools and structure to be able to perform as we are expected too. In return we have an obligation to our crew to be ready for whatever happens, to be in position, to do our job. That obligation carries over to our communities. We owe them the service they expect. We also owe it to those that have gone before us to learn from the mistakes, mishaps and circumstances that have led to their deaths. As we look back in history, every line of duty death should be a marker for us. It should be a place where we stopped, evaluated, and then applied the lessons learned as we move forward to tomorrow.

If insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expected a different result, then maybe we should heed the words of Albert Einstein, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

References:

"The Same Mistakes" Glenn Smith, The Post and Courier, December 11, 2011
"Critical Incident Review – Structure Fire, 899 Island Park Dr." Charleston Fire Department
SCOnFire, coverage of fire report and fire.
"Nine Career Fire Fighters Die in Rapid Fire Progression at Commerc... NIOSH, February 2

Tags: Charleston, Dave LeBlanc, Education, Fire, Learned, Lessons, NIOSH, Sofa, Store, Super, More…

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Comment by Dave LeBlanc on December 17, 2011 at 6:36am: Thanks Jason and Chris for the comments.

Jason I agree that we safety isn't a separate issue. It is/should be part of everything we do. Not that it should become an overriding focus, just that, as you said, if we master our basics we will become safer on the Fireground.

Chris, I have never been a fan of a one size fits all solution. While skills certainly should be the same from area to area, tactics and equipment will and should vary based on your situation, your department, your problems. As my 1st Chief used to say, "every situation is a situation." I could certainly offer suggestions for Bertrand, but without local "local knowledge" it probably would have little relevance.

That being said, I am a huge advocate of being a student of the game and learning wherever I can. Learning from the mishaps of others offers a huge boost to your experience bank. Sure I may have "been there", but I can read what happened and talk to those that were there, and apply their lessons learned to my situation as they fit.

Part of the problem will always be how that information is delivered and received. We often fail a clearly getting the message out, in a way the average person can easily understand and apply.

Comment by Christopher Huston on December 16, 2011 at 11:20pm: Dave, I have been following your work for some time and it always has great insight. Let me pose this question; Are we looking to hard at a one size fits all solution to the current trends in the Fire Service? Not just this department vs. that department but would regionally be a better focal point? What works in Boston will not work in Bertrand. So with that being said, if Charleston puts out a report will most departments not see the possible solutions because they are not the same type of department. Do they already have a bias becuase of this? Those are some of the issues I see in my area "we are not like them so it wont happen to us" or "that's not how we operate so those dont apply"

Hope that makes sense...thanks and great read!

Comment by Jason Hoevelmann on December 14, 2011 at 2:31pm: With my last post, I should clarify that mastering the basics and being operationally proficient relates to safety on the fire ground.

Comment by Jason Hoevelmann on December 14, 2011 at 12:17pm: Nice post. I read the article and there seems to be a lot of questions surrounding this issue. I would have a lot of questions and I find a key term in the article interesting: paraphrasing, implementing a culture of safety. In my opinion, and this could just be wording by the author, but trying to "train" for a culture of safety could be their problem. They should be training on the basics in order to make operational changes, if they are deemed to be required. Just my thoughts without getting into the personal side of things addressed in the article. It sounds like they still have their hand full down there.

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