The Middle Child of the Fire Service

If you are a middle child in a typical family, you are likely to be subject to the following in regards to your older and younger siblings: you don’t get the responsibility or freedom that your older sibling gets, nor do you get the chance to stay home and watch your younger brother or sister when mom or dad leaves unless it’s a quick trip to the store. 

On the other side, you don’t get the extra attention the baby gets because simply – you aren’t the youngest.  The youngest kid gets to make mistakes more often without punishment because, for Pete’s Sake, they’re only 3 years old and you’re old enough to know better.

A lot is written in the fire service about how to properly bring a new firefighter into this job and how to make them successful.  There is also plenty of information on how to be an effective officer or at least, how to conduct business in the absence of an officer.  But what about the middle child of the fire service?

If you are a middle child of the fire service, you probably have between 5 and 15 years of service and probably spend most of your time on EMS runs or assigned to an ambulance if you’re on a suburban department.  You probably get the chance to drive the fire apparatus on a fairly regular basis, and occasionally ride in the officer seat.  But more often than not you are stuck in the middle between the probie and the senior firefighter.  As the middle child in the fire service, you don’t get the breaks that the new guy does because he or she doesn’t know any better – but you’ve been here long enough that you should.  You don’t get the responsibility that the senior firefighters do because you just don’t have the experience and time on the job.  So where exactly do you fall in the pecking order?

The middle child of the fire service is an often overlooked position that has the ability to have a significant impact on a department.  Who has the most contact with the rookie?  Who is riding in the jumpseat next to the probationary firefighter, but behind the senior firefighter or company officer?  Who is going to be the future senior firefighter or company officer?  The middle child.

What to do with the middle child.

The middle child is one who can set the tone for the future of a fire department in several ways.  If this firefighter was treated poorly as a new member and had poor examples to follow, they may continue the trend and treat incoming rookies poorly and history continues to repeat itself in other ways in terms of laziness, lack of interest in fire service changes and technology, and overall work ethic.

Or this middle child may be part of a proud and progressive department and have the ability to reinforce the department’s core values and influence the newer generation to embrace all of the positive things the job and department have to offer.  This middle child is in a position to view what has happened in the past – both good and bad – and either continue to move forward and set the bar higher for future firefighters, or work to change the present status so that bad habits and negativity are eliminated; many times this approach results in the middle child becoming the wise senior firefighter or company officer who has the respect of the junior members simply because they choose NOT to repeat the past.

Mentoring and empowerment.

What the middle child needs just as much as the rookie is to be taken under the wing of the senior firefighter or company officer and prepared for what lies ahead.  Often, the middle child is well-versed in current trends and has some suppressed desires to make necessary changes but are not taken seriously enough; this situation screams empowerment!  So what do we do?  Consider assigning some responsibility to this group of our fire service.  There are several jobs and tasks on all of our departments that company officers don’t always have the time to complete, why not partner up some of these middle children with lieutenants and captains and expose them to the purchasing, specification, maintenance, and records process?  This group of firefighters is also ripe for officer development training.  How many of you reading this were sent to officer development programs long AFTER you were promoted, only to find that you had already experienced many of the issues and would have handled them differently with a little education BEFORE you were promoted?  Also, the middle child is an extremely valuable instructor; this firefighter is an accessible and comfortable person for the probationary and newer members to talk to.  Advice from the middle child is sought by the rookie because the middle child often was the previous rookie.  The middle child with a strong background and discipline will be the biggest ally to the senior firefighters and company officers in ensuring the success of the probationary firefighters. 

If the question arises about the culture of your fire department and the fire service in general, look at your middle children and measure their effectiveness in the operation of your crew, station, and department – you’ll find many of the answers you need to know.  Consider giving this group of our fire service the same attention you would your rookies and officers, they may influence your department’s future more than you realize.