This visit with you is going to be a bit different than my normal trip through the fire service world. I am going to present a series of overhead thoughts which I hope will guide your thinking about your role in the fire service. It is always challenging to attempt to influence the thinking of others and I am sure that there will be critics of the ways in which I have chosen to proceed. However, challenging your thoughts and beliefs is a necessary part of what I hope to accomplish as one who comments on the passing parade of life in the American Fire Service. Let me assure you that influencing the thoughts of my fellow travelers is perhaps the most exciting aspect about writing; one which I have come to enjoy over the past 40 years.
It is my hope that you recognize the title of this commentary to be an important part of our nation’s Declaration of Independence. The founding fathers of our great nation recognized that there are certain principles which form the basis for all that we stand for as a nation. As you will no doubt recall, the basics of this discourse revolve around life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Let me suggest to you that as the United States has set down a basic set of principles to guide us as a nation, so too should we as a fire service has a set of principle to guide our journey into the future. I guess you might think me to be presumptuous to suggest that such a thing be written, but I feel we need to set a solid course to guide us on our journey into the future.
We should all look to the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as our guide for the actions of our nation. However, I do not know about you, but I am of the opinion that things are not going well with our nation right now. The engine of our government seems to be hitting on less than the eight cylinders prescribed by our guiding documents. Let me suggest that while I am making reference to government at all levels, the major problems seem to line up with those folks in Washington, D.C. who cannot get together to decide whether it is sunny or cloudy on any given day.
Perhaps things would improve if our leaders in Washington were to go back to the drawing board and take a look at our founder’s dreams. Unfortunately, one major problem (among many) with using words is that they are open to wide interpretation by the Supreme Court and various leaders in our government. Just look at how people have gerrymandered the meaning of our first amendment. And how about the battle over our right to bear arms.
I am fairly certain that our founding fathers never envisioned the vile, hateful words which seem too come dancing across the Internet every day. However, let me suggest that it is the price of our freedoms which requires us to allow such things. Please note that I did not say read them, agree with them, or like them.
So too is it within our world. Each day I see a number of things on the Internet, in the trade journals, in my newspapers, or on television with which I disagree. When I am at my best though, such things cause the creative juices within my aging, Baby Boomer brain to begin flowing.
Some of our best thoughts, yours and mine, have no doubt come about as a result of things with which we originally disagreed. However, the mark of the true critical thinker requires that we use such negativity and disagreement as the stimulus for positive action. We must all try to see the positive in the midst of the negative to guide our thoughts and our futures.
In many places the organizations which the public looks to for protection are themselves in a tremendous state of flux and chaos. The number of people available to staff the fire departments in their communities is quite uneven indeed; from not enough, to barely adequate, to adequate. Let me suggest that leadership is prime among our operational problems. The manner in which people are treated by their organizations, as well as their leaders, governs whether people will stay or go. In far too many areas this exodus of trained people has reached crisis proportions.
So it is that my view of the world around me as supplemented by my disagreement with a number of folks that has led me to the conclusion that we need a firefighter’s “Declaration of Principles”. Let me suggest that we need such a document to guide us as we move into the future which seems to be jumping out at us. We need to operate from a common script as we seek to justify the services which we provide to our communities.
What then are the truths which we in the fire service should hold to be self-evident? What are our core principles? Here are my thoughts. I hope that whether you agree or disagree with me that you use these as sparks to ignite your curiosity about what makes of the driving engine of our common endeavor. Let us not be divided into the warring camps of career and volunteer. Let us truly strive to be the American Fire Service.
The Firefighter’s Declaration of Principles
- The provision of fire, rescue, and emergency services is an inherently dangerous undertaking.
- However dangerous does not mean unsafe when it comes to performing our duties.
- Each person who does what we do has chosen to be a part of our world. No one is drafted, dragooned, or dragged into our chosen life.
- We are all part of performing an essential service for society.
- We must each seek to build a foundation for success.
- Knowledge must always serve as the basis for all that we seek to deliver to our communities.
- We must acknowledge the critical role that continual training and educational plays within our world.
- If we are given the choice of whether to operate in a safe manner or an unsafe manner, the choice of safe is always appropriate.
- We must make the creation or well-trained, loyal followers within each of our organizations a priority.
- It is only from a well-trained pool of loyal followers that the next generation of leaders can be properly recruited.
- The best leaders are those who truly understand that they must be at least equally as willing to be led by others as to lead others.
- We must always consider our fire department as a family; one willing to make great sacrifices in time talent, and energy for our family members.
- During times of stress, trial, and tribulation we must be able count on the guys and gals in our families with whom we labor.
- One of the greatest gifts which any of us can ever hope to receive is to be accepted by the people in our fire service family.
- Each person must have faith: faith in your own skills, a faith in the skills and abilities of your fellow travelers, a faith in things which are not of this world and cannot be seen. The choice is yours, but choose you must.
So there you have my thoughts on what I believe to be the principles which should guide us as we seek to work together in order to serve the citizens of our communities. It is my hope that you see what I seek to do here. It is also my hope that you contact me with things which you think should be added to this list. We need to be flexible and we need to be able to operate as changing circumstance dictate.
Each of us needs to be responsive, but we also must be true to our core principles and beliefs. It is one thing to be flexible, but it is another to continually change for no good reason. Let me close this visit with you by saying that it is my hope that I have given you something to about which you can think. In the final analysis, we might agree. We might disagree. Or it might be that we will choose to agree to disagree. These are all ways in which people who live in a free society can come together. But it is critical for each of you to think. Please let me know what you think.
